this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2024
312 points (95.3% liked)

World News

39032 readers
2286 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

They were found in gutters, on streets, in bushes. They were boarded on trains, deserted in hospitals, dumped at temples. They were sent away for being sick or outliving paychecks or simply growing too old.

By the time they reached this home for the aged and unwanted, many were too numb to speak. Some took months to mouth the truth of how they came to spend their final days in exile.

“They said, ‘Taking care of him is not our cup of tea,’” says Amirchand Sharma, 65, a retired policeman whose sons left him to die near the river after he was badly hurt in an accident. “They said, ‘Throw him away.’”

In its traditions, in its religious tenets and in its laws, India has long cemented the belief that it is a child’s duty to care for his aging parents. But in a land known for revering its elderly, a secret shame has emerged: A burgeoning population of older people abandoned by their own families.

This is a country where grandparents routinely share a roof with children and grandchildren, and where the expectation that the young care for the old is so ingrained in the national ethos that nursing homes are a relative rarity and hiring caregivers is often seen as taboo. But expanding lifespans have brought ballooning caregiving pressure, a wave of urbanization has driven many young far from their home villages and a creeping Western influence has begun eroding the tradition of multigenerational living.

Courtrooms swell with thousands of cases of parents seeking help from their children. Footpaths and alleys are crowded with older people who now call them home. And a cottage industry of nonprofits for the abandoned has sprouted, operating a constantly growing number of shelters that continually fill.

(page 2) 24 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 73 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I'm never gonna own a home, I can't afford to care for my parents. A nursing home is absolutely out of the question if I'm the one on the hook. It's hard to imagine it being easier in India with the work conditions and wages there.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago

Begin voting for caring governments, who will first consolidate and bargain for elderly care expenses, and then take on the job of elder care itself. It's been shown that removing the mercenary aspect and keeping the service level objectives and performance an openly-discussed metric will result in improved care, longer life and reduced expenses.

It also makes rich assholes pay more for everyone's care, which is kinda neat for me despite maybe being in the top 20%.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 months ago (8 children)

I've just accepted that I'm gonna rack up credit I never intend to pay and die. And I live in a country that isn't gonna throw that debt on my kids

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is actually the normal around the globe. We are kind of told that we look after the frail and disabled and our family but as countless disabled people have been explaining for centuries now this just isn't the case, its one of the biggest lies ever told about human behaviour. Its shocking that governments are still shocked by this behaviour but it goes to show how deep the propaganda has got into people.

Human beings do not look after the chronically unwell, whether it be from age or otherwise. Almost all close family abandon them, it is abnormal for anyone from someones friends of families to even see them again after about 2 to 3 years. This is the true reality of human behaviour and the disabled have been trying to get this message across for decades and no one is listening.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

Capitalism does it again!

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

That would require me to be ashamed of my choice lol.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Hey, don’t be shitty parents and we won’t abandon you 🤷‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Be incentivized to be a non-shit parent.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 129 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Makes one wonder just how shitty were these elders to their children and grandchildren?

[–] [email protected] 88 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

Yeah the things that the elders say sound like typical narcissist parent quotes. "[My kids abandoned me because] they said ‘Taking care of him is not our cup of tea.” That's sounds extremely unlikely. I would guess you didn't want to hear the very justified exact reasons why they didn't want you in their life anymore.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

"[My kids abandoned me because] they said ‘Taking care of him is not our cup of tea.” That’s sounds extremely unlikely

My thoughts too. The person you're quoting is apparently just 65, too, and a retired police officer. Obviously I'm just talking out of my ass here, but that sounds way too young to at the point of requiring full-time caregiving. I'm thinking there's something more at play beyond what he's letting on, but I could obviously be wrong

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It also says he was in an accident. So he may not be physically capable.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Ah yeah I guess if I had the reading comprehension of an adult man and not a fucking chickadee I'd have seen that in the next sentence.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 44 points 3 months ago

If my mother wasn’t a terrible person, a liar, and a manipulator, I wouldn’t have abandoned her when she finally broke the camels back.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago

Yeah, any guesses on the shitty kids:shitty parents:shitty both ratio?

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

Yeah no shit. That wasn't like really obvious that that would start to happen at some point.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago

Associated Press - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)Information for Associated Press:

MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
Wikipedia about this source

Search topics on Ground.Newshttps://apnews.com/article/india-abandoned-elderly-population-aging-44701de4079bf8bca01cfa3217fdf1c8
~Media~ ~Bias~ ~Fact~ ~Check~ ~|~ ~bot~ ~support~

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›