+214 The concept of sending the elderly off to a nursing home would leave many cultures completely appalled, since in most places and ancient times the elderly were looked up to and cherished for their wisdom. To us, they simply become a burden once they can't take care of themselves anymore, amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But sometimes we can't provide the care they need on our own.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My great aunt needed special attention and living alone doesn't provide. Living in a nursing home really benefits her, and now we have the peace out of mind knowing she's okay.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That's why so many people fear getting old.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah, in many of those traditional cultures the women usually become stay-at-home mothers and don't work, so there would be someone at home to take care of elderly parents. Nowadays, not so much. Also I dislike the idea that children owe their parents support in later life. The parent has an obligation to support the child until he or she is 18 because they made the decision to have a child, the child made no such decision so they're not responsible for their parents' care unless they want to be.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

that's kind of a dicky move.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

What is?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You're not obligated but they put so much time, money, and sacrifice into taking care of you that it would be selfish to just say "Well I didn't choose to have sick parents so not my problem."

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah, you should support your parents if they were good parents, and if you can, because when you love your family you take care of them. But I don't think people should be made to feel guilty for not being able to take care of their parents personally (by which I mean letting their parents live with them and taking care of them physically) when it takes so much out of you moth timewise and emotionally. If you can manage it, great, but if you can't, that's understandable. Personally, I wouldn't want my family to take care of me, and my parents feel the same way, so that's obviously going to affect my view on this post. The main reason I made the comment was because in at least one the cultures the OP is referring to, Singapore, people are legally obligated to take care of their elderly parents, which obviously leads to a lot of people having kids just to have security in their old age, which is a pretty shitty thing to do. Obviously there are upsides to this law, but I just wanted to point out it's not always a good thing.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But in ancient times, people didn't live until they were senile or severely impaired. They would have been about 50-60, when most people are still able to function properly.

by Anonymous 11 years ago