The problem is that there are two distinct ways of interpreting the term "respect":
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Recognizing somebody's accomplishments/abilities and giving them special treatment accordingly
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Treating somebody with basic human decency
In the former case, respect absolutely does need to be earned. The latter, not so much, as that should be the default unless somebody specifically earns
dis
respect. Certain people tend not to think about the distinction too much, though, so whenever they feel a compulsion to disrespect somebody, rather than stopping to consider that maybe they're just a disrespectful asshole and they should work on that, they fall back on all the times they've heard "respect must be earned" in regard to respect for actual accomplishments and just regurgitate that as though it justifies their disrespect.