R-E-S-P-E-C-T

There's no question that Aretha's got it right: it all comes down to respect. (Remember what Jack Black says in "School of Rock": "Everybody wants to party with Aretha!") How many of the world's ills are due to a lack of respect for each other? A lack of respect for the earth? A lack of respect for the power of nature?

Lacking respect for each other

What elements embolden us to be so disrespectful to each other? I would argue that one element is anonymity. It amazes me (but doesn't surprise me) when I see road rage unleashed against the anonymous driver roaring past at 80mph. Yet how emboldened would that same person be to "rage" against another person walking down the street? The anonymity seems to allow (and maybe even facilitate) bad behavior. Another element that facilitates disrespect is how you might perceive someone's stature on the hierarchy of power. Perhaps it's a cliche, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that a tall, good-looking young man in a business suit will garner more respect than a diminutive, older female Mexican house-keeper. (It's not a stretch, but it is very disconcerting.) Here's a really novel concept: let's pretend that all human beings are equally worthy of respect and dignity! It doesn't matter where you live! From what tribe you come! Whether you're male or female, "of color" or not (isn't "white" a color?), wealthy or poverty-stricken, gay, bi, or straight! Well, if only; keep dreaming, my friends.

Lacking respect for the earth

Hey, here's an idea! Let's build an entire infrastructure and global economy around fossil fuel as our primary energy source! Then, let's consume that energy like drunken sailors, every day and every night, like there's no tomorrow! ("Doh! It just cost $95 to fill up my new Escalade!") ANd let's build a wildly inefficient Interstate highway system (all the while, ignoring the many benefits of a high-speed rail system) and transfer goods in huge-ass 18-wheeler trucks! Oh, and let's be sure to ignore other potential "green" energy sources, that could actually create jobs and stoke the economy! While we may have scorned Al Gore's claim that he "invented the Internet...," let's not arrogantly ignore his dire warnings about the real crisis that is global warning. (If you haven't seen it, immediately go to Netlflix and order up "An Inconvenient Truth.")

Lacking respect for Mother Nature

While I'd agree that a beach house on Malibu beach would be fabulous, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to build houses there, since so many of them are regularly consumed by fires and mudslides. Nor does it make a lot of sense to build one on the Jersey shore, which is suffering greatly from erosion. And I'm not convinced that it's wise to build and maintain a city below sea level. While I respect the engineering fortitude required for building and maintaining a city below sea level, can't we channel our energies toward a more sustainable city model? Or, how about hiking Mt. Hood during a Winter storm? Mother Nature is awesome in the truest sense of the word; let's not chastise her for being Herself.

It sounds so wildly simple, and yet it's so true: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Why can't we all just show respect?