[jesterson]

It may be a cultural thing, but it does seem to me you use prosperity and respect as interchangeable terms, while they are not.

If police guy stops a lawyer he indeed wouldn't possibly mess with him but certainly not because of respect, quite the opposite. The is russian saying which can be translated as "don't touch shit - it won't smell".

I personally don't have respect to someone just because they have 7 digits in bank account or huge villa in LA/SF. Or went to Cornell/Harvard - thanks to life experiences I've seen a lot of graduates from both institutions who were dumb af. That just doesn't make any sense.

Again, it may be a cultural thing, but respect is something achieved by someone's actions, not assets. I know few people (sadly very few) who sacrificed their wealth for a more meaningful things in life. Their assets are next to nothing, yet respect to them is tremendous.

Saying teachers are overpaid is ridiculous though. Wonder if people who say that send their kids to public schools.