Would you know how to be polite in the first place?

Many say that their education towards somebody depends on this somebody's education in the first place. Today I was inside the subway car and I heard a guy complaining "I also know how to be ignorant" pushing off the other passengers. Why aren't many of us able to think and say "OK, I'll be the polite one, since it’s clear that you are not up to the challenge"?
To respond "good day", "good morning" or "you're welcome", when others say "thank you", is easy. The hard and rare thing to do is to say those expressions first, before tellying them becomes a kind of obligation. Tellying them to people who are in a higher position in your company’s hierarchy counts, but little. To say these and other polite expressions shouldn’t be seen as a snob attitude, but as an honorable one.
I guess that as people stopped using these expressions more frequently they also forgot what they stand for: respect. Saying “good morning” to your colleagues doesn’t necessarily means that you really want that person to have a good day, although you don’t wish the opposite to them either (at least I hope), it also means that you respect them, that you are aware of their existence (I guess that in no other period of our history would this make sense) and of their role in the company.
Going back to the subway example, when we show politeness to unknown people we give them a very important message: “though I don’t know you, it doesn’t mean that I don’t respect you as an equal”. I don’t know about you, but when people who are not my friends are rude to me I feel as if this person simply feels that he or she is better than me, and this, my friend, unleashes a wave of anger inside me. Politeness is extremely important to social living and human relationship, especially if you want to be friends with people you don’t know, and even if you’re a lonely ranger still it is best to be well-mannered, so that you won’t ruin other people’s day.
If you don’t like people and don’t feel like respecting them just go live in the woods.