[lit-ideas] Re: Growing Old the Hard Way: China, Russia, India

From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:10:17 -0400
> [Original Message]
> From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 4/19/2006 2:38:04 AM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Growing Old the Hard Way: China, Russia, India
>
>
>
> *Most Chinese couples in their 20s to 40s maintain
> close relationships with the parents, and often live
> with them. This is not so much about ancestor worship
> but there are good practical reasons for it. As most
> younger women nowadays work, the parents are extremely
> useful at taking care of the kids, helping with
> keeping the house etc. They will usually have some
> savings on the side, too. And, of course, many young
> couples cannot afford to buy their own apartments. The
> things may be different with middle-class couples in
> big cities that make enough money to buy their own
> apartments, to send the kids to good kindergartens, to
> hire house help etc. There will probably be more
> disconnect as the personal incomes rise, for now the
> traditional bonds are still very strong.
>


I heard a discussion recently on family relationships in the U.S.,
vis-a-vis the movie "Failure to Launch" (I haven't seen the movie), i.e.,
why there is a shockingly high rate of men in the U.S. aged 20's to 30's
who still live at home with their parents, having only low paying part-time
jobs, playing video games all day long.  One of the reasons put forth was
brain damage from the epidemic of drugs such as Ritalin and Aderal (for ADD
and ADHD), widely prescribed for boys that apparently damage the
motivational center of the brain.  Another reason put forth is that the
natural pattern of American society has historically been as Omar describes
for China.  The Baby Boomers changed that pattern with their higher
expectations, better financial profiles than their parents, and
governmental aid to the middle class in the form of loans to GI's for
houses, education, etc. (which also drove the U.S. into superpower status).
Apparently, though, today's extreme prices for housing, student loans, the
price of cars and a generally unaffordable lifestyle are driving a trend
back to the pre-Baby Boomer era where extended families were important in
the U.S. for practical reasons.  Girls aren't having as much trouble
launching.  My own personal opinion is that in extended families there was
more male presence for boys, even if it wasn't perfect.  Today's families
are often devoid of males, driving depression in boys which looks like ADD
for which the boys are medicated as hyperactive. Girls' rights have also
been promoted at the expense of boys.  Whatever the reasons, we're
reverting back to extended family lifestyles along with China and the rest
of the world out of economic need.





> O.K.
>
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[lit-ideas] Re: Growing Old the Hard Way: China, Russia, India

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