Love mommy & daddy, or else...

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

The monthly topic reminds me of this.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/02/world/asia/china-elderly-law

Strange things are happening in China these days. Since July 1, a new law codifies the relations between parents and children, and makes the care for the elders an obligation. As of now, the Chinese are obliged to visit their aging parents frequently. Even if they are on non-speaking terms, or live thousands of km away.

By tradition, Chinese children are taught early that it is their duty to love and respect their parents. They recite verses in school about the principles of Confucianism. In his writings, Confucius encourages children to respect their elders and preaches that this respect is a fundamental element of moral behaviour, and a brick in the structure of any well-functioning society. And he goes further: it's not enough to just ensure the physical survival of the aging parents; "After all, don't we feed dogs out of mercy?", the ancient philosopher remarks.

The truly noble person, Confucius argues, ought to be looking after their parents both while they are among the living and after their passing. He or she must arrange a dignified funeral and pay them the tribute they deserve. So here we are, 2500 years later, where the PRC has turned this moral imperative into a legal obligation, and failing to comply would lead to penalties.

The new law has already taken its first "victims": http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/07/02/chinas-new-filial-piety-law-draws-first-blood/

If we are to go a bit deeper, the real reason for this law is in the huge social and demographic changes in China. There was a time when it was customary for several generations to share the same roof. But now with the rapid economic development in the last three decades, the family ties have been torn apart. Looking for better jobs and a better life, and better payment, millions of Chinese are leaving the family nest, and flocking from the rural areas to the fast-developing coastal regions and the capital Beijing. Some would later take their parents with them as well - hoping to be able to rely on them to look after their children for free. As cynical as it sounds, it's a symbiotic relationship between the generations, and the institution of the grandmother plays a crucial role in the Chinese society.

But many of the young Chinese who have moved to the urban regions, tend to cut all relations with their parents. Because of this, China is only now beginning to set up systems of social aid, and for millions of elderly people this can mean just one thing: continuous misery and solitude. The one-child policy has additionally deepened these alarming tendencies. At present, most Chinese families correspond to the "4-2-1" formula, i.e. one grandchild has to sustain two parents and four grandparents.

The Chinese society is aging fast, and this complicates the task of taking care of the elderly even more. Nearly 70 million Chinese aged 60+ now live in the so called "empty nests". The new law practically compels their children to look after them. It obliges the young to "often visit their parents and aid them with whatever they can". But that sounds too vague: what does "often" mean exactly? That's not explicitly specified in the controversial Article 17 of the law. The question about the possible penalties for those who fail to abide by the law, is also not arranged adequately. In the first case related to this law, a court in East China sentenced a married couple to visit the 77 year old grandmother once in two months, and pay her a regular alimony.

The critics of the law interpret it as an expression of the helplessness of the authorities and the shattered family values in the Chinese society. Some bloggers have written that "if even love for your parents is turned into obligation by law now, then society has slid backwards and downhill". Indeed, this is China's great tragedy.

And of course, there are already those who are eager to exploit the many loopholes in the new legislation: http://www.ibtimes.com/chinese-hire-strangers-visit-parents-after-new-law-prohibits-neglect-elderly-1338867

We all know where the road that's paved with good intentions, ultimately leads to.

Comments

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I am reminded of a woman who had children so that someone would be there to push her wheel chair around during her elder years. She rejected the idea that they might not agree with her program when the time came.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

What a nice tradition brought into becoming a law.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Twere it such a nice tradition, it wouldn't need to be a law.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

Comsider the law as an extended tradition.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

lol!

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

We all know where the road that's paved with good intentions, ultimately leads to.

You would think that the country that survived 5 Year Plans and the Cultural Revolution would have learned this already.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're thinking: "We survived those things, we'll survive this too, no problem".

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Well, let's just hope for fewer mass graves this time, shall we?

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't describe the results of their most recent 5-year plans as merely "surviving."

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Honestly this seems like the exact opposite. The first two were about crushing tradition, this one is about the ruthless enforcement of it. To me the interesting question is how Nu-PRC people talked themselves into the kind of thing that requires the unrestrained barbarism of the Mao era.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

A law requiring you to call your mom is like the Cultural Revolution?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

The law requires you to visit your mom.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Not exactly one step short of mass murder. Now requiring a person to visit their in-laws...

The timing of this also seems interesting. China’s one child policy started 34 years ago, most of those 60+ today, and for the next few years, have more than one child. It seems like they wanted to get this in place before all of those parents which were impacted by the one child policy start to retire.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Those Confucians and their long-term thinking!

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're going to implement something like a one child policy, you better have the power to implement the policies required to deal with the consequences.

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

My mother often wondered why her father never visited his relatives, or only grudgingly mentioned them. After he died, she found out why. My great-great grandfather was a real bastard is why.

He ran a large, multi-generation farm house like his fiefdom. When a great-aunt, a sister of my great-grandfather, asked permission to wed, he said no; she and her youngest sister were born specifically to care for him and his wife in their later years. They both died spinsters in that big house.

It turns out grandpa saw the writing on the wall and ran away from home, working as he traveled . . . starting at age 10.

China is only trying to do what pioneer civilizations have done for years, contain the social support network within the family and damn the consequences, probably because they would be bankrupted if they tried to replace it.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

It's hard enough to take care of someone who cannot take care of themselves when you're doing it out of kindness and moral obligation. I can only imagine what it would be like to be obligated under penalty of law to do so. Most days my mother doesn't like me on good days and it becomes a chore to find someone in the house she does like. The idea that you could create a mandated caregiver within the family without having any real thought as to the situation and capacity of the caregiver class...wow.

I get that this is kind of compounding on existing problems in China, and this is really just the next step in the many different steps, but this one hits entirely too close to home.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

In a way, given the sheer size of the Chinese population and China's......issues....with a demographically viable young population, such a law has a certain kind of draconian logic to it that's internally consistent. In practice it looks like it'll be another trainwreck on par with the One Child Policy and an example of how the Lighter and Softer PRC still has very totalitarian ambitions, IMHO.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Meh, I say let the old fogies fend for themselves...I say this as one who has two d-i-ls who invite me for dinner whenever my wife goes away for a day or two.

Seriously, I just think it's sad there is a need for this kind of law. But what is even sadder is the 4-2-1 situation. Sharing the "responsibility" with two or three siblings makes it more a blessing than a responsibility. (unless of course you have one of THOSE type of parents)

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Those parents who teach their children to love their elders got some back.

Those who taught them otherwise, not so much.

It draconian. Imagine the calls to get their children busted under this law!

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Or think about who the kid is going to call?
I mean, if the parents turned him/her in, he can't very well call the parent to bail him out :D

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

I'm laughing! Thanks.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

I'm up visiting my folks for the first time this year. They approve of this law.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Not all good intentions lead to the same place. The US has managed to survive laws which obligate parents to take care of, or pay for the care of, their kids. That child support laws are needed and so frequently ignored doesn't mean the US would be better off without them. This just seems like the Chinese equivalent.

My take is that the "need" is a bit overblown, there is probably less need for this law than for said child support laws. Every one of my coworkers takes care of their parents, or at least appears to. Of course, saying you don't would be kind of like an American saying they like to attend Klan rallies. Most coworkers actually live with their parents or in-laws, even the bachelors. When you see kids out at the park, they’re with the grandparents, their parents are too busy working. It’s just the way things work, I don’t see the law changing anything.

As for the vagueness, quite a few laws in China are really more like morality tales than laws to be enforced. The message is not to abandon your parents, the details are up to the parties involved. Things aren’t as legalistic as the US.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

What if the children are living/working abroad?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Hopefully they'll learn sooner than later that you can't enforce morality by legal means, long term. Maybe they'll even learn is sooner than the West.

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

Yikes. I can imagine a person having a bad time growing up, finally getting free from his or her parents... only to be bound to them for the rest of their lives by this law. Hopefully no one tries to... how can I put this... help along a premature ending for the parents to free him/herself of this responsibility.

Also, paying the parents "the tribute they deserve" after they pass could be good or bad, in my opinion, even though it probably wasn't meant that way. :)

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Is there an exception if your parent is a jerk?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

This law does not discriminate between good parents and bad parents.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

So, does a parent like threaten to turn their kids in if their feeling neglected? I mean, that's going to happen a lot, if my own elders are any example! ;-)

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

They can issue a complaint, and the government sends someone to make an inspection and find out if the complaint is legitimate. Then there are fines.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Fines? Rich people can ignore their parents. Well, it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

On the lighter side, I know more than one "Jewish mom" that would be turning their kids in constantly :D

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

More like a "most Moms" sorta thing!