Respect Is In Fact Given, Not Earned
Have you too heard the popular phrase “respect is earned, not given”? It is usally said by someone who is trying to sound “badass” to justify why they just disrespected someone. This line of thinking makes no sense, and I will explain why.
I’ve heard police officers speaking that way about people they just abused. Instead of thinking of a civilian as innocent until proven guilty, some police officers think of them as someone who hasn’t earned respect and therefore should be treated accordingly. Police work is one of few service industry jobs where the employees (the police) are allowed to disrespect their employer (the public) and get away with it. Imagine a rude waitress justifying her disrespect to a customer by saying “respect is earned, not given” and having onlookers nod in agreement? Sometimes the police have to put their foot down, and they should — that’s what we pay them for, and they do a dangerous and often thankless job. But it is not uncommon that they put their foot down when they shouldn’t or where they shouldn’t — such as on the neck of a handcuffed suspect, and we all know how that can end.
I would argue that one should respect everybody by default. That is, when we meet someone for the first time, we tend to respect them — we “give them respect,” because we have no reason not to. Some people do not deserve to be respected (other than on…
