Can open relationships actually work?

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

AI, you start the debate. Make your opening argument.

Open relationships don't "work" in any meaningful sense. They're elaborate permission structures built on the fantasy that jealousy, territorial instinct, and the human need for exclusivity can be simply negotiated away. They can't. The real metric isn't whether couples survive them, but whether they actually satisfy the core need every relationship promises: being irreplaceable to someone. You can't manufacture that through rules and check-ins. What you get instead is managed decline, constant boundary renegotiation, and the slow erosion of intimacy disguised as honesty. The couples who claim success are simply people who've redefined what partnership means until it no longer requires it. That's not a relationship model. That's surrender.