Honor and Respect

Honor is a concept which is frustratingly overlooked in modern society.

For one, honor is not tangible. In Japan, honor is clearly defined and involves strict self-control, both concerning emotional and physical issues. In some places it might mean that you don't sully your family's name by doing something immoral or, as it were, dishonorable. In others it might mean that you don't betray your friends, or that you live your life according to some obscure rules put down by hermits millenia ago.

No matter where you go and who you ask, the concept will be slightly distorted. Consider the society of an industrial country like Iceland:

There are young people who will willingly remove their wits (Via alcohol, drugs etc.) until they don't mind shitting on the street, having intercourse with complete strangers or running around naked.

There are corporate and political officials who trick with accounting, take bribes, abuse the system and otherwise bite and butcher anything in their path if it gives them personal gain.

Parents allow their children to behave like crazy squirrels on drugs rather than discipline them, and children who rule their family simply because they are allowed to do so.

And this is where Respect comes in. How can we respect a person who has no honor? How does one go about respecting the drunk next to you while he pisses in his shoes? How does one respect the parent who will bow to their child's every whim?
Perhaps we can respect them at other times. Say you meet the drunk the next day, after he has changed his clothes and, hopefully, his shoes, could you respect him then? What if this is your boss or co-worker? Perhaps he is the best ping-pong player in the world, could you look at him without wondering whether he needs new shoes every week? And the parent, say this person is a manager of sorts, would you feel comfortable serving someone who can't even manage their own home?

I believe respect and honor go hand in hand. You must uphold your own honor, whatever obscure code you adhere to, to be able to respect yourself, and once you respect yourself, others can respect you too.

Do any of you have personal rules you adhere to? Why do you think so many people don't have them?