So, my hunch was correct when I said that you sort of lament the fate of nice guys who, by upholding some, let's say, higher ideals seem to be destined to be losers in the confines of current day human society and also nature at large.

I can give you the human social part, because society is nowadays one big perversion. But I simply cannot agree with the natural part. Not that human society as it is today is unnatural -- nature obviously allows for such an arrangement -- but, as I said, it's a perversion, an extreme (and a relatively young one at that -- 6K years is just a blip). And in nature, all extremes are eventually leveled.

So, in the end, when nice alphas finish first, even the so-called omegas finish exactly at the same time. That's not so much disputing humanistic dualism on monistic grounds, as it’s merely continuously pointing out that monism encompasses that dualism and is sort of a synthesis of thereof. Not negating either, nor picking a side.

Hence, neither revolt (passive or other) against what you perceive as natural order, nor aggression as in unrestrained taking advantage of the same is the answer. As I said previously, they are merely responses, knee-jerk reactions of sorts, both based on personal preferences and predilections.

Yours is, then, the dilemma, which part of yin-yang we should choose, when the answer is in accepting the whole Tao. One revolution of Earth around its axis brings daytime as it also brings nighttime.

Therefore, to use your terminology, I, for one, am idealistic realist. Idealist in that I basically subscribe to the same ideals you do, realist in that I love that finality of human life that horrifies you so much, because it puts things in proper perspective and makes me not to bother with superficial crap, petty conflicts, or the usual human blame games, etc. There is simply no time for any of that stuff. Not to mention that is also gives me the strength to live by the ideals I uphold without guilt or remorse. After all, what’s really important in the face of imminent death? And although I’m not exactly a winner by current social standards, I’m definitely no loser either. And, frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way.