Bullying in one form or another, has probably been around forever, and especially for certain unfortunate kids going to school, bullying is an unwelcome rite of passage; though bullying is certainly not limited to just school, for it can occur in the work environment, home environment, and really just about anywhere where people congregate together. One of the reasons that we have been hearing so much more nowadays about bullying is the fact that cyber-bullying makes bullying that much more malevolent, for while it is bad enough to be physically and mentally bullied, it can be far worse to have to deal with social media bullying which can be absolutely relentless in its effect and impact, because it is seemingly inescapable and inerasable.
As bad as bullying can be, and especially as bad as cyber-bullying is, there is almost unrecognized, another type of bullying which most people, especially those that conduct it, don't typically recognize, or refuse to recognize as bullying. While it is fair to say, that most people do not have particular sympathy or much empathy for a bully, it is surprising how many people are actually bullies, in the real world, but somehow still remain blithely unaware of it. It must be said that bullying, can be defined in a number of ways, but a very basic definition of a bully is a person or an organization that uses their superior strength or superior position to intimidate or to harm or to force someone else that is weaker or in a poor position, to adhere to that bullies' will and desire.
So then, all those that exploit and take unfair advantage of the weak and vulnerable, whether they use force or not, are, by definition, bullies. That is to say, most people believe that if two people come to an agreement, whether that is employment or some financial transaction, and that neither person is coerced into doing something against their will, that all is fair. Of course, forgotten within these so-called "voluntary transactions" is the inconvenient fact, such as if one person or organization has an immense amount of knowledge or understanding about a given transaction, of which, further they are aware that the other person does not, than quite obviously such an advantage allows them to bully over the other person. So too, all those that are lacking education, experience, citizenship, viable options, and so on, are often going to have to make the best deal that they can under the most unfavorable conditions, and that deal, more times than not, isn't going to be fair on its merits, but rather the party with the advantage will be bullying their way to an unfair deal, simply because their position of strength is unassailable.
While a physical bully exploits their strength against their weaker target, and a cyber-bully uses the social media as a cudgel to beat down their thoroughly outmaneuvered opponents; these are not the only bullies in life, for the reality of the situation is that bullying is all around us, and anytime that someone is unfairly taken advantage of by someone else, of which, the exploited person, through no fault of their own, lacks the fair capacity to do better, that is exploitation, and exploitation is a form of bullying because it is essentially getting someone to agree to do or conform to something that is inimical to themselves and advantageous for the bullying other.