I remember as a kid I was always told to ‘respect your elders’. It was a mantra repeated many many times by my parents. It’s only as I approached my thirties that I realised that age and wisdom are not always inextricably linked. My respect is now given to those who have earned it; older people have just had longer and more chances to earn it.

I think the mantra was passed down by my parents generation. All of their teachers, their police officers, their shopkeepers, their bus drivers and pretty much everyone around them when they were children had gone through the second world war. Respect was drilled into them by historic legacy.

But for this generation now in their 60s and 70s, there was no defining moment of respect. Not in the UK anyway. Those in their 90s inherited a broken world with the promise of fixing it up, those in their 60s and 70s lived in it like reckless tenants, they free-styled the economy, they broke the climate controls and they partied hard but didn’t fix the roof — what’s more, they refuse to leave and they won’t grant any planning permission for younger generations to do repairs.

Paralysed by an older voting population my generation (30s and 40s) did a bit of a temporary repair job on some aspects of sexism and racism when voting allowed — but nowhere near enough. The generation above us dominated (and still dominates) politics. Policies in the UK are still aimed to get the core vote of the white, pale and stale constituent. F

The generation below us in their teens and twenties have had enough of all of us. Their vitriol is partly justified and partly terrifying. If it was up to them, everyone over the age of 25 would be kicked out of positions of power — and the roof would be fixed (with solar panels). The issue they have is that they haven’t learned the art of compromise or how to debate. They’re angry and reactionary and they’ll rip each other apart in their frenzied anger — this will paralyse any changes they’re capable of making.

It’s perfectly possible to get into your 70s and be a complete bigot with little to no wisdom. This is being demonstrated across the political spectrum in most western democracies. For the most part ‘respect your elders’ is dead as a phrase. This because not many elders have done anything worthy of respect as a default position.

But on the subject of respect — you have mine, this is an excellent article and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The world would be a less interesting place if you were taken to a hillside. Thanks for writing and looking forward to reading more of your work :o)