The only counter I have to that is how sensitive our brains are to chemical, mental, and physical trauma.

Drugs, injury, and environmental stress cause easily observable behavior changes, but also changes on the brain measurable in medical imaging. And there’s a lot of acknowledgement that these changes can occur in childhood and persist.

I don’t think anyone chooses to be cruel, I think it’s forced on them in ways they can’t do anything about, and as a society we owe it to them to do better and help them.