Isn't it better to be rude?

We are all taught from early childhood that we should be polite and respect other people. Is it really a healthy standpoint? Isn't it better to be rude? At least a little bit.

"How do you react when someone is rude to you?" - was the question. I immediately come to conclusion that I have some thoughts concerning this topic and would like to share them.

First of all, I feel very uncomfortable, when someone is rude, actually I don't find anything I could do to prevent this deep feeling, except for taking an offense and not talking to the person again.

But, it makes me think that maybe we - people who are always polite and respectful - are somehow weak while facing a creep. Isn't that true that we are losers?

Also, how should we bring up our children? Is it better to teach them how to be always polite to others or to learn them that they are the most important human-beings and their desires or goals are to be fulfilled in the first place? I can't help but wonder that people who aren't always polite, or are polite only every so often, have better lives and can call themselves really happy.