Respect

In previous decades it was common for younger generations to be required to show respect to the older generations. This was mostly due, in my opinion, to the fact that the older generations were wiser and offered knowledge to the younger generations. In today's world I don't think this is always the case. Respect is something that now has to be earned. If you're not respectful why would you expect respect in return? Don't get me wrong, there are definitely elders among us that deserve respect, but then there are others that think they deserve respect just because of age even if they don't deserve it. Regardless, some people live in a past, sometimes religious, mindset that regardless of merit you should respect those older than you. This causes a clash between generations because of the startling differences of opinion. Causing people to look negatively at a person or group of people because of how they treat people or a person because of an age difference. They don't take into consideration how relationships between people work, the experiences or amount of growth one has had in their life, or the amount of respect, or lack of, that has been shown in past instances. This would be like a judge coming to a verdict without first hearing the case. This is a ridiculous way of thinking. So I urge all of you out there that want respect, or judge someone for not showing it, think before you act, try viewing the situation from other angles before making judgements, and don't expect something you're not willing to give.