There are two kinds of aggressive hierarchies, alphas (common on the West coast) and pecking orders (more common to the East). Alpha systems in modern human monogamy systems usually are that the alpha is just providing a recognizable social order that is good for everyone unless the alpha is particularly dumb. Pecking orders make what this article here describes, with far more ongoing conflict. It is the constant, endless, mindless competition up and down the order as nature has programmed males of most species.
There is another potential to consider though. Human brains increased in size rapidly after we left the trees because of the need for communication and cooperation. We weren't well adapted and were struggling so that was necessary to survive. The big cats just loved hunting humans. So we ended up with two primary instincts. The older, red of tooth and claw, mindless competition so common to nature and the less common cooperation and empathy. You can see it in yourself or anyone. They will help you if they can, but don't threaten them. To survive as more than animals, humans need to embrace our cooperative nature.
About 70,000 years ago, the human brain 're-organized" and we became more efficient. We became more efficient. We became the hunter instead of the hunted. We killed those cats and started killing everything else including each other. That peaked with Rome. Philosophies developed to deal with and even prevent the amazing violence of our history became important and more widely known, especially the idea of "forgive" and "love one another" that was a way many chose to stop the endless feuding.
Men will have to find their place in this new strategy, though they already have really. Sports shows the power of teams. We see it at work when a team accomplishes what an individual cannot.
The critical thing is to understand that we have both these potentials and what their consequences are. Then we can choose which to use. Only one has a future.
Alphas are good because they reduce competition and conflict, but can still be based on dominance, which serves no one. They need to be based on leadership and luckily, often are.
