Should we respect our elders?
It seems that many people are under the impression that everyone ought to respect their elders. This is hardly a new thing, my mother has been saying it to me for at least two decades.
The problem is; Why should we?
I don't know who handed this bullshit tradition down to us, but from what I can see, it is hurting us. When you feel that you are owed respect simply for existing, then you have no reason at all to work on your issues and become someone who is worthy of respect. Conversely, if you believe that others should be respected or viewed as your superior for no good reason at all, then it won't be too difficult to sell the illusion of "authority" to you.
What I mean by that is; if you teach a child to respect only those who deserve it, then they will take that lesson forward and apply it to other aspects of society. If the law is immoral, then why should I follow it? If taxes are being used to restrict my liberties, why should I pay them? If I have done nothing wrong and a man in a costume is making demands of me; why should I consent?
These are the types of questions such a child would grow up to ask. But if you teach a child to respect a fifty year old alcoholic, or a thirty-five year old rapist, simply because they're older than the child, then would it not follow that later in life, the grown child would think more along lines of;
I haven't done anything wrong, but this person is a police officer, so I should listen to them. I really feel like these drugs are making me worse, but the doctor obviously knows better than I do, so I will keep taking them. Or what about; I don't really want to to go war and kill people, but if my government says we need to, then give me a gun.
I'm beginning to wonder if "respect your elders" is a saying that has been intentionally added to our language and ideologies, with the intent of conditioning us to become people who will accept the authority of the eldest institutions that have helped to shape modern society-- without question, without thought, and without scrutiny.
Do I think you should respect your elders?
Fuck no. Your respect should be something that is difficult to earn, not something that is acquired by default. Nor should you demand the respect of anyone else just because you are older, or you believe yourself to be smarter, or richer- etc.
There should only be one way to acquire respect in this world, and that is by being a respectable person.
How complicated, right?
We must be intolerant of intolerance to maintain a tolerant society.
Paradoxical, yet true. Well said.
Shut up old man, I ain't got time for this shit.
Lol.
All the same there is sense in what you said. In our society a lot was given out just for posterity sake.
A man in a custom, that is great.
I’m dress up give me your money!!!
Respect ought to be earned. That said, I don't think we should go about telling people to fuck off until they must have proven to you they deserve respect.
I think everyone deserves respect as the human he/she is. It is only when you act in an undeserving manner that such privilege can then be withdrawn.
I'd rather we taught everyone, kids and adults alike, that we all deserve respect as humans until we choose not to be by our actions/deeds.
This I think ought to work better.
Well I just got schooled. This seems a superior philosophy to me. Great comment-
Thanks. I'm glad I could contribute.
There was more to it.
But, essentially, you are correct.
It used to be that your elders were older and wiser.
However, we have entered a time where wisdom was shunned in favor of intelligence, and then, technology moved so fast, that those we should be looking up to remember how to use a rotary phone. In other words, completely useless.
And worse, the baby boomer generation has sold us down the river. And looking forward, to save our country, we really need to cut spending, and the biggest place to do that is social insecurity.
Further, it took me years of self-work, and burying my mother, to finally get to a point where I know that so much of what she said, that I based my life on, was all a lie.
So, teach your children to respect people that are deserving of respect.
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I will be by later to leave you a comment. Promise.
I recently wrote a post on teaching children manners and this respect your elders obviously came up - nope, elders do not deserve respect just for having been born earlier. The world is full of assholes, why would a child show respect to them. Just as Carlin was saying about speaking well of the dead...some of them were real asshole, only now they're dead assholes!
Respecting elders is a broad term, I’ve been taught to respect good people irrespective of age. It feels nice 👍.
I don't think respect should be automatic in the modern world but my own personal feelings are that we should aim to build a society where those who have come before us are respected for the efforts they have made in creating that society. Also, resspect should be given to the fact that those who have come before us have grown up in a different time, as will those after us, and should be given the due respect for the decisions they've made given their own time and experience, whether they be good decisions or bad ones. They all serve as examples of what to do right and what not to do, as those who come after us will learn from our choices and decisions, whether good or bad and so maybe they should be respected for this fact alone.