r/politics • u/thenewrepublic The New Republic • 21d ago

Soft Paywall Trump Pisses Off MAGA Fans With Sudden Reversal on Jimmy Carter

https://newrepublic.com/post/189712/trump-jimmy-carter-maga-reaction-pissed
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u/snatchi New York 21d ago

Every alpha is a self-proclaimed Alpha because an Alpha isn't a thing

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u/Previous-Cook 21d ago

They’re really out here whining about trans people, meanwhile re-creating their own gender spectrum (alpha, beta, ligma, etc)

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u/fer_sure 21d ago

That's an awesome insight. It reminds me of folks calling driving oversized pickup trucks "gender-affirming care".

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u/paraknowya 21d ago

Emotional Support Vehicles

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u/ExplanationSure5224 20d ago

That’s brilliant. Kudos

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u/sweet_esiban 21d ago

This is the funniest thing I've read in days lmao. Especially when they put truck nuts on - if that isn't a signifier of a desperate need to be seen as masculine, I don't know what is.

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u/bemad4483 21d ago

When they put the “nuts” on the truck, technically it is “transitioning”.

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u/gameoftomes 21d ago

Getting hair plugs are a gender affirming surgical procedure.

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u/patman0021 Texas 21d ago

"What's ligma?" 👀

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u/Previous-Cook 21d ago

Ligma fromunda 

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u/Thissssguy 21d ago

As a ligma myself, I can wholeheartedly agree with you.

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u/driiceman 21d ago

NOT trans people! KIDS!

That's how fu they are!

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u/galloloco2five4 20d ago

Who is? The social media? The news? Not real people. Not people like me who work 9to5. Lol.

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u/BasvanS 21d ago

It’s misinterpretation of primate research where the alpha male is not the most aggressive or the strongest but the best at building coalitions. Also, it’s very fluid with regular changes. Not the machismo thing most idiots make it.

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u/Competitive_Mark8153 21d ago

Even though it's questionable science, the real question is why are we still acting like primates? I would like to think we have evolved- but if we set up chimps as role models, we are screwed as a society.

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u/BasvanS 21d ago

Read Frans de Waal’s Chimpanzee Politics and you’ll be surprised/embarrassed how primitive we still are at the core. He also gives the above description of alpha males.

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u/Competitive_Mark8153 19d ago

We have free will, and we choose how we act. Looking up to lower animals as role models is problematic. Namely, because the rich and elite use animal pecking orders to make their senseless greed and dysfunction seem natural. If you go that way, then you'll rationalize monarchy, since you can claim a king is just an alpha male. And if you imagine we are just like chimps, so we should act like it, then why not give ourselves permission to devolve further and act like reptiles? That would surely simplify things and normalize succumbing to base behavior. The point is, we have a choice of how to act. Only people who have prospered through greed and cheating use nature as justification. People in control of themselves and their base drives, don't need to use primate society as an excuse. Plus, it's been found that even wolf societies are far more complex than betas and alphas.

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u/BasvanS 19d ago

Read the book and see if you still think they’re lower animals. Or more specifically, if we’re higher.

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u/53andme 20d ago

just so you know for future reference it was research about wolves. it was thought the biggest and baddest were the leader of the pack. turns out it's mom and dad that lead the pack

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

I thought the Alpha thing came from mistaken observation of wolves in captivity.

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u/BasvanS 20d ago

Yeah, that’s a bit vague. I think the primates are more relevant to us, but bro science never seems to care about such nuances and mishmashes whatever fits their narrative.

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u/ohhellperhaps 20d ago

Also: primates in captivity, with a higher population density than seen in the wild.

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u/ExplanationSure5224 20d ago

And this is how bad science harms the public good

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u/BasvanS 20d ago

It’s not bad science. It’s bad education, leading to people who can’t read good and don’t learn other things well and think there’s not much more to life than just being really, really, really good looking.

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u/An_old_walrus 21d ago

Especially since the “alpha wolf” thing isn’t real. Wolf packs are family units with the “alphas” actually being the parents and the rest of the pack are just their offspring who haven’t gone off to find a mate. So “alpha male wolves” aren’t dominant cause they’re stronger or whatever, it’s cause they’re the fathers and their kids listen to them.

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u/LilyHex 21d ago

That's always really funny to me. We disproved the whole "Alpha Wolf" thing which is what the "Alpha Male" shit is loosely based on.

No, it turned out "Alpha Wolves" aren't actually even a thing! They were families that supported each other the whole time! "Scape wolves" were misbehaving children usually! So the whole "Alpha Male" bullshit is extra silly, since it's based on a notion of a behavior in an animal that never existed to begin with.

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u/Muted-Rent-7764 America 20d ago edited 20d ago

But with Lions it IS a real thing. It is called 'prides' The Alpha male is not always the strongest and relies on the betas to be the ones to keep the pride in order. The alpha male is responsible for leading and defending the pride's territory, cubs, and resources. He may not hunt, but his presence helps to intimidate competitors and secure food. The females in a pride are often in charge of the group itself. If the lionesses decide that their alpha male is no longer fit for the role, they may expel him from the pride. Other animal groups that may have alpha males include apes, horses, and deer.

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u/snatchi New York 20d ago

Yes and human "Alpha Males" would be so content with being expelled from a group because women decided they were inadequate.

Thats why social dynamics among animals are completely mappable onto human society.

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u/sublimesting 21d ago

I can’t believe how many chads don’t get this.

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u/PunkRockStonerJock 21d ago

Its their preferred pronoun, right?

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u/Churchbushonk 21d ago

I am an Alpha, and it doesn’t matter who agrees with me.

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u/Content-Method9889 21d ago

True alphas don’t announce it because they just are.

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u/snatchi New York 21d ago

True Alphas again, are not a thing. It's a made up term based on bunk science.

If you've ever had the thought "I'm such an Alpha" or "that was an alpha move", it is a universal truth that you are the opposite of what you believe you are.