^^^ Best comment so far SRT!
Disrespect for authority is pretty much a standard feature of the way the world works these days, but that's not really what worries me.
What bothers me is the disrespect for our profession in our own industry. And I don't mean the 'you must kiss the ground I walk on' type of 'respect', but the true respect for what we actually do - respect from the managers and 'businessmen' who employ us to be the final judges of safety on the line, to protect the passengers who pay their salaries as well as our own. Management sometimes seem to view us as 'the enemy', overpaid fools who sit up front doing nothing but read the paper, suck resources and complain about T's & C's.
I was running over this, comparing other professions to our own - for example, a relative, working for a multi-national company, is constantly reminded (not in words, but by their actions) by his company that he is an asset to them. Pilots, on the other hand, are not viewed as 'solutions' (or money-generators), but as 'problems'. This despite the obvious result at the end of our days work, namely several hundred (depending) safe and happy passengers, and a smoothly running, intact aircraft. A lot more respect is often due to the cabin crew and engineers too. Management, on the other hand, can happily blunder around making some pretty dismal choices (pathetic fuel hedging, cutting funds for necessary functions, shortsighted and chaotic decisions etc) yet still award themselves a nice big bonus! If we did our job as badly, SA roads would have a lot more 737/A319 sized potholes in them.