In addition to the countless examples of our elders promoting poor behavior and irrationality, age -- like many things -- is uncontrollable. Would "Respect your tallers" make any sense (if that was a word)? Hey, we're taller than you! We demand respect on this completely arbitrary physical quality! Of course, some (such as my mom) like to point out that older people have experienced more in life, therefore they hold some sort of wisdom I don't. That's true in some cases. In other cases, though, people have grown old while believing lies (Keynes was an adult when he came up with his economic theory), killing massive amounts of people (Mao, Stalin, Hitler), or simply sitting at home and not experiencing much in life. What about those people?