>--A tentative hypothesis: politeness and respect are integral
>to the survival of brutal, coercive social systems.
Politeness seems to me a quite different thing to respect. Politeness seems to be a ritual alternative to actual respect. Politeness is also not to be confused with friendliness, the absence of which politeness fills in for.
Does we need to behave with politeness to actual friends, who we have a genuine human relationship with? I am somewhat socially inept, so I genuinely don't know the answer. I never have myself, but its entirely possible I've been doing the wrong thing all my life without even being aware of it.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas