Everyone Loses on Valentine's Day

I read a very good article by Mark Manson yesterday, which detailed a bit about how Valentine's Day causes everybody to lose. For those that are single, it can be a massive blow to their self-esteem. 'Look at all those happy couples! Surely there must be something wrong with me!' They will think. We've all probably been there at least once. I used to think that way before discovering game, even though I always knew that Valentine's Day was dumb.

And for those in relationships, it can be awkward. It, as Mark Manson says, essentially tries to force romance out of people, and really, this kills the mood. It also creates unnecessary and burdensome expectations for everyone. For men, it reinforces subservience. 'Happy wife, happy life!' It puts a man under undue pressure. He is supposed to do something special, to 'please' his woman, not because he wants to, but because he is expected to due to an arbitrary 'holiday.' Never mind the constant, year-long strive to be an excellent man, the kind that women naturally want to be with. He should just drop everything to essentially please a woman who may or may not have earned it, all in the name of a 'holiday.'

For women, the burden is equally as intrusive, though in a different way. She's essentially supposed to be the passive party, and in being placed on a pedestal, is supposed to show gratitude toward, and praise her man. Forget if he brings nothing to the table. His sudden generosity is supposed to overcome her defenses and she is supposed to reciprocate the 'kindness' he's shown.

Not to mention the vapidness of the entire thing distorts the sexual market and essentially acts as a barrier to entry, raising the price of female affection. This further distorts and burdens the already-fractured relations between the sexes in the modern world of dating.

The following might sound surprising of me, given my propensity to bash many of the tenets of modern left-wing ideology, but Valentine's Day is truly a marker of capitalism run amok.

There, I said it.

Don't get me wrong, capitalism is bar none, the best economic system yet devised by man, but like Aristotle wrote all those thousands of years ago, the Mean between excess and deficiency is where virtue is to be found. Valentine's Day is an excess of capitalism. It is in truth, just an excuse for people to try and sell you something. These people pile on feelings of guilt and anxiety, and then use those heightened emotional states to make a quick buck, without providing anything of real value. And, sadly, it works. The human desire for love and sex is simply too strong for it not to.

And so, in truth, everyone loses on Valentine's Day.

Men lose.

Women lose.

Singles lose.

Couples lose.

A healthy dating market loses.

The only ones that win are the fat cats that want to sell you something: the card and candy companies, and the makers of all those stuffed animals, etc.

So, this Valentine's Day, no matter what your status is, do everyone a favor, and abstain. Just act as you always would. You'll be free of anxiety, and ultimately happy. Valentine's Day 2014 We all lose.