Should a relationship be "exclusive" from the beginning?

If you want to date someone, should you be able to date others as well? I think that you should be free to date others until the relationship gets serious enough to consider marriage. As long as all people involved are aware of the situation, and agree to it. How many people would go for that?

Public Comments

1. umm no thanx i cant even get one girl, i dont want competition after she says yes
2. as long as everyone knows i agree w/u
3. As long as you are honest with one another it should not matter
4. If it's an open thing, yes. The point at which a relationship becomes serious enough to be exclusive depends on each person, though. For some, it's right after the first date. For others, only when there's a ring involved. Yet for others, even a marriage should be open. That point should be, I think, discussed with the other person from early on. For me, it's when the relationship gets physical.
5. not exclusive unless its a fling, or a f^ck buddy and thats not a relationship. Relationships that ur talking about involve trust, love, and sometimes money. Those three things should be very very inclusive.
6. hell naw...when you're in a relationship, it should be just about you two and not about others...why should you have to compete over each other? stick to being the "one and only" and have a good relationship.
7. Listen... some people smoke cigarettes their whole lives and never get cancer, eat bacon double cheeseburgers every day and never get a heart attack, don't use birth control and never get pregnant... etc. But there are also a bunch of people who drop dead because they just kept rolling the dice. So, just because some relationships might work out after being almost ruined, why would you do it to someone on purpose? For selfish hedonism? So you and your partner can talk about the good old days when you were uncommitted and doing someone else while the other one sat around feeling miserable? So, my advide is: don't smoke. Don't gorge yourself on fat. Use birth control. And, hey, you want to be selfish? Be so selfish that you really take care of yourself and give your relationship a chance to work by showing your best side to your partner, and expecting the best from them. Relationships are hard enough without doing crap that makes the other person feel bad and makes you seem like you don't care. Because: you do care, that's why you came here to ask.