I have this vague notion that this was less of a problem 30-50 years ago and people would be punished or more against doing this kind of thing just by way of culture and ethics, but I can't verify if that's true or not, or just the sense you get from movies and tv. I feel like every time people got away with things, the entire society slipped a bit and little by little it eventually eroded to where we are today, where it feels like we are hitting that exponential growth on the curve for societal shittiness.
There always seemed to be a notion of "that person can't do that and get away with it, it'll be all over the news" and that would ruin them or get them punished, but it feels like the last few years people have just called the bluff on that and taken it to it's extreme conclusion and can get away with saying or doing anything and it doesn't matter if it's reported on, people will just go "I can't believe they said or did that" and nothing happens or changes (It just got normalized). The smart cheaters took this as an invitation to get away with things more frequently and openly now realizing there are very few repercussions. The only punishment seems to be for a small scale person or business that's really only serving a local community. I guess there is no larger sense of community anymore?
Do role models exist or have any power to inspire or do they have to become something they aren't just so they can be big enough to be seen for their message? Perhaps in a world where there were only like 30-100 tv channels and no YouTube and shitty internet it was easier because there was really only so few options of who you get to see and they were more curated, but now anyone can be seen and the algorithms will just optimize you into something you maybe curiously or accidentally clicked on and take you into (and trap you in) your own tribe, healthy or not. It just feels like there is no way to dig society out of it's direction as all the holdouts will eventually give in or their children will. Why is every future sci-fi dystopian pretty much? You take today to it's logical conclusion.