Resurgence of the Alpha Males

Self-published blog essay, Aug. 16, 2025

Read time: 5:00

Self-published

When I write about politics and history, there’s an objective. The goal is to share what I have learned in the hopes of contributing to the rational discussion of these things and ideally make a difference.

My piece here today is somewhat academic, and I realize there is not much hope of making a difference. The topic is too vast. But maybe it will inspire a few people to really think about whom they are voting for next time.

Anthropologist Christopher Boehm, in his excellent book Moral Origins, suggests that early human groups began suppressing alpha males over 50,000 years ago. Ape groups are usually dominated by an alpha male. This ape is shown deference, typically gets the females he chooses, and takes what he wants.

Early humans grew fed up with alpha-male dominance and there occurred what amounts to a revolution in our species’ history. Alpha males were punished, killed, and exiled (basically a death sentence). “I’d suggest that Ancestral Pan [the predecessor to humans],” says Boehm, “had a strong distaste for being intimidated and bossed around.”

The effect was tremendous, and there occurred a more horizontal distribution of power. There was an increased egalitarianism, and these groups became more cooperative. Humanity started to flourish. A code of conduct began to prevail, and this code (essentially not acting like an alpha male), over thousands of years and generations, entered the human genome. As of 45,000 years ago, humans developed a moral conscience. This was one of the most significant developments in our species’ history.

Around 12,000 years ago, we made the colossal mistake of planting crops. This was called the Agricultural Revolution—though it should be called the Agricultural Devolution. Before this, we were foragers—hunter-gatherers—for many millennia. You ate what you could find and moved from place to place. We ate better, we were healthier, we were stronger, we were more dextrous, we were more peaceful, we were, in a word, happier.

When we planted crops, we all of a sudden stayed in one place, mainly lived on one kind of food, and were at the mercy of the weather, bandits, and violence. It was in this context that humans began thinking in terms of property and the need for protection. As of around five thousand years ago, we start to see empires develop. Empires have emperors. Emperors are alpha males.

When we look at the profound human misery on display throughout history, it has commonly been the decision making and product of alpha males: tribal chiefs, emperors, kings, sultans, pharaohs, tsars, caliphs, presidents, prime ministers—all alpha males.

Modernity has meant famine, war, and all around agony for millions upon millions. Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau made this point repeatedly almost 300 years ago. And I tend to agree with him. Of course, there is no going back. We chose this path and walk it we must.

Don’t get me wrong, I like my space heater, modern dentistry, my microwave, my iMac, airplanes, the internet, art museums, and wearing shoes and socks. I’m as soft as they come. If you dropped me in a forest and told me to find civilization, there would be three phases: (1) weeping, (2) starvation, (3) death. Plus, I might add, wheelchairs are pretty impractical in a forest.

So, I am well aware of the conveniences and benefits of modernity. They are not lost on me. However, I am also well aware of what the last five thousand years of human history have meant for humans. The hunger, the violence, the savagery—and now environmental degradation that will very likely affect the species in ways that are evocative of the Bible.

When we survey the violence of 2025, we see the handiwork of alpha males. They are commonly sociopathic mafia dons with flags. Vladimir Putin comes to mind. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose snipers are right now shooting hungry school-aged children (I say school-aged not school children because there are no longer any schools—they’ve been leveled). The US president spreads fear with his balaclava-wearing ICE thugs who lock up children and their families for nothing. “They’re illegal!” some will protest. Many of these people fled the countries that the United States has devastated over the course of its existence.

It’s ugly out there, yet it doesn’t have to be. It’s a tall order, but Putin could be shown the door in Russia. The Israelis could rid themselves of Netanyahu. And Elizabeth Warren could easily be president of the United States; this would require the working class supporting the working class and women supporting women. Instead, we have someone who speaks of women in a vile way, is a sexual predator, and who hands free money to the ultra-wealthy and corporations while shafting the working class, the working poor, vets, and the elderly—people who don’t matter.

Nevertheless, these are the circumstances we must negotiate. The worst of humanity will always seek power. And when they achieve it, pain and suffering are sure to follow. Whether it be wealthy hedge-fund manager types who influence politics in the ugliest ways, men who traffic in the slavery of women, mafia dons, gang leaders, pimps, criminals of various stripes, predatory priests, we live in a world that is made miserable by men (typically men) who have no moral conscience to speak of, who seek power and wealth, and who do not care at all about how their behavior affects other people.

I am not in any way suggesting that women cannot exhibit this behavior. I know that women can be sociopathic, psychopathic, power hungry, greedy, lacking in conscience, murderous, predatory, and criminal. Women can be and do all that. But men just seem to be better at it, and exhibit those behaviors and traits far more often.

The world is what we make it; but we did not choose the epoch in which we live. Millennia from now, humans will look back and see that the alpha males returned and created unspeakable suffering for much of the species. Maybe humanity will become fed up once more. Maybe humanity will rise up again. In the meantime, we must make the best of a bad situation. However, that’s not the direction I see at the moment.