Genghis Khan: Alpha Male Extraordinaire

In the spirit of my recent commentary on the speech, Is There Anthing Good About Men? where Genghis Khan comes up as a a prime example of winning the reproduction lottery(he may have 16 million male descendents or .5% of all men alive today), I thought I would dedicate an entire article to what made Genghis so alpha, since he was always one of my childhood heroes.

The speaker mentions that males have to strive for respect and avoid humiliation to be one of the historically average 40% of men to successfully reproduce throughout human history.

This is all taken from his Wikipedia page, but I'm going to only focus on the humiliating defeats and hardships he had to overcome to ultimately be the most bangingest man in history.

First off, he had a rough childhood.  His father was a powerful clan leader who was poisoned when Genghis(then called Temujin) was 9 years old.  Being so young, some of his father's rivals took over the clan(gotta love it when your birth rights are snatched away from you) and kicked him, his mom, his sister and his two brothers and some half-siblings out on their asses to fend for themselves:

For the next several years, Hoelun and her children lived in poverty, surviving primarily on wild fruits, marmots, and other small game hunted by Temüjin and his brothers. It was during one hunting excursion that 13-year-old Temüjin killed his half-brother, Bekhter, during a fight which resulted from a dispute over hunting spoils.^[9] This incident cemented his position as head of the household.

That's right, Genghis doesn't let anyone take what's rightfully his.

In another incident in 1182 he was captured in a raid and held prisoner by his father's former allies, the Bjartskular ("wolves"). The Bjartskular enslaved Temüjin (reportedly with a cangue), but with the help of a sympathetic watcher, the father of Chilaun (who would later become a general of Genghis Khan), he was able to escape from the ger in the middle of the night by hiding in a river crevice.

No more whinging about your studio apartment.  At least you never got captured in a raid and had to sleep in a river crevice after you made your escape.  Talk about humiliating.  And then things got worse...

Soon after Börte's marriage to Temüjin, she was kidnapped by the Merkits, and reportedly given away as a wife. Temüjin rescued her with the help of his friend and future rival, Jamuka, and his protector, Ong Khan of the Kerait tribe. She gave birth to a son, Jochi, nine months later, clouding the issue of his parentage.

At 16 you never had to rescue your wife who was very possibly knocked up by the people who kidnapped her--and if she wasn't you know they tapped it as much as they could while they could, yikes!

Toghrul's (Wang Khan) son Senggum was jealous of Temüjin's growing power, and his affinity with his father. He allegedly planned to assassinate Temüjin. Toghrul, though allegedly saved on multiple occasions by Temüjin, gave in to his son^[13] and became uncooperative with Temüjin. Temüjin learned of Senggum's intentions and eventually defeated him and his loyalists.

And then he was betrayed by his blood brother's son, nice.

One of the later ruptures between Toghrul and Temüjin was Toghrul's refusal to give his daughter in marriage to Jochi, the eldest son of Temüjin, a sign of disrespect in the Mongolian culture. This act led to the split between both factions, and was a prelude to war. Toghrul allied himself with Jamuka, who already opposed Temüjin's forces; however the internal dispute between Toghrul and Jamuka, plus the desertion of a number of their allies to Temüjin, led to Toghrul's defeat.

Then his blood brother spits in his face, and rides off to join forces against him with the guy who helped Genghis rescue his wife.  Man, this is way better than TV.  He forgives and then he gets plugged again.  I bet Genghis's buddies had a good laugh at his expense(probably in secret though).

In 1201, a kurultai elected Jamuka as Gur Khan, "universal ruler", a title used by the rulers of the Kara-Khitan Khanate. Jamuka's assumption of this title was the final breach with Temüjin, and Jamuka formed a coalition of tribes to oppose him. Before the conflict, however, several generals abandoned Jamuka, including Subutai, Jelme's well-known younger brother. After several battles, Jamuka was finally turned over to Temüjin by his own men in 1206.

You gotta wonder about a guy who can gather support(and jealousy) like Genghis could.  So remember that the next time people are arrayed against you trying to take you down, you're probably doing something right.

Temüjin again offered his friendship to Jamuka, asking him to return to his side. Temüjin had killed the men who betrayed Jamuka, stating that he did not want disloyal men in his army. Jamuka refused the offer of friendship and reunion, saying that there can only be one Sun in the sky, and he asked for a noble death. The custom is to die without spilling blood, which is granted by breaking the back.

Genghis did have a soft side. In fact when he drew up laws, he made stealing of livestok and women illegal(did I say stealing of women..?  I meant abduction).

I know I could definitely have a serious bloopers reel.  There was one time I opened a girl sitting in a restaurant and when I went to approach her, I totally smashed my face against the glass.  Ouch.

Then there was the time a chick spit at me.  Luckily I had some good friends at both occasions to make sure I never forgot either of those incidents...

So, as I was saying, you often have to be humiliated and make a total ass of yourself to climb to the top.  People will betray you and stab you in the back because they're jealous and they hate to see you succeed.  Keep going anyway and smash them if necessary.

Comments

[YiShen]

Fanastic Post. I love this paragraph.

You often have to be humiliated and make a total ass of yourself to climb to the top. People will betray you and stab you in the back because they're jealous and they hate to see you succeed. Keep going anyway and smash them if necessary.

So True. Do you offer free coaching hahas.

[RedpoleQ]

Thanks for your comment.

I do free 1 hour phone consultations...contact me if you're interested.