Respect

Respect In this paper I will argue that respect, when earned, is more stable, more specific, and allows for a better relationship then when respect is simply demanded. Respect has been a major issue throughout time. Towns and countries alike were crushed simply for disrespecting their invaders. Vlad Dracul, a Transylvanian ruler most feared for his barbaric behavior used to cut off the heads nonconformist villagers and place them on stakes outside his castle. The reason this issue is so important is because if respect is unjustly demanded by everyone, everywhere, all the time, the idea of respect, will be cheapened and true respect will become almost worthless. The supporting arguments that can be made for my thesis are as follows: Earned respect builds a stronger relationship between people, can be more specific then demanded respect, and is more stable than demanded respect. Also, true respect must be built on experience, and therefor it is illogical to instantly demand it. Earned respect builds a stronger respect and a stronger relationship between people. When another person earns your respect you work harder to have that same respect returned to you by emulating that respect-worthy behavior. One example of this is my 5th grade teacher, Ms. Cindy Lee. By allowing us to call her by her first name, Cindy, she made the learning environment a lot more approachable. Another example is certain NYPD officers, who have breaking the “blue wall of silence”, revealing illegal events and behaviors that have taken place. By giving up and telling these secrets they have left a clean slate, showing them to be more honest, thus allowing them to form a better relationship with the people of the city. This point clearly shows that earned respect forms a better relationship then demanded respect since now that the people can respect the officers, they will have better communication. When respect is earned it is more specific then demanded