In 19th century Japan, elderly parents were carried to the mountain to die. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084390/ They'll take me too. maybe that's right.
What Copilot has to say about this: The practice of Ubasute—also known as obasute or oyasute—is a mythical tradition in Japan. According to legend, during times of extreme hardship, families would carry their infirm or elderly relatives to a remote, desolate place (often a mountain) and leave them there to die. The goal was to reduce the number of mouths to feed and conserve limited resources during famines or other crises. While some believe these accounts are entirely false, the story of Ubasute has persisted over time, adding to its legendary status. It’s a chilling tale that reflects the harsh realities faced by families during difficult periods in Japan’s history. So first of all its based on legend and myth rather than well established cultural tradition so its evidence is lacking. In fact I would say that Japan scores very highly on respecting their elderly compared to other places. However it doesn't matter it is the moral of the story that matters. The key part being "t o reduce the number of mouths to feed and conserve limited resources". Across time and history when resources are/were limited, for whatever reason, people tend to become primitive, hard, cruel and devoid of love and compassion towards even their own family members all for the sake of survival. This mythology serves as a warning to ALL of us rather than an example of how "cruel" some "cultures" can be towards their loved ones. Another good story and movie on this subject is "The Hunger Games". Look around you, didn't we just replace the proverbial cold mountains with retiring homes today? Cold places devoid of life. Sure the people working there are doing very noble work. But old people at their old age love to do one thing the most. Tell their stories to young and eager to listen children. The more crazy and ridiculous the story, the more animated it is told, the bigger the audience they have and the more joy and energy they receive at their old age. Stories that serve as entertainment for both but more importantly stories that serve as lessons for the younger generation to not repeat their foolish old mistakes and perhaps to even remind the parents through the children that life is more than being a slave to your career. That sure you can pursue your dreams but lto not forget that love has a bigger value otherwise the harsh cold winter will end up sending them to the cold mountain as endlessly chasing careers and dreams makes you run out of precious fuel and resources. Also for every "harsh" example there is more "soft" counter examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhHoCvX8NdUHowever I would argue that if we must take example from children in how to treat the elderly then we have failed catastrophically as adults.
« Last Edit: 2024-06-20, 21:29:26 by broli »
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