Even in person you'll probably get a considerable number of awful comments, there are simply a large amount of insensitive people out there. It doesn't help that they feel emboldened by anonymity.
Insensitivity, I think, can be a coping mechanism for some. I was a teenager during 9/11. I remember having a good cry about it and then spending the rest of the day looking at and sharing wildly inappropriate photos (that we now call memes).
I agree. Perhaps evidenced by yourself, the people who we call insensitive or trolls today, could be the pillars of society tomorrow. We should be very careful when trying to answer the question "what do we do with these people?".