WE HAVE A CRISES OF RAMPANT DISRESPECT NOW
Covering the research on respect, judge malfeasance, philosophy of respect, Theodore Roosevelt and a detour or two along the way.
Today I attempt to address the problem of disrespect which prevails in the country at this time. It is perhaps only a symptom of much deeper discrepancies in our nation to make it a more perfect union. I have a verse, outlining my general thoughts to start off. Included is an image showing recent Twitter posts dealing with disrespect for the current US Supreme Court. I include an image showing the state of judge bribery in America which honestly took me back, as it was a surprise. I include research papers on disrespect and respect, and hopeful my interpretation of the research might prove valuable. I look at the philosophical look at respect and disrespect, as I believe such work may prove to be helpful. I touch upon the incivility found in business these days, this was also somewhat a surprise, although not upon further contemplation. I found a good list of 11 habits which lead to one’s disrespect. And I end with some thoughts from a Theodore Roosevelt speech. I once again veered off course in introducing a recent philosophical paper related to conspiracy theory which I thought might be worthwhile reading.
Below is an image showing excerpts from the Yale Law Journal and the United States Sentencing Commission on the state of judge bribery in this country. I agree with Thom Hartmann's take on the US Supreme Court not directly taking bribes, but the number of bribes shown indicates it is much more common than one would think. At least that is my reaction.
Here are two quotes on judges from long ago which I found to be related to the question of respect many of us now hold for the US Supreme Court in particular. Does ‘by show of antiquity to introduce novelty,’ correspond to the ‘originalism’ we are now unfortunately witnessing?
“Judges ought to remember that their office is jus dicere [“To say [what] the law [is]”] and not jus dare ["To give the law”] to interpret law, and not to make law, or give law; else will it be like the authority claimed by the Church of Rome, which, under precept of exposition of Scripture, doth not stick to add and alter, and to pronounce that which they do not find, and to pronounce that which they do not find, and by show of antiquity to introduce novelty.”
— Lord Bacon.
“Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident; above all things integrity is their portion and proper virtue.”
— Lord Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban[a] PC QC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method and his works remained influential even in the late stages of the Scientific Revolution.
Here are several quotes I found as edifying related to respect:
“We are usually mistaken in esteeming men too much; rarely in esteeming them too little.”
— Stanislaus Leszcynski
Stanisław I Leszczyński (20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts, Duke of Bar and Duke of Lorraine.
“The sincerity of a true man so pervades his whole spirit and beautifies his language, that his society is the most attractive; his speech the most forcible; and his influence the most benign; let us develop and enforce these three points.”
— Magoon
MAGOON, ELISHA L. ,D.D., born at Lebanon, New Hampshire, 1810; an American Baptist divine and author.
“Few people are so far assured of their respectability as not to make a parade of their claims to it.”
— Bovee.
Christian Nestell Bovee (February 22, 1820 – January 18, 1904) was an epigrammatic New York City writer. Bovee wrote two books that were widely quoted in contemporaneous compilations, these being Intuitions and Summaries of Thought and Thoughts, Feelings and Fancies.It was reported that Bovee "enjoyed the intimate friendship of Washington Irving, Longfellow, Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes and of all the brilliant men who composed at that time the Saturday Evening Club of Boston".
BOVEE, C. NESTELLE , born in New York, April 22, 1829; a lawyer, journalist, and miscellaneous writer.
I read this study to glean the basics of respect and disrespect in human interaction and how it might apply to the disrespect crises in America. This study had a hierarchical social structure, although the study was conducted by those not employed by the Irish prison system. The parallel of the study and the disrespect that political factions may feel for each other may not be accurate, but certainly the US Supreme Court can only be viewed as sitting atop our nation's hierarchy. The disrespect from the prison students toward the teachers who didn’t maintain order or boundaries I found interesting.
Journal of Prison Education and Reentry, Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2017, RESEARCH PAPER, ‘Learning to be More Human’: Perspectives of Respect by Young Irish People in Prison, by EMMANUEL O’GRADY Mary Immaculate College
Respect is a fundamental aspect of how human beings relate to each other. Respect between people can be thought of as the esteem paid by one human being to another; however, the object of this esteem is the focus of much academic debate. It could be esteem based on cultural norms, or even fear of others; however, the most common debates about the focus of respect center on a person’s dignity (Kant, 1855; Darwall, 2006). For clarity, the definition of respect as understood by this study relies on Hoban’s (1977) conception as ‘an openness to others, esteem for others because of their human decency and the degree of excellence of their performance.’
A person may feel respected if he is esteemed by others; however, the focus on a person’s dignity has also been argued as primary importance for one to feel truly respected (Kant, 1855; Darwall, 2006). Historically the conception of respect between people has been the subject of vigorous debate, the most prominent centring around the work of Kant (1855) who advanced the position that respect should be predicated on the innate dignity of human beings. This conception of respect was considered to be reciprocal in nature for if a person claims to have their dignity respected then they must afford a similar right to others (Kant (1855). Therefore, emerging from the debate of respect based on the inherent dignity of human beings was the moral implications of human beings to respect others founded on the utilitarian belief that respect would be practiced in such a way as ‘to increase the sum of human happiness.’ A human being’s dignity, as the object of a person’s respect, is historically grounded as dependent on a person’s capacity to reason and have a degree of autonomy. This focus on dignity (based on personal autonomy) has implications not just for the respect due to oneself, but also the respect one must pay to others.
Balancing one’s own autonomy and encroaching on the autonomy of others is the respect one accords oneself; one’s self respect. Therefore, self-respect has been conceived of by McKinnon as the effort required between how one views oneself and the person one intends to be, that would require ‘congruence between a person’s self-conception [how one sees oneself] and [their] self-expression’. It is the respect for oneself that can motivate a person to fully esteem the dignity and autonomy of others.
An individual’s self-respect demands that they ‘protest the violation of their rights and that they do so within the boundaries of dignity...[as] Dignity is the way in which individuals visibly demonstrate their humanity and their worthiness of respect. It is how self-respect is displayed to others.’ It is how this conception of respect is communicated.
A greater sense of autonomy for pupils also implied a greater level of accountability as consistent and clear boundaries between the teachers and the students were often described as maintaining a respectful relationship. ‘I think it is about how you conduct yourself in your class and that you have boundaries where to draw the line, what you are going to accept and what you are not going to accept’ (Moira-T). In contrast some teachers were felt to be disrespectful by pupils primarily through a lack of maintaining authority ‘old John’s ones [classes] are bad though, no one respects him, they just run amok in his class you know...he is easily led, he doesn’t put his foot down and say stop messing or anything’ (Philip-P).
From both teachers’ and students’ perspectives, any attempts to acknowledge the humanity of the pupil also helped promote a more respectful relationship. For students, examples such as engaging in an informal dialogue or a teacher’s genuine attention to a pupil’s life was also perceived to be respectful.
Three main issues appeared from this study: the relational significance of respect as improved socialization (and by extension societal norms); the place of both autonomy and accountability as essential components of a respectful relationship; and the place of self-respect within the rehabilitative process for prison education.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant, and two quotes which I liked.
“The people naturally adhere most to doctrines which demand the least self-exertion and the least use of their own reason, and which can best accommodate their duties to their inclinations.”
— Immanuel Kant
“Every man is to be respected as an absolute end in himself; and it is a crime against the dignity that belongs to him as a human being, to use him as a mere means for some external purpose.”
— Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics have made him one of the most influential figures in modern Western philosophy. Kant believed that reason is the source of morality, and that aesthetics arises from a faculty of disinterested judgment. Kant's religious views were deeply connected to his moral theory. Their exact nature, however, remains in dispute.
I researched the contemporary philosopher Stephen Darrell briefly on what was available on the Internet to get a sense of his views on respect, and an actual quote, which I could not find. Having no background in philosophy as such, I still felt it important to show what the current thinking on it may be. So I’ve included a sampling of his writing and his work related to respect and disrespect.
Stephen Darwall (born 1946) is a contemporary moral philosopher, best known for his work developing Kantian and deontological themes. He was named Andrew Downey Orrick Professor of Philosophy at Yale University in 2008.
BEING WITH by Stephen Darwall, The Southern Journal of Philosophy Volume 49, Spindel Supplement 2011
I argue that being with is a second-personal phenomenon in the sense I discuss in The Second-Person Standpoint. People who are with each other are in one another’s presence, where the latter is a matter of second-personal standing or authority, as in the divine presence or in the king’s presence. To be with someone is, therefore, to give the other second-personal standing, implicitly, to claim it for oneself and, thus, to enter into a relation of mutual accountability. Second-personal relating, I argue, requires a distinctive form of empathy, projective empathy, through which we imaginatively occupy others’ perspectives and view ourselves as if from their point of view. Projective empathy is thus an essential constituent of “being with.” But it is not the only form of empathy that being with typically involves. Further, I discuss ways in which emotional contagion, affect attunement, as well as projective empathy typically enter into the complex psychological (and ethical) phenomenon of being with another person.
Whether an encounter counts as genuinely being with, or whether two people count as being together, likely must be judged against some comparison class or by some context-relative standard. Of course, the degree of mutual openness that characterizes close personal relationships is quite different from that of two people involved in a casual conversation. However, I shall be arguing that some degree of sincerity, receptivity, and honesty is necessary for genuine mutual relating of any kind and hence really required to be with someone in the sense with which we are concerned. This does not mean that being with someone cannot involve irony, indirection, and even, indeed, some degree of mendacity and prevarication. Still, you cannot really speak with someone who lies about everything or with a bullshitter who is utterly uninterested in the truth (Frankfurt 2005). And if someone is completely unwilling to be open or accessible, you cannot really be together with that person either.
Kant and the Second Person (2021)
Journal of the American Philosophical Association (2021), JANIS DAVID SCHAAB, UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN.
To discuss the role of respect within Kant’s moral theory, it is helpful to introduce Darwall’s distinction between two kinds of respect. a) Appraisal respect amounts to ‘an assessment of someone’s conduct or character or of something that somehow involves these.’ In the case of morality, we respect someone in the appraisal sense when we judge them to be a morally good agent. b) Recognition respect, by contrast, ‘concerns not how something is to be evaluated or appraised, but how our relations to it are to be regulated or governed.’ Relatedly, ‘[t]he object of recognition respect is not excellence or merit; it is dignity or authority.’
I would postulate that the respect or disrespect afforded to the US Supreme Court and the MAGA Republicans is accessed by most of us in terms of an appraisal respect view, in which conduct and character are both a factor. It is difficult to consider dignity, yet perhaps authority, in consideration of the recognition respect applying to these people. I’m uncertain of the relevance to my subject at hand but perhaps it’s unclear to me.
Whenever Kant mentions respect for persons, the kind of respect he has in mind is either appraisal respect or something else altogether, but not recognition respect. After all, Kant is not here concerned with a feeling of respect—that is, a recognition or appraisal of an authority or quality that persons have. By contrast, he is concerned with the way the moral law commands us to treat or regard persons. Accordingly, the ‘respect’ involved in duties of respect does not play the role of motivating moral action in general. Instead, it is but one part of the content of the moral law.
One might wonder how it is even possible that respect for the law is respect for persons. At first glance, respect for the law involves submission under a principle, not recognition of others. Here, it is crucial to understand that the moral community, according to the second-personal account, is not a group of concrete individuals. Darwall writes, ‘[T]he moral community as I understand it is not any actual community composed of actual human beings. It is like Kant’s idea of a ‘realm of ends,’ a regulative ideal that we employ to make sense of our ethical thought and practice.’
What exactly is the moral community in regards to left-leaning Americans and right-leaning Americans at this time? Perhaps someone more versed in philosophy can expound upon this question assuming that the question itself is logical.
Related to the same author of the philosophical paper above, I found an interesting paper which I plan to study in the future. But I thought it would be good to give its location for reference. It seems to me that this time is a good time for philosophers to weigh in on the current American problems. This paper on conspiracy theory seems timely. I give the link and a short part of it for your information. I apologize for the detour.
Conspiracy Theories and Rational Critique: A Kantian Procedural Approach, Janis David Schaab, Received 20 Sep 2021, Accepted 22 Mar 2022, Published online: 21 May 2022
On 6 January 2021, a mob of violent insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol. Their goal was to reverse the results of the 2020 US Presidential Election. They had fallen for false conspiracy theories according to which the election had been rigged or stolen by a sinister group of ‘elites’. The role that conspiracy theories have played, not only in singular events like this, but also in larger developments such as the rise of right-wing populism in the West and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, indicates that they are not harmless fringe phenomena but powerful political tools.
The general public commonly regards conspiracy theorists as irrational. Indeed, the label ‘conspiracy theory’ is commonly used as a pejorative, to signal that a claim is untenable. By contrast, the bottom line of the philosophical debate is that, at least insofar as conspiracy theories are defined as theories that posit conspiracies, it is difficult to condemn belief in conspiracy theories as rationally criticisable in general. By this minimal definition, everyone who is familiar with basic historical facts is a conspiracy theorist. After all, conspiracies are a common and well-documented part of history.
Here are the four features and their corresponding conspiracist claims:
Heterodoxy: The official account of some series of events is not correct. The truth is being concealed.
Bad Intentions: The series of events is the intended result of the actions of sinister conspirators.
Deception: The conspirators are also responsible for concealing the truth. They manipulate and deceive (by planting false evidence, employing false witnesses, etc.).
Connectedness: All salient facts surrounding the series of events are connected. They are not brute facts. The truth is fully discoverable.
The feature Heterodoxy is important because it distinguishes the theories I am interested in from theories that merely posit a conspiracy, such as the official account of the events of 9/11, according to which members of Al-Qaeda conspired to attack targets in the U.S.A.
Whether one perceives oneself as being respected or not respected is theorized to affect one’s health (physical and mental) according to this paper. I found this interesting and perhaps relevant to today’s America.
Social and Personality Psychology Compass 2 (2008): Why the Psychological Experience of Respect Matters in Group Life: An Integrative Account
Yuen J. Huo* and Kevin R. Binning, University of California, Los Angeles
Health
Although the evidence is more tentative, there are hints in the literature suggesting an intriguing and potentially important link between experiences with respect and another aspect of personal well-being – the individual’s mental and physical health. The epidemiologist Michael Marmot (2004) coined the term, ‘status syndrome,’ to describe the idea that social evaluations have fundamental effects on our health.
That is, those in positions socially recognized as having higher status are healthier and live longer. One of the key ideas behind this research is that a lack of status is associated with relatively less control over one’s life outcomes, and this lack of control contributes to relatively high levels of stress, depression, and poor physical health.
Research on stereotype threat (Steele, 1997) provides a potential illustration of how perceived respect at the psychological level can contribute to poor health outcomes. This research has found that being a member of a low status, negatively stereotyped group is a psychological stressor that interferes with academic performance (e.g., on an exam) and thereby contributes to still lower social status (e.g., lower grades) in the domain. Low performance in one domain, such as academics, might then limit one’s ability to achieve status in another domain, such as employment. This could of course further limit one’s control and increase stress in a downward cycle. Attesting to the link between subjective experiences of respect and health outcomes, a large-scale survey of over 30,000 Finnish public sector employees found that perception of fair and respectful treatment by work supervisors was negatively related to length of sickness-related absenteeism. The study also found that the relationship between perceived treatment and on-the-job illness can be explained by two factors – lack of work-time control and negative changes in the work environment.
This paper addressed the dangers of being perceived as disrespected within a community. I wonder again about the publicly isolated US Supreme Court Justice, when the obvious disrespect toward them only increases in intensity. What about the MAGA supporter who also increasingly experiences perceived disrespect by coworkers, family and news media. I don’t wish to compare directly a MAGA Republican to an inner city black marginalized youth, but perhaps this framing may have merit in the case of increasingly isolated right wing extremists.
Although thus far we have focused on feelings of respect, feelings of disrespect also have significant implications. Interviews with inner city youth generate two important insights about what happens when the need for respect is not met (Anderson, 1994). First, among at-risk youths, disrespectful treatment carries with it the risk of retaliatory violence as a way of regaining lost status. Second, it is among this most marginalized segment of society that respect seems to carry the most weight. These conclusions are consistent with findings from a survey of young African- American men by Leary, Brennan, and Briggs (2005). Leary et al. developed an African-American Respect Scale and found that scores on this scale were negatively correlated with violent behavior. The less respect an individual reported feeling, the more likely that person was to report engaging in some form of violent behavior.
Another study comes to the same conclusion as above on the disrespect factor in behavior, and specifically within whites.
March 2015
The study found connections between when people felt negatively stereotyped or disrespected at school and their propensity for delinquent behaviors. Interestingly, the researchers also found that this effect may occur even for members of historically non-stigmatized groups, such as white Americans. For example, white participants who recalled an episode in their life when they were devalued because of their race, gender or religious membership were more likely to perceive and expect disrespectful treatment – and cheat – than did white participants who recalled a time when they simply did not get what they wanted.
In the following paragraph, one might consider what a MAGA individual might do when their extreme political views might be a factor in school or in a job. And would a US Supreme Court justice retaliate through his or her rulings? I can see possible problems caused by perceptions of disrespect. Another broad group to consider are the January 6th insurrectionists, as I would assume that a sense of disrespect of their desires may have played a part in the attempted violent coup. Does the willingness to act in voter suppression measures in the Republican Party relate to their perceptions of disrespect?
At this point I must stress that I’m not advocating for ignoring the bad conduct in our American society worrying about reprisals. We certainly cannot allow for it unchallenged. Let me be clear on this. I’m only trying to understand some of the behavior we have witnessed and the future similar conduct which may occur.
Threats to social identity can harm people’s prospects for achieving success in work, school and society, the researchers said. For instance, students may be more likely to engage in delinquent behavior in school if they believe that their teachers and school authorities view them simply through the lens of a negative stereotype. “Or, people may feel compelled to retaliate if they believe that they have been unfairly passed over for a promotion simply because of their gender or race,” *Barragan said. He added: “Crime, delinquency, substance abuse and distrust toward institutions and authorities are some examples of social deviance that present significant problems and challenges for society. “This means being aware of our biases and making sure that all people have equal opportunity in everyday life.”
*Rodolfo Cortes Barragan, a graduate student in psychology
I came across research which confirms that a group member not in good standing, perhaps disrespected within the group may still act in ways beneficial to the group. My thoughts went to the intruder at the Obama home recently who apparently was deemed too radical for his QAnon type group members according to reporting, and still took it upon himself to carry out acts in their name. And could this be a driving force in some of the so-called lone gunmen often involved in mass shootings.
The Paradox of the disrespected: Disrespected group members’ engagement in group-serving efforts, July 2006 Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Previous research has demonstrated that intra-group respect can strengthen people’s group identification, and encourage them to exert themselves on behalf of their group. In the present contribution, we focus on the possibility that those who are not respected by other group members (i.e., the disrespected) can also display group beneficial behavior. Experiment 1 (N = 159) confirms this paradoxical premise and reveals that systematically disrespected group members indeed exert themselves on group-serving tasks. These findings were replicated in Experiment 2 (N = 110). Additional indicators in Experiment 2 demonstrate that the effort by systematically disrespected group members cannot be attributed to a desire to improve their acceptance in the group, but should be interpreted as attempts to assert the worth of the self separately from the group. Results are discussed in relation to the group-value model and insights on marginal group membership and social exclusion.
In the ideal world and in healthy self respect and its associated respect for others deserving respect (my addition, which I feel is important) the following from a 2017 paper addressing the nursing profession.
Respect for self involves having dignity. Parse (2010) described human dignity as an ethical phenomenon and detailed four tenets of human dignity.
“The four tenets are:
1. Reverence is solemn regard for human presence.
2. Awe is beholding the unexplainable of human existence.
3. Betrayal is violation of human trust.
4. Shame is humiliation with dishonoring human worth.”
Disrespect is not showing reverence or appreciation for another through words or actions that may negatively change an individual’s understanding of the world. “Reverence involves commitment to core values found in a discipline such as the importance as truth telling, respect for human dignity, and awe for the existence for human creation and the mystery of human life” (Milton, 2017).
In the world of business disrespect has its effects on the success of the enterprise. From an Incivility’s Prices Report the following excerpts might be of interest in this day and age. I found the idea of conducting post departure interviews particularly interesting from this report.
The Costs of Incivility
Many managers would say that incivility is wrong, but not all recognize that it has tangible costs. Targets of incivility often punish their offenders and the organization, although most hide or bury their feelings and don’t necessarily think of their actions as revenge. Through a poll of 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, we learned just how people’s reactions play out.
Among workers who’ve been on the receiving end of incivility:
• 48% intentionally decreased their work effort.
• 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
• 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
• 80% lost work time worrying about the incident.
• 63% lost work time avoiding the offender.
• 66% said that their performance declined.
• 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined.
• 12% said that they left their job because of the uncivil treatment.
• 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers.
Only 11% of organizations report considering civility at all during the hiring process, and many of those investigate it in a cursory fashion. But incivility usually leaves a trail of some sort, which can be uncovered if someone’s willing to look.
Conduct post departure interviews.
Organizational memory fades quickly. It’s crucial, therefore, to gather information from and reflect on the experiences and reactions of employees who leave because of incivility. If you ask targets during their exit interviews why they’re leaving, you’ll usually get only vague responses. Interviews conducted six months or so later can yield a truer picture. Talking with former employees after they’ve distanced themselves from the organization and settled into their new work environments can give you insights about the violations of civility that prompted them to leave.Companies we’ve worked with calculate that the tab for incivility can run into the millions. Some years back Cisco put together a detailed estimate of what incivility was costing the company. It factored in its reputation as a consistently great place to work, assumed an extremely low probability of rudeness among its employees, and looked at only three potential costs. Even in this exemplary workplace, it was estimated that incivility cost $12 million a year. That realization led to the creation of Cisco’s global workplace civility program.
Finally I conclude with a 2023 list of 11 common habits that make people lose respect for you by an investor consultant. I encourage one to read this list in context to the disrespect crisis in today’s American political divide. I found this list helpful to myself in gaging my own habits. In a common behavior we are all familiar with in the form of Donald Trump, and by extension his ardent followers I find 1.) Dishonesty, 4.) Negativity and Constant Complaining, 8.) Being Arrogant or Overly Proud, 10.) Being Manipulative or Using People and finally 11.) Not Taking Responsibility for Your Actions to be particularly pertinent in how it is so difficult to muster respect in this case. Upon more thought I’m convinced that Trump most likely displays all eleven of these habits on a personal basis. A Trump supporter may not agree with my points, and herein lies most of the problem in the American disrespect crisis.
11 Common Habits That Make People Lose Respect For You
By Holly Burns
1. Dishonesty: Honesty remains an irreplaceable cornerstone in building respect. However, repeated acts of dishonesty, such as lying or withholding the truth, can fast-track you to losing respect. Not only does it breed mistrust, but it also questions one’s integrity, making others hesitant to rely on or confide in you.
2. Unreliability: Promises made must be promises kept. By not honoring commitments or missing deadlines, you paint a picture of someone others can’t depend on. Inconsistency undermines trust and signals that you lack respect for others’ time, resources, or feelings.
3. Interrupting Others: Respectful communication includes active listening. Consistently interrupting or talking over others disregards their perspective and makes them feel unimportant. Show respect by allowing others to express their thoughts without intrusion.
4. Negativity and Constant Complaining: While everyone has bad days, a continuous stream of negativity or complaining can drain the energy of those around you. It displays a lack of adaptability and resilience, which can result in diminished respect over time.
5. Being Judgmental: Respect includes accepting and appreciating others’ differences. By being overly critical or dismissive of others’ views or lifestyles, you lack understanding and open-mindedness, resulting in a loss of respect.
6. Disrespecting Others’ Time: Punctuality signifies respect for others’ time. Habitual lateness, extended response times, or frequent rescheduling can imply that you view your time as more valuable than others.
7. Gossiping: Spreading rumors or discussing others’ private matters creates an atmosphere of mistrust. Gossiping shows a lack of respect for the privacy of others, ultimately leading to diminished care for the gossiper.
8. Being Arrogant or Overly Proud: Confidence is attractive, but arrogance is off-putting. A lack of humility, exaggerated self-importance, or an inability to accept constructive criticism can decrease the respect others have for you.
9. Ignoring or Dismissing Others’ Feelings: Empathy is crucial in human interactions. Ignoring or dismissing others’ feelings shows a lack of understanding and compassion, eroding respect.
10. Being Manipulative or Using People: Utilizing others for personal gain without considering their feelings or interests displays a lack of empathy and respect, resulting in a similar lack of respect for you.
11. Not Taking Responsibility for Your Actions: Avoiding accountability or blaming others for your mistakes sends the message that you lack maturity and integrity. Taking responsibility, on the other hand, earns respect and builds trust.
I wished to go to Theodore Roosevelt, a president who is constantly ranked 4th in the C-SPAN survey presidents by historians and experts. The latest survey is from 2021. The speech dwelt with citizenship, responsibilities in citizens and leaders, and in the excerpt he mentions the cynic and the danger in this. I found this to be associated with my general theme, and he mentions ‘respect’ in regards to the disrespect he had for the cynical bystander of the time. Included is Roosevelt’s impression of the superficial orator, which I find refreshing in this time of performance politicians. And Roosevelt’s idea on journalism I end with, in this he states his respect or disrespect of the profession, dependent upon their actions as he sees it.
Theodore Roosevelt delivered the speech entitled “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910. The speech is popularly known as “The Man in the Arena.” His statements at the Sorbonne were part of a larger trip to Europe that also included visits to Vienna, Budapest, and Oslo. On May 5, 1910, he gave his Nobel Prize speech. This trip came in the midst of Roosevelt's frustration with the Taft administration and followed his African safari with Kermit. After completing his tour of Europe, Roosevelt would make a triumphant return to the U.S.
Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as a cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one. The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twisted pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes second to achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities—all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority, but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affectation of contempt for the achievement of others, to hide from others and from themselves their own weakness. The role is easy; there is none easier, save only the role of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance.
Indeed, it is a sign of marked political weakness in any commonwealth if the people tend to be carried away by mere oratory, if they tend to value words in and for themselves, as divorced from the deeds for which they are supposed to stand. The phrase-maker, the phrase-monger, the ready talker, however great his power, whose speech does not make for courage, sobriety, and right understanding, is simply a noxious element in the body politic, and it speaks ill for the public if he has influence over them. To admire the gift of oratory without regard to the moral quality behind the gift is to do wrong to the republic.
Of course all that I say of the orator applies with even greater force to the orator’s latter-day and more influential brother, the journalist. The power of the journalist is great, but he is entitled neither to respect nor admiration because of that power unless it is used aright. He can do, and often does, great good. He can do, and he often does, infinite mischief. All journalists, all writers, for the very reason that they appreciate the vast possibilities of their profession, should bear testimony against those who deeply discredit it. Offenses against taste and morals, which are bad enough in a private citizen, are infinitely worse if made into instruments for debauching the community through a newspaper. Mendacity, slander, sensationalism, inanity, vapid triviality, all are potent factors for the debauchery of the public mind and conscience. The excuse advanced for vicious writing, that the public demands it and that the demand must be supplied, can no more be admitted than if it were advanced by purveyors of food who sell poisonous adulterations.
I find a cringing feeling now when I’m around family or close friends who may still be Trump supporters. I have no doubt that I lack respect for them. It interferes highly with any kind of relationship which might be attempted. This was the impetus for my exploration on this topic. I perhaps will not rid myself of my feelings even after this exercise, but my understanding has probably been enhanced. I'm ending with a quote that surely has a place in this conversation.
“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.”
– Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881) sometimes transliterated as Dostoyevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. Numerous literary critics regard him as one of the greatest novelists in all of world literature, as many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces.
44th Posting, July 6, 2023.