I think a lot of awfulness is just the result of a poor internal model of the world. Intentionally spreading a poor model of the world is an effective propaganda strategy and often done. However it is difficult to tell apart people who have been lied to and people who have been unintentionally misled.

I think a great many people, myself included, have been misled about a great many things. Mostly not even out of maliciousness, but because reality is not as obvious as it could be. Our perspectives are often so limited. My takeaway from all this is to try and broaden my perspective, and when possible, give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they just need some new information, or the removal of a malign influence.