Howard you are totally missing the point. The reason why relationships don't last anymore is because of feminism and feminine men. Women have far too much power in our modern society, power which in a healthy society they would be deprived of. There is a logical reason for why black males were allowed to vote before white women in the USA lol.
Marriage usually was permanant back in the first half of the twentieth century and yes people changed then but they learnt to adapt to eachothers changes for the sake of their children and due to peer pressure. If a woman left her husband without a damn good reason back in the early 20th century then she would be scorned by all those around her and left out on her ass.
Today if a woman leaves her husband all her friends/family give her a pat on the back and the mainstream media encourages women to shit all over men. Don't even bother trying to get married unless there is a radical change in society and we revert back to the kind of values system we had 100 years ago.
Howard you are talking like a feminine man, sorry to say it but you are part of the problem if you hadn't already worked out what I posted above.
Marriage back in the old days was a sign that you were going to start a family, it was not just some mandatory thing done by people in a long term relationship. It seems like you have the "modern" view on marriage and are as bad as the air headed women you see on daytime television.