Rare can earn it

"Respect" is on the list
An auction never heard before
High price it has
Desperate people with lack of dough
Virtue, the cost of respect
Precisely, golden means I suppose,
Very few can afford to take it home.

Rare can earn respect
Others demand it
On various bases; foremost being ego
Ego of knowledge,
Supercilious experience; loath worthy.
Carved ornament, emblem of power
Owners of badges who can't define power.

Respect being demanded,
Oh! How my mockery cries!
Delinquent versus innocent; your assumption,
I see fool versus back stabbers.
Be unmovable from your duty
Or else, you'll have to hold your mask tight
So you can kneel and beg for respect.