Respect

I was thinking about respect.

It is an important subject to me nowadays because I have unceremoniously dumped my (largely automatic) respect for whole swathes of people.

We were taught as children that the police, the judiciary, the scientists, the doctors, and those who achieve public office deserve our respect. I find, of late, that I absolutely cannot respect these groups anymore.

Take the police. In my last post I covered them but latterly thought that they have traded respect for fear. The two are not the same. I don't loathe the police, and neither do I fear them. Although I reserve the right to, should circumstances arise that cause me to. I have a mate who has been a policeman for around fifteen years. I have known him since he was 18. We both worked offshore on the rigs at the time and he was, and still is, a cheerful man. He has not changed, as far as I can tell. But when he talks about his work, we normal people are suddenly described as animals. I understand this, because he has told me some horrific stories about the bad 'uns he has to handle. So, while I have respect for my friend, I still do not respect the police as a group. They have exceeded their authority on too many occasions.

The judges, the magistrates, the sheriffs and the justices of the peace I have talked about often. The shambolic sentencing they dream up simply cannot be tolerated any longer. They do not seem to me to be truly impartial and until I see that change, I have no reason to trust, or respect them. They are, by and large, businessmen and women. Appear before them and it is going to cost you money. It is almost axiomatic. They run a business so why would they not want to force you to part company with your money? They have targets to reach, after all.

Scientists? A good one, an ethical one, is so very hard to find. I discovered this when I started looking at the second hand smoke scam. If you think climate change is riddled with fraudsters, you really ought to take a look at those who sold their souls to the anti-smoking cabal. Climate scientists could learn a thing or two from the greedy bastards involved in anti-tobacco. They sell themselves like cheap dockside whores. Grant money is plentiful where health-scares, or planet-scares are concerned. Any man, or woman, who is prepare to torture the science for cash money is beneath contempt for me. The truth is more important to me than anything else. If I were in their game I would starve to death. But that is because I have a conscience, I still recognise what is right and what is wrong. Science lost its way decades ago. They disgust me. So, I had to cancel my respect for them, almost totally. There are still good people trying to tell the truth but they are few in number, and besides, they are treated with hatred, just as I am when I call the corrupt scientists liars and thieves.

Doctors, broadly speaking, will tell you a lie in a heartbeat. As long as they feel that the end justifies the means (it never does, I have found), they would sell their own mothers. I used to put these people on a pedestal and I would naively believe every word they uttered. In the last five years or so I have started to question what they tell me. An example: I was asked to see my doctor after a routine blood test with the practise nurse. I walk into his surgery and he says "Sorry old son, I have bad news, sit down". Immediately you assume the worst, don't you? He says, "You are a diabetic. The blood test confirmed it". Now, having an interest in things medical, I knew that he would have to have seen several results before reaching this decision. He was already writing out prescriptions on his pad. I said, "Wait a minute. You need to see at least two positive results before you can decide that I am diabetic. Show me the other results". He said, "It's all there in the computer". "Good" says I, "show me". He tapped away, then he tapped some more, and then said, "I only have one high sugar reading". I suggested we do another test. He agreed. I did the test a week later, and went back in to see him. "Good news old son", he said, "You are quite normal. The last test proves it". Had I not questioned his diagnosis I would be chomping down pills for the rest of my life for no good reason whatsoever. I have several more stories like this, involving different GP's. One told me I had a "Dodgy ticker". I told her to prove it. She, also, was already writing out prescriptions when I challenged her. Again, she could not prove a damned thing. She had been reading someone else's notes before I came in to see her. And once again, I saved myself the trouble of taking tablets I did not need to take. How many people, I wonder, are flinging pills down their neck because they didn't have the gumption to ask, "Are you absolutely sure I need this medication?".

Politicians? I think, if you have spent any time at Ranty Barracks, you will know exactly how I feel about the pond-life that passes for a politician these days. Again, there are some good ones. But that is the problem, is it not? The ratio between good and bad is inverse. It should be the other way around. There should be just a few bad apples, but, as we all know, finding a good one is a tough job.

Respect is earned. I no longer automatically assume professional people are honourable and worthy of my respect. I mistrust them all because there are more sinners than saints. When that reverses itself, I may once again trust and respect them.

I will not hold my breath.

CR.