Respect is an old-fashioned word that seems to have fallen out of favour. Which is surprising in the politically-correct world we live in nowadays, because it essentially relates to the act of showing consideration or regard for other people or things like wildlife or the environment.

Some would say that the amount of respect that individuals show one another is a direct reflection of just how civilised or uncivilised a nation is.

But how do you measure respect? I’d suggest that one easy way is to have a look around to see how much litter is blowing around the streets or cluttering up beaches, rural lay-bys or beauty spots.

Chucking something you no longer need away in a random act of littering is like saying: “I do not give a damn if my litter upsets people, harms wildlife, spoils the view, or pollutes the environment. I care for nothing. I respect nothing. The important thing is that I no longer need carry this bit of rubbish around. I am not responsible for it. So sod off!”

Being a litter-bug might not be the most heinous thing in the litany of crimes - it might just be the casual dropping of a paper wrapper or a fag-end - but I do believe it is one of the most selfish things a person can do in their everyday lives. It says to the world: “I cannot be arsed to take this home or walk over to the bin. Why should I? The place where I throw it is not my problem.”

Such thoughts cannot possibly be aligned with anything we like to call civilisation.

And yet this week, after a glorious and blazing hot bank holiday weekend, newspapers and social media have been quivering with wrath as sightseers and picnickers across the country have seen fit to leave vast tonnages of litter across beaches and beauty spots.

On Dartmoor it was, for example, reported that the popular Cadover Bridge area was left looking like some kind of Third World municipal dump after visitors had flocked to the cool riverside setting on Sunday and Monday.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton was quoted as saying: “On a gorgeous bank holiday thousands of us flock to our beaches and parks because they are beautiful, clean and great places to enjoy the sunshine with our families. But some people seem to think it is acceptable to walk away at the end of the day, leaving their rubbish behind and destroying the very beauty they went there to enjoy.

“It is not. Neither can we use the excuse that ‘the bins were full’. If the bins are full, then you should take your rubbish home with you. You took it there, you take it away again. Those thoughtless people who leave their litter are damaging our environment for everyone.” Samantha Harding, litter programme director at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said the bank holiday plague of littering was “disgusting and unnecessary”…

“This level of rubbish is so harmful to our countryside, beaches and parks, as well as the wildlife that lives there – not to mention a complete eyesore.”

She added: “We must look after these amazing places if we want a nice environment to enjoy when the sun does come out.”

People of a certain age and over might be somewhat mystified. When I was a youngster, littering was regarded as a big deal. It was talked about a lot, there were adverts warning the nation not to do it on TV, and kids were told in no uncertain terms that chucking away anything - absolutely anything no matter how small - was a major no-no. We duly took all this on board - probably because we were also taught about the concept of respecting people and things. In fact, the latter was overdone. Lacklustre teachers and other dodgy mentors or elders used the word “respect” so much it began to be meaningless - because they forget the other concept which goes with it - and that is the idea that people must earn respect.

However, the real rot set-in during the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher and her ilk came along and did everything in their power to reduce government and civic society by declaring there was no such thing as society. That message has gone a long way down into the public consciousness. If we are to understand why large sections of the public now believe it’s okay to despoil beauty spots like Cadover Bridge by leaving their litter behind, we must get into the modern mindset.

And it is one that says: “This is not my picnic spot (or lay-by, or park, or street) therefore it is not my problem. At the same time, I no longer need this disposable BBQ or beer can, so I am leaving it right here. If someone else doesn’t like it, they are welcome to pick it up.”

That is the kind of thinking you engender when you declare daft things about there being so such thing as society in the vain hopes that the nation will get richer and more successful because suddenly everyone is out for themselves. It’s the sort of “I’m all right Jack - pull up the ladder” mentality that has more to do with sinking ships than flourishing civilisations.

The ideal, when it comes to the subject of litter, is to have an entire population that will not chuck stuff into the environment because every single person understands why it is such a bad thing to do. Second-best after that is to have a population that won’t do it, because individuals are frightened about what other people might think. The very worst answer is to have a society that doesn’t believe in personal responsibility - doesn’t understand how to respect - and so answers just about everything with the stupid and unthinking words: “I don’t care.”