Did the Buddha say anything about bullying? Did the Buddha say anything about bullying, turning others against you out of boredom, malice, unconcern for their well being, stuff like that? How does it differ from e.g, &quot;harsh speech&quot;: is it still karmically bad, if it's all cloak and daggers?
I mean for me, you really have to treat the well being of others as an end in itself, if you want to be &quot;ethical&quot;. I don't think I just mean intrinsically valuable, a moral good, but intrinsically valuable independent of any other goals you have. In which case you can't sacrifice the wellness of someone for something else.
There is this story about a bhikkhu killing a swan in the commentary to dhp393;

Once there was a bhikkhu who was very skilful in throwing stones; he could even hit fast-moving objects without fail. One day, while sitting with another bhikkhu after having their bath in the Aciravati River, he saw two swans flying at some distance. He told his friend that he would get one of the swans by throwing a stone at it. At that instant, the swan, hearing voices, turned its neck and the bhikkhu threw a pebble at the bird. The pebble went through one eye and came out of the other eye of the bird. The bird cried out in pain and agony and dropped dead at the feet of the young bhikkhu.
Other bhikkhus seeing the incident took the young bhikkhu to the Buddha. The Buddha reprimanded him and said, &quot;My son, why have you killed this bird? Why especially you, a member of my Order, who should be practising loving-kindness to all beings and who should be striving ardently for liberation from the round of rebirths? Even during the period outside the Teaching, the wise practised morality and observed the precepts. A bhikkhu must have control over his hands, his feet and his tongue.&quot; https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=362

I recall hearing or reading another story about a person from a low caste being abused, iirc people were throwing stones at a guy for no particular reason other than him being from the bad caste and the Tathagatha intervened by placing himself inbetween the abusers and the abused. Unfortunely i can't remember the origin and couldn't find it. Perhaps someone else will post it, i guess it's also from the Dhp commentary.