Should intimidation have its place in our lives?

Has physical intimidation by one human over another ever been a good thing?

People all over the world live in fear. It is an undercurrent in almost every society. The History Channel says islands in the South Pacific
may be the only cultures to survive into the 20th century without the words fear, greed, want and other motivational words so common in our society even in their vocabulary.

Mostly we fear physical intimidation. No one is immune. At some point everyone gets subjected to a bully in life, even if it was only during childhood. Nobody likes to get slapped around, or worse.

Since it is so commonly accepted it must be a good thing in some respects. You think?

Are Bush, Cheney, Woo, etc. at all right? Are torture or its lesser brother physical intimidation ever justified?