Spend more time with those you love

                Spend more time with those you love
                Because they are not with you forever
                — George Carlin

 

My dear readers! I want to share some thoughts on ways in which elderly people are treated in society. I recently read a piece by a Ukrainian politician who wrote about this. Unfortunately, I don’t remember his name (I wouldn’t want to name this “person,” regardless). But he argued that his country was too poor to support the elderly. He said that, instead, the state should let them die and not interfere with the lives of younger people (who could actually pay taxes to the government). But what about his own parents, his relatives, or even himself?! He, too, will someday grow old and will wait for his children to support him!
We have all heard about this custom in Japan. How dreadful it is! Ubasute (;;; in Japanese) was a tradition in which elderly relatives were sent into forests or mountains, doomed to starvation and/or a frigid death, in order to “get rid of extra mouths.”


Let me tell you the tale of how this terrible custom was abolished.
In Japan, there used to be a law stating that, at age 60, elderly people were to be carried to the densely-wooded Mount Obasute and left to their fates. So, once upon a time, two brothers were supposed to carry their aged father. As they carried him on their backs along the mountain, he broke off tree branches and threw them on the ground, leaving a trail along the way. When his sons asked him what he was doing, he them he was doing it for their own good.
The brothers left their old man and started going back, taking another, shorter route. However, they got lost in the dark forest and were forced to return to their abandoned parent.
Realizing how much their father loved them (after all, he had wisely made a trail of branches for them), the brothers decided to break the law and secretly keep him in their basement, bringing him food and treating him with respect.
Soon after, the ruler of the land was searching for a craftsperson to make a rope out of ashes. Using their father’s wisdom, the brothers made such a rope. So, the ruler decided to test them again and ordered them to find a way to thread a string through all the curls of a large sea shell. Once again, the father came to the brothers’ rescue. He put an ant into the shell, tied to it a thread, and at the end of the shell placed a few grains of rice to bait it. Following the smell of the rice, the ant crawled through all the curls of the shell, pulling the thread behind it.
The ruler was delighted that he ruled over such clever people and asked the brothers why they were so successful. They, seeing his excitement, revealed the truth.
The ruler exclaimed in response, “Elderly people are truly full of wisdom!” He rewarded the brothers with riches and reversed his previous decree which sentenced the elderly to death on Mount Obasute.
Hopefully, this tale helps people consider why we should pay for the healthcare of the elderly in their country—and the respect with which one should treat the elderly, rather than making them suffer from hunger and disease.
Remember: warmly embrace your loved ones, because this is most valuable thing in life, and it does not cost a dime.
— George Carlin