It's easy to notice he must be having a very specific experience in mind when he talks like that. Not that it's too surprising. Once you've been stuck in a situation where you could get experimented on to begin with, you usually don't end up in the highest parts of society afterwards from Alice's experience. You end up somewhere near the bottom, where plenty of other people are able to wipe their feet on you as if you're their personal doormat.

"Far too many people act like that. They seem to think that respect or kindness isn't something to be earned, but something naturally given. They are wrong about that." Hence why Alice seems so cagey even now. She's very much like a cat in that sense. Closed off until she deems you worthy of more than that. "It's good that you do seem to understand it though."