We agree on so much - but here is where we see things differently.

Perhaps we can still find common ground.

the notion that we can't or won't or shouldn't commit to a long term relationship sounds…. hopeless and terrible.

I definitely don't mean to insinuate that we shouldn't commit to a long-term relationship. Perhaps it is my own fault for people often thinking that I advocate for that. My whole point is that you cannot guarantee how long a particular bond will last. You may meet someone one year and find yourself madly in love. That love may last 5 years or 10 years or 100 years. But it very well may fade and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. A relationship can end without it also being a failure. I am simply trying to alleviate the fear people have with a relationship "failing". Sometimes people put a tremendous amount of pressure on themselves to be in a bond that lasts "forever". When the relationship doesn't last forever, they feel like it was somehow "their fault".

So I guess the common ground would be that if you personally want a long-term bond, and your partner does as well, then go for it! There is nothing wrong with it, and many studies show that there are many psychological and health benefits to staying in a long-term committed bond. But just don't feel like you are personally a bad person/lover/partner if it does not last. Because statistically speaking, everything ends... whether that is because of some socio-economic fall out, death, or you just drift apart for some other reason.