No, it isn't, and yes, it is.
"Herd mentality" is real in human beings. And if you teach people over the course of their lives that they're supposed to do what everyone else is doing, that's what they'll do.
On the other hand, if you try to inspire them to act like human beings and not animals, you might get human beings.
Unfortunately, I don't see much of a chance. Trash some neighborhoods, everybody goes along. Drop bombs in Afghanistan, everybody goes along. It seems pretty much the same to me.
