The Rise of the Alpha Male
To the Detriment of Humanity
The more I think about it; the stronger becomes my opinion that the Alpha male, here used in its common usage, not as its originator, David Mech, intended, is the actual genie in the bottle, the entity confined to Pandora’s box.
I have not researched and studied in detail any anthropological findings. Still, my general impression is that in hunter-gatherer societies, each person or group of persons had a clear and defined role to play in the community for the betterment of the tribe — children, initiated boys and girls, men, women and elders. Gathering, organising, food preparation, care for the young and making camp were all the preserve of the women — the keepers of hearth and home. A tribe survives best if there is harmony within itself. This is the domain of the female way of thinking. A man’s duty was to hunt, but the minimal contribution by these efforts seem more likely an excuse to get them out of the way and keep them occupied. Alpha males excelled above their peers in this physical task for it stands to reason that all men are not Alpha males.
Unfortunately, due to humanity’s suspicion towards outsiders, another more sinister chore of these men whose mentality bent them towards domination and aggression, defence was left primarily in their hands.
Care was chosen that these men did not rule the tribe. They operated within specified niches and any attempts to break out of these confines were met in ridicule and if they persisted, ostracization.
Obtaining food as a hunter-gatherer can be an elusive thing, and human evolution has geared us into capitalizing on the most plentiful and caloric sources available. It was inevitable, therefore, that our adaptable brains led us into agriculture and farming. Through this move, which allowed us to flourish as a species, we gained much, and we lost even more. We planted our survival into a plot of land. We started to think of this acreage as ours. We buried our parents and grandparents in visible tombs on the hillside. We not only planted crops, but we planted our ancestors. Ownership was not only implied but stated. We removed the cork from the bottle, lifted the lid from the box. The Alpha Male was let loose into our world.
We could no longer avoid other groups as before. Staying away from potential trouble was no longer an option. Ill intent, covetousness and greed now knew where to find us. We were tied to the land by ropes of our making. To run was to lose everything. We had to fight for what was ours. The Alpha male, the guardians of violence, strategy and the power of sudden action, was in the ascendancy. He dominated the councils. His discourse convinced all. His decisions carried the day. He guided the household and the community. Just as we as a people exerted control over a plot of earth, he claimed ownership over the produce of that land — this included, of course, the women and children in it. Women had bartered away their place and standing for the sake of a full belly — for themselves and that of their offspring. Security was everything.
Under the guise of the continuance of this newly found security, war and the ability to wage war took hold in the thinking of the society. Such a mentality grew not only in the narrow reasoning of the Alpha male but in the minds of all of the tribal members — what better way to be secure than to seize the possessions of our neighbours. An efficient military organisation depends on a clear line of command — a fixed hierarchy. In order to get to the top of the command structure, one must battle his way upwards — prove his mettle and force to his peers. To be a male, a man, is everything.
Maleness rules the world. The way we trade and do business with each other is based on combative techniques and aggression — sold to us as assertiveness. The way we educate our young is based on competition and individual achievement rather than through cooperation and group support. Even our revered scientists have perverted the scientific method into the values of maleness. Darwinism and the often misused concept of the survival of the fittest is just one example. Yet another is the Perpetual Growth Economic Gospel. This pseudo-scientific coup advances the self-defeating, aggressive scripture of never-ending production using finite resources — we all live in one small world, there isn’t any other for us yet, maybe never. We dig up what nature has buried to protect life and use this poison for short term economic gain and elusory power. The attainment of money and avid consumerism is everything, and the primary common-sense treatment of one’s fellow human supersedes the financial system of unequal gain. Humanity means nothing for we are but slaves to an invented system which no one understands.
Women, at least those who pursue the avenues to garner influence, have forgotten the cohesive strength inherent in being female. They can no longer remember who they were and no longer retain the ability to solve problems by means other than force or conflict. Their natural reasoning powers inherited through their mitochondria have been corrupted. In this state of amnesia, they have taken up the mantle of a man and wear his clothes in order to regain an equal position. Equality is everything.
Our Government representatives are all male. Our corporation bosses are entirely male, even if some of them do wear skirts. Our heroes are mostly male. We seem to call great only those who devote themselves to conquer — Alexander the Great, Alfred the Great. Our history is an altar to the gods of war, and our most successful gods are male — a significant majority, alpha males. The Bible is unashamedly patriarchal — superior maleness reinforced even through our religion and spiritualism.
The Alpha male was designed by nature to be a useful part of the whole — to serve his small group society in a particular and specific way. He had his uses, but he was not meant to lead. It is plain to see that we have handed him the keys to the destruction of our species — the annihilation of what he was meant to protect. It’s not altogether his fault. He did not evolve to be a multi-faceted figure. His creation was intended to be one dimensional — to serve in a specific way. He has acted according to his nature, but now he is running amok — perverting Mother Nature herself. We must find a way to pry the steering wheel out of his hands. Perhaps it’s not too late to change course rapidly before we all plunge over the cliff to extinction.
