How much evil throughout history could have been avoided had people exercised their moral acuity with convictional courage and said to the powers that be, 

No, I will not. 

This is wrong, 

and I don't care if you fire me,

 shoot me, 

pass me over for promotion,

 or call my mother, 

I will not participate in this unsavory activity.' 

Wouldn't world history be rewritten if just a few people had actually acted like individual free agents rather than mindless lemmings?