Want to Gain Self-Respect, Stop Giving Others Unearned Respect
It’s the surest way to get sidelined and exploited
I was brought up in a culture that teaches respect for elders. With no exceptions. If someone is perceived as above you in the social hierarchy then you automatically owed them admiration and regard.
Eastern cultures are especially notorious for this mode of social structuring — as are Middle Eastern and African societies.
It shows up as well in the context of marriage, family, work culture and racial dynamics in Western societies.
It is utter bullshit!
No one deserves your respect until they have earned it.
Even in the military where one is required to obey orders without questions, there is a clear hierarchy borne of earned authority.
I can concede that there might have once been a good reason why these tenets evolved. A long, hard look will show that those reasons are no longer valid.
The indiscriminate conferment of undeserved respect does more than good. You will find that the only people who insist upon it are the very ones who deserve the opposite.
- Abusive husbands who demand wives respect and defer to them.
