Would you say the NW’s vows of celibacy are beneficial or detrimental? I understand foreswearing lands and titles, and how that could extend to marriage, so that your only loyalties are to the Wall. So you don’t hesitate when it comes time to die for the Watch. But that means it’s harder to replenish their manpower, it makes joining seem like a punishment (even if you are joining willingly), and I feel like it gives the lifestyle a sense of hopelessness which affects morale. Maybe I’m off-base?

I’ve written about this somewhat in my discussion of Jon chapters. 

While barring marriage goes along with the forswearing of lands and titles – since people have this stubborn inclination to try to pass wealth down through family lines – I think celibacy has been a long-term mistake, because it means that the Watch doesn’t naturally reproduce its own manpower. 

If it was up to me, I’d embrace a somewhat Spartan model – communal reproduction, child-rearing, and education, all to build identification to the group as opposed to the fortunes of the individual family.