What I tell people: Absent an effective countervailing strategy, bullying works. At its simplest level, if "the bully is only hurting themself" and similar in

What I tell people: Absent an effective countervailing strategy, bullying works. At its simplest level, if "the bully is only hurting themself" and similar ineffective (I'd argue, actively counter-productive) messaging were actually true, then why is bullying such a pervasive, ingrained, and persistent characteristic of our social interactions and societies? It works! Unless you actually stop it. Until we teach our kids this and train them in how to deal with the situation effectively, and unless as older kids and adults we actively engage ourselves in the social milieus where this is taking place, the strategy is going to have unhindered success and continue. Bullying is never going to go away or be eradicated. (Look at its presence in many other species aside from our own.) But we can be honest about it and about this, teach our kids and where necessary contemporaries how to deal with it, lend support in dealing with it, and keep base-level aggression from warping lives and quelling the valuable contributions others have to offer. Is society a "zero sum game"? Or does fostering a more positive environment grow the pie for all of us? This is actually a topic that economics appears to be beginning to grapple with (e.g. the newish "Evonomics"). Are unfettered capitalism and unbridled inequality the route to the greatest growth, or does a greater, flatter sharing of resources produce the better overall outcome? Economists are starting to see and acknowledge evidence of the latter. P.S. On a personal note, I experienced some pretty bad and persistent bullying, particularly in middle school. At least one of the most senior teachers observed it directly and did nothing about it. In fact, no one ever taught me anything about how to deal with it. I still carry those scars. Bullying works. Unless you act to prevent this.