Can open relationships actually work?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Can open relationships actually work?". Your opponent's style: Morpheus

Yes if they are based on trust

Trust is the prerequisite, not the solution. People trust their partners to be faithful too, yet infidelity still happens. Why does adding permission magically make jealousy, insecurity, and competing attachments disappear?

You're conflating two different things. Trust in monogamy means trusting someone won't betray you. Trust in open relationships means trusting someone won't lie about it. One's about prevention, the other's about honesty. Permission removes the betrayal, which is what actually causes the damage.

Precisely wrong. You've just admitted the core problem: open relationships require constant policing of honesty instead of preventing the harm itself. Monogamy's trust prevents the act. Yours just manages the fallout. And jealousy doesn't vanish because you gave permission, it just gets rebranded as "compersion work." Why should emotional pain require labor to overcome rather than being avoided entirely?