NICK writes:
Just a thought on your article this morning: should we grant the assumption that beta males are in fact inferior to alpha males?
I don’t like these descriptions, because they seem too grounded in a more animalistic reality but, as you point out, it is a popular theme on the American political Right of today.
Alpha males are typically rugged men who have no serious allegiance or loyalty to anyone else. They don’t typically like order, law or responsibility. They operate on a “dog eat dog” mentality and usually are very opportunistic in the pursuit of their own self-defined concept of happiness. In their ethical lives, they’re utilitarian.
Great examples of Alpha males: dead-beat fathers, drug dealers, playboys, wall-street investors, politicians, lawyers, etc.
None of these are typically exemplars of a good life, except when “good life” is defined by modern standards. People who boldly lived their lives as they saw fit to do so regardless of any of the supposed expectations rooted in their nature as men (similarly, women are “empowered” and “free” when they live like their lives like this). (more…)