Greetings,
I am going to speak on a particular social issue and I am going to get hammered from certain parts of our community for writing it. However, this is one of those things that needs to be written, needs to be sent out there, needs to be said. This is something that needs to be corrected in people's thinking of the way the world works.
Why does an "Alpha Male" need a pack?
Simply because without a pack you are a "lone wolf" and contrary to all the cinema and stereo-types which have been created, the surviving "lone wolf" is the exception to the rule. Mostly "lone wolves" die, because they don't have a pack, "lone wolves had a significantly higher mortality than members of packs and pairs." They become lone for a reason, rejected by a pack. This is proven through more studies than just this one. Oh, and "lone wolves," are exactly that lone, a pack of "lone wolves" is an oxymoron.
What Makes an "Alpha Male" in a pack?
The "alpha male" in the pack is the biggest, it is also the strongest, and so forth. However, even the concept of the "alpha male" has been proven to be false. For the purposes of the discussion and because the concept seems to pervade our society, or at least parts of it we will use it.
The "alpha male" is a leader. Yes, they are strong and they make decisions. They also care for the rest of the pack, they also defend the weaker members of their pack from attack. They do not go out and seek to harm members of their pack as this is counter-productive, as the pack must work together to survive. The "alpha male" will go out of its way to ensure that more of its members survive because this is to its advantage.
Watch this video for wolves in the wild, yes a pack of them. Watch how they follow one another, sticking together for the benefit of the pack. Working for the benefit of the whole rather than the individual.
What does all this mean?
There needs to be a correction in our idea of the so-called "alpha male" if we are going to continue to use this concept in a social sense (even thought the original concept is false). It needs to be recognised for what it originally was the leader of the pack. A one who worked for the group, who worked to the benefit of the group rather than themselves.
If you're big, strong and dominant, but you're not a leader, and you are not working toward the improvement of a group, seeking to improve the lives of others, you are no "alpha male." You're a "lone wolf" and your destiny is to be shut out, because "lone wolves" are removed from the pack for a reason. They have no use to the pack, the pack always comes first.
Real strong people are those who put other's needs before their own, because they can. They have the strength and resources to do so, so they do so. Not because they are told to, or because they are required but because that is the way things are done. This modern "alpha male" concept needs to be either reconstructed or removed, corrected to what a pack leader does or simply eliminated, because it does no good for society as a whole as it is currently.
Next time you are told someone is an "alpha male," ask the where their pack is, and if they don't have one, it's just an ego-trip to fill in some hole in their personality...
Cheers,
Henry.
