Long, long ago, in a republic far, far away, there lived three recent escapees from that form of bondage known as graduate school.  The Hero, the Princess, and the Villain lived together in a shared rented house. As is the way of these stories, the Hero and the Princess fell madly in love with each other. The Hero was besotted with her beauty, charms and skills, while she was enamoured of his European sophistication and great rod of power.  However, as is also the way with these stories, the Princesses also tried out the Villain’s rod. She found it wanting in power and finish, being of Chinese manufacture, while he was rough, unsophisticated, and uncouth.  

 
The Princess, being a princess, dreamt of a life of ease, living in many palaces, while her only concern was to produce heirs. Alas, while our Hero could provide the Princess with heirs, his Magic Wallet, though generous, was deficient. Meanwhile, the Villain was heir to a Magic Wallet of great strength and power. And so it came to pass that the Princess forsook the Hero, and lived in unhappy marriage with the Villain, whilst enjoying many palaces, and with no concern other than producing heirs.  

 
* Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental

Had the Magic Rod not been wanting in power and finish, would the story have had a happier ending?

The Princess would have preferred to marry a wealthy gentleman with a great rod of power. The Hero was a gentleman with a great rod, but insufficiently wealthy. The Villain was wealthy, but not much of a gentleman, and his rod was not great. Having to choose, the Princess opted for wealth.

The Princess and the Villain lived unhappily ever after - until they separated. The Princess continues to live in the palaces with the heirs, while the Villain is somewhere in China enjoying the pleasures of concubines. The Princess stayed in contact with the Hero throughout, and confessed both before and after her wedding that she disliked the Villain. The last time the Hero met the Villain, he confessed that he now realized that “the Princess was always all about the money”.

,,,the kingdom has read your story and has taken pity upon your plight.

 
But as your knoweth, the man with a great bulging wallet, when it erupts between thy lady's legs and drips down them with financial accouterments will always win her over.

 
As our wise Merlin has forecast, in the future there will be this strange happenstance called "internet" where wiser soles will be able to convey to you why this is...

And that's why threesomes are a bad idea.  

 
Hmmm... doesn't sound right, does it?  

 
I'll have to work on it.  

 
Life is good

 
The Cat

The princess with the Golden Pussy....And the fools that followed.

While I appreciate the comments so far, my original post was just a fable, set long, long ago, and far, far away.
It was meant an illustrative background for my main question - is marriage really just an acceptable form of sugaring?

I loved the fable! It does indeed pose an interesting question, Dick Everhard. People marry for different reasons. Some for love, some for money. Some marry because they are terrified of being alone, while others do it because it's the expected norm in their particular culture, or possibly a combination of all of these. [and many other factors].  

 
The standard answer is 'all relationships are transactional,' but is that merely an oversimplification for something a lot more complex? Is it also the standard answer which some use to justify sex for money transactions as morally acceptable when in some small way they feel guilty?  

 
One could make the argument that marriage is the most acceptable form of sugaring and is practiced by most of society, at least in European and American cultures. It is an exchange of duties. To what degree is sex a payment for something else, like money, and to what degree is it a 50/50 exchange of something both parties want? [sex for sex], which could be seen as an equal exchange without money.

 
For some women, getting good sex is payment enough and don't want money in addition to the fun [and the man is getting good sex and companionship in return, an equal exchange without money] For other women, having sex is a hardship they endure to get the money. In marriage the wife often feels it's an obligation and doesn't enjoy it, while other wives see it as one of the benefits of being married and thoroughly enjoy it.              

Seeing that I got divorced after 32 years Id say yes. Post GFC my income dropped a lot and my ex no longer liked my personality when the cash flow diminished.

In my opinion, 100% yes.  

Data points:

1. My father-in-law married a much younger woman...she's only a few years older than my wife (his daughter). He has lavished, and she has run through, literally millions of dollars over the past 12 years of their marriage. Millions. I have a very open and frank relationship with this man and have told him not to expect any help from us when she runs through the last of his money and unceremoniously dumps him. It will happen as I know this woman's nature. Oh, it won't be something like "he's broke, so I'm gone" but a concocted story of abuse where the reason for her dumping him is for her welfare. I have two clients where the exact same thing happened. I call it "getting Lamar'd" - named after one of these clients.

2. I have an amazing, fulfilling, loving, supportive and fun relationship with my wife. She's totally cool (and gets excited) by me playing with other women. That said, if the gravy train stopped rolling her attraction for me would likely diminish. I'm financially independent so my career is optional at this point but one of the main things that she was attracted to was my drive and ambition. If I sat around all day and did nothing the original source of the attraction would be gone. Likewise, I was attracted to her kindness, loving nature and sexuality. If she became distant, bitchy and asexual I would be gone as well. The sex part doesn't matter as much as that's readily available, but you get the idea.

3. Most of my friends (like myself) are mid-to-late fifties. A lot of these guys are winding down their careers and any of the traits that made them attractive are waning. I'm not talking about looks: I'm talking about having a purpose, or drive and ambition as mentioned above. Each one of these men has worked really hard a sacrificed tons to elevate the standing of their families. But these wives (who are also my friends) lament to me that they feel like glorified moms to their husband and there's no spark. I know for a fact that most/all of them would have an affair with me if they thought no one would find out (and I'm not that great looking of a guy). However, I make these women feel heard, engaged, make them laugh and for a woman of a certain age that's a panty dropper.  

Hypergamy is real - it's hard wired into women. Men provide and lead. Women receive and follow. Doesn't matter if it's the sugar bowl, or a 30+ year marriage. Every instance where I see this law violated results in either the women losing all attraction for the man (at best) or affairs and divorce.

As sugar daddies we get the best of both worlds. Our SB's may not be in it for the long haul with us older guys, but at least some of them make it feel like a real relationship and they get the benefit of being taken care of.