I think that most people still see it as their responsibility to care for their parents. However, it is much more common to live further away from your family as well. "Back in the day" people didn't move far away from their home towns so they had frequent contact. Now, a lot of retired parents move out of state and children don't usually stay in the area where they grew up because of lack of opportunities. My dad moved to Florida and my brother moved to Alabama and I am stranded here in the frozen wasteland of Michigan while they enjoy their mild winters in the South. Oops, didn't mean to vent my resentment here
But yeah, they abandoned me for the mild winters and year round golfing <sigh>
I do think, in general, that we do not honor and respect our elderly as they do in many cultures. We see getting old as a bad thing and don't listen to the wisdom of the elderly, forgetting that they've already lived through everything that we're trying to cope with in our own lives. However, every single person I know tries their hardest to care for their parents. I know that when I was caring for my mom in her last months with us, I did have the thought that I was role modeling for my own kids how to treat *their* mother! That's all a moot point with this guy because he didn't have any immediate family left. It definitely is an argument for having kids!
There is an old saying "Be nice to your children. They are the ones who will be picking out your nursing home."
I don't know what society's responsibility is in a case like this. It seems like, in January in Michigan, the electric company could wait a few months before shutting off the electricity OR get the person set up with assistance. It would be to their benefit to get them set up with assistance because then they would get the bill paid. It's even possible that the poor guy didn't have the cognition to pay his bills or something. Meaning, he may have had the money but didn't remember that he didn't pay, didn't have stamps.. who knows?
ETA yet again because y'all keep posting while I'm typing: Yes, we have had big price increases. In fact, the company that this guy had just announced another rate increase today. Our heat is actually gas up here, for most people in cities. In rural areas, they may have propane or heating oil, but most is natural gas heat. The blowers for the furnace are electric though. So, no electricity= no heat, even though it's gas heat. I keep my house at 64 at night/when we're at work/school and 68 during waking hours that we're home. I have a fire in the fireplace if it's too cold. We wear sweatshirts and slippers and use blankets (not Snugglies!) around the house. When you're moving around, it's fine at 68. It's when you're sitting around watching TV that it gets chilly. We have electric blankets at night. My gas bills for this winter have been running about $300 a month, electric around $95. I'm on a budget plan though. They average my last year's usage costs into one monthly payment so it is the same all year. In November, they true up and either I owe them a lot or they owe me some. We really really scrimp on electricity and heat in October so that we don't owe! My budget plan this year is $186 a month for gas and electric together. To rack up $1000 electric bill really does take some time. I rarely use my family room in the winter. Because it's an addition, it's on a cement slab and it has 3 outside walls with French doors and a huge bay window. It's the coldest room in the house all winter.. probably 10 degrees cooler than the living room! It stinks.
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