Do people automatically merit respect? Well, I guess, at least they do merit the respect granted them by power of law. No jumping people or spitting on them. Be nice.
But more than that bare, fundamental level of respect for others? I can't say anyone deserves more than that honestly absent meeting certain conditions for it. In the brief context of something I've thought about in the greater context of my life, anyone, whether an older person or not, who refuses to say "Sorry, that was my fault" or face accountability themselves/and consistently opts to deflect blame in every other direction, will never get the full measure of respect I fully desire to give to anyone who has in their power the ability to meet that simple condition.
Thought tonight: Not too deep, but surely relevant to everyone's lives: Since when did age necessarily translate into wisdom? It reminds me of an old quote from one of the Star Wars movies, where a character mentions the key difference between knowledge and wisdom. I think many older people, through the accumulated sum of their experiences, end up with more knowledge than younger people... it goes without saying, far too many, conflate and unintentionally or intentionally, confuse the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the greater awareness someone has as they accumulate more information. Wisdom is the ability to apply that information with understanding. Knowledge is knowing, wisdom is knowing and understanding. Not everyone who's older is wiser, regardless their social relation - inevitably, all older people will be more knowledgeable because of the longer period of time they have had to gather information, but far fewer can lay claim to being wise. Superior knowledge doesn't translate to wisdom.
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