Good point. I think of the others in that scenario as a sort of "halo" effect, around the central drivers. They tend to calm down or go away when the central

Good point. I think of the others in that scenario as a sort of "halo" effect, around the central drivers. They tend to calm down or go away when the central drivers stop. In that scenario, it doesn't take much for even one or two mean-spirited people and their halo people to make life relentlessly miserable and difficult for anyone that is targetted, deliberately or accidentally. The size of the halo can be enormous, hundreds or even millions of people in severe cases (social media storm), but even say 5-10 people is enough to induce great misery, because of social effects. I do blame the halo people for not being more self-aware of the consequences of their actions towards others or caring about it; when I've seen it, most of them seem to not care. "Don't blame me, all I did was...". (The ones who do care when they realise are wonderful though.) I think being scared they have to get in first to avoid trouble is rational but low on an ethical scale. I don't think there's much point in action against the halo people because they each don't tend to have done much except contribute a little to the wave, and "punishments" backfire if there is no clear bad action that is widely recognised. Serious psychological trauma, PTSD etc, which can take years to recover from (if ever), are quite likely for the targets if it persists, especially if it has knock-on effects on the rest of their life. It is not a small thing, but people often don't realise that, or will minimise it unless it's happened to them. Because of the severity of harm that can happen, and especially when it is happening, sometimes I think it is important to recognise and "pick off" the core driving people - or if possible just the problem behaviour - decisively, and the halo will tend to dissipate afterwards. Of course there are countless problems in the details with this, and it may be somewhat unjust, but what else can we do? It isn't justice to let it continue. So if it looks necessary, I start to see a "picking off" intervention as ethically-necessary harm management, rather than platonic justice for all. That makes me sad, but seeing waves of relief in someone kind of makes up for it, and I have a lot of empathy.