My teachers always say that 95% percent of people are good and decent, it's that 5 out of every hundred that ruin it for everyone. My french class, for example. I know a lot of the people enough to know that they are smart and generally nice. But it's a big class of about 35, with about 4 lowlife pricks. Their behavior is contagious. Nobody wants to take a part in class because they're either afraid of the torrent of insults from the 4 (and from everyone else who is agreeing with them so they aren't harassed) or they just give in to depression that it's not worth it, since it's impossible to learn in there anyway. The same goes for standing up to the 4, either they think they will look like sellout horrible narks to the 4, or they won't bother because they "won't get it anyway." Which they won't. If we don't step up and refuse to be controlled by the horrible ignorant wretches who "don't get it" then we will as a society, species, and planet, fail.