[quote=scaredyclassic]is it really that kids treat parents how they see parents treat parents?

or is it cultural?

what is the average distance lived between kid and parent in 1960?

in 2014?

filial piety. how many generations before this breaks down?

so you act nice with no expectation of anything in return?

and no disappointment if you get nothing back?

perhaps.

i dont see that around me. i see people expecting return for what they put out and guilt when they dont get it…[/quote]

IMO, it is both the way kids see elderly people being treated (including how their own parents treat their grandparents), and it is cultural.

Industrialization and the resulting emphasis put on education, urbanization (and children moving to cities after a certain age), etc. have all had an impact on how we treat elderly people, including our parents. We are now taught to believe that living with one’s parents after a certain age is embarrassing and socially unacceptable. Think of all the extra money that has been spent on housing, appliances, furniture and all the other things that go with this increase in household formation…and all the extra debt that people take on as a result!$$$$$

Fashion, marketing, and commercialization have all conspired to change how we think about “old, outdated” things and people. Because of this, there is an (unhealthy, IMO) emphasis placed on youth and constant change. Instead of learning from the invaluable experience of our elders, we are taught to think that what they know is now irrelevant, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s why so many young people can be lured into the same traps, like debt and bubbles…and how they can be ignorant of the many, many lessons that history has taught us about politics, economics, and society.