47 new Ronin every fifteen minutes

Medieval Japan was a feudal country. While a small amount of money changed hands, most of the economy was sustained by an elaborate system of "obligations" with "Loyalty" flowing up from the bottom and "Responsibilities" flowing down from the top.

This web of obligations was so comprehensive that it was virtually impossible for somebody who fell outside of the web to survive. That outsider had no legal right to collect firewood for cooking or to gather shellfish. They had no legal right to till and plant a field. They had no right to sleep under a roof. 

It worked in Japan for a long time. Japan had (and has) a homogeneous population with a shared history. Japan had little mobility, either in society or in terms of geography. Japan did not have an abundance of natural resources and could not afford to run experiments that would likely fail.

Samurai were warriors who had pledge their allegiance to the local Shogun or Warlord. The pledge was not lightly given and Samurai typically only gave it once in their lifetime.

47 Ronin

47 Ronin is a movie based on a fictionalized rewrite of a Japanese folk-story that is based on actual, historical events.

Plot: An honorable Shogun who had 47 Samurai was forced to take his own life through the manipulations of a dishonorable Shogun. The Samurai refused to switch their allegiance to the new, slimy Shogun and thus became Samurai who were not pledged to a Shogun, known as Ronin in the Japanese language, a virtual death sentence in medieval Japan. 

With honor gone and nothing else left to lose, the Ronin decide to avenge the honorable Shogun's death. 

Divorces

There are approximately 1,800,000 divorces in the United States. If you divide that by the number of seconds in a year (including nights, weekends and holidays) we average one divorce every 17.5 seconds.

If you do the math, that means that there are 47 newly divorced men every fifteen minutes. 

Every one of those divorced men have something in common with the Japanese Ronin. Typically, the courts kick them to the curb. They are turned into objects. They are piggy-banks to be drained. Much of society bought into "Always believe the woman". 

If 47 Ronin in feudal Japan were seen as an existential threat to the Empire, then why do so many people cheer on the women who file for divorce*? "You go, girl. Kick his ass!!!"  

47 new Ronin every fifteen minutes!!

It is something to ponder as the shredding of our society accelerates.

*4 out of every 5 divorces are initiated by the woman.