There are plenty of people trying something else:
polyamory
http://www.polyamory.org.uk/

intentional communities
http://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk/

If something doesnt work for 1 person, or indeed in one relationship or period in that persons life, it doesnt mean it doesnt work at all. Open relationships and multiple commitments do work for some people, although it can take negotiation and serious self analysis….

The culture of empire has been moulding our consciousnesses, breaking up communities and dividing and ruling us for at least 10,000 years. 30 years is hardly long enough to right something off – especially when quite large numbers of people are happily living in multi-partner scenarios.

and what does ‘work’ really mean? if you try something that isnt the conventional and find that it throws up all kinds of emotional stuff to work through, that could be seen as not working (and run away!) or as working (and work through your fears).
Or if one partner decides they cant live like that anymore, it could also be viewed as not working – but only if ‘working’ is to stay together for life whatever….

I’ve heard this line before. How it usually plays out in reality, rather than in theory, is something along the lines of, “I, the man, get to boink all the women I want and you, the woman, must suffer in silence.”

I contend the real problem with “civilized” sex isn’t the lack of freedom, it’s the lack of clear boundaries. Indigenous peoples apparently tend to have an elaborate system of body decoration, dress, and behavior to determine who’s married, who’s unmarried but ineligible for marriage, who’s unmarried but eligible for marriage, who’s homosexual, and/or who just wants to screw around, depending of course on the mores of the individual tribe.

We don’t have that. On the one side we have seemingly arbitrary suppression of healthy sexuality by those who want to funnel sexual energy into nefarious purposes. On the other side we have a bunch of antisocial or at least essentially nonsocial lunatics who want everyone to do their own thing even if nobody else knows what the hell that person is doing or why. And neither side seems to favor clear signaling. None of this is a recipe for a healthy culture.

Been there… done the free love thing… that doesn’t work either. It’s been tried for thirty years. Time to try something else.