Agree with most of what you have written.Wow! What a crock of shit.
First off, men see Companions for a variety of reasons. Your "in the good ol'days" yarn is about as historically accurate as Soviet history book, and shows a fundamental lack of understanding what it means to be in a relationship. If the only woman you can see yourself with is a June Cleaver type, subservient homemaker, do the world a favour and castrate yourself immediately. Real men love real women, you want subservience get a dog.
Next, people, not just men, have gone to see professional sex workers in waxing and waning trends throughout history. In the US alone the legality of prostitution has gone through 3 different statuses in the 20th century alone. Europeans have accepted brothels to the point they figure significantly in their literature. Finally, in Ancient Greece and Egypt, for a small donation, priestesses of the goddess of fertility or love would perform "rites" with you.
As for the popularity of sex work right now? Simple: we're in a historical period where sex is prevalent, ergo paid sex will also be more prevalent and legitimised.
However, the original poster has something but missed the point. The relationship between men and women has changed drastically over the years. This is a result of many, many, many changes in society, and our social and economic life. The abundance of information, the amount of options that we have available (not just pay for play, but also
on-line dating, and romances), the ease of finding satisfaction are all factors in this.
The OP did seem like he was blaming the problem on women, and I think alot of the older folks do subscribe to that train of thought.