A school teacher who is lazy, teaches her subject poorly, or treats students badly, deserves only contempt. A politician who is dishonest or imagines himself a hero while living off the sweat of taxpayers doesn't deserve respect. (Even more difficult is the task of earning respect from others.)įor example, a police officer who doesn't know the law, shirks his duty, or abuses his power does not deserve respect. The hard part is figuring out who deserves it and who doesn't. The proper - but much more difficult - way of teaching "respect" is to teach the young that only some people in positions of authority deserve respect. Any half-wit can just wave a hand and tell children to respect people in positions of authority. Many are told to "respect" cops, soldiers, their teachers, clergy, government officials, parents, elders, and people with impressive titles.īut this is also a very lazy way of teaching children how to engage with their world. This, apparently, is what people have done in a great many times and places. But who is deserving of obedience or respect?Īs a a parent, what quickly becomes apparent is that it takes very little effort to tell young people they should be obedient to people who are in positions of authority. Many parents will recognize this conundrum from problems encountered while parenting.Īfter all, obedience and respect of others, practiced properly, are virtues. Many do.īut the problem lies in figuring out which ones are worthy of such consideration. This doesn't mean none of our elders provide excellent examples after which to aspire. The amount of laziness, moral degeneracy, arrogance, and general buffoonery I've witnessed among the older set has forever cured me of the idea that my "elders," prima facie, are a source of wisdom. The older I get, the more I realize how very wrong I was to ever think that a disproportionate number of people older than me possessed some sort of special knowledge about how to properly run one's life. Now that I've reached the ripe old of age of 42, I've been married for twenty years, and I've partially raised four children.
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