Are there any answers to the violence that is becoming prevalent today regardless if it is being perpetrated on people by a rogue government or violent protests? What about mass killings by lone operatives or genocide carried out by a regime? What leads to such unthinkable tragedies? 

Are their cultural environments conducive to bad behavior?

Of course there is. Racial, religious, and ethnic intolerance is found in every culture and nation of the world to some degree. Things grow because there is soil to sustain it. If you change the soil then what is produced changes. Changing the soil through proper education and the instilling of morals will create a culture of valuing each other which in turn produces a bedrock for societal cohesiveness. A fish thrives in water because it is an environment that contains everything it needs to survive. Take the fish out of its environment and it dies. Will racism and all forms of bigotry be totally eradicated? No, but we can have an environment that creates little to no possibility for growth, thus isolating their perspectives and ideologies beyond the moat of reasoning. This will translate into loss of influence and opportunity for these who propagate such intolerable thinking leading to despicable behavior.

The importance of education is indisputable in its value to constructing a generation. Information becomes the hinge that swings the door of opportunity to a land of progress. However, as with all things in life, this demands balance, because when educating people and yet forgetting the instruction of morals is inadvertently creating a danger to national and international stability. Think about Nazi Germany as an example. It was the land of some of the most educated minds and technology such as Einstein and Mercedes-Benz, yet it produced a Hitler. Educators today must realize the importance of serving students information and increasing their knowledge, but also assisting them in developing their character, which is necessary in being a positive contributor to society.

Reuben Egolf