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Originally Posted by Muhammadwd
I had shared my views on this questions earlier on this thread. In my opinion, issues such as loneliness, and economic dependency, and personal sustenance don't hold much weight in Pakistan's society. Yes, there are increasing cases of neglect, but the answer can be structured with a top down approach that highlights the status of elderly people in our society with respect to social institutions such as family and religion, and then proceeds to present a modern take on the social standing of elderly people with our society leaning more towards the modern, materialistic world view. This can help explain the trend towards striving for financial independence from an early age, how that leads one away from his/her family, and how the care of the elderly is thus neglected. This point can be further elaborated by the need of elder care centers and the role of the state in ensuring basic human rights. However, one can also make a point of propagating the need of keeping the family unit strong, as it has historically been a stronghold of social relations with multiple actors involved in caring for each other. We can further add that religion as a social institution adds to our responsibility to our elders (Quran, 4:36, 17:23, 2:177). In my view, involving certain sociological aspects to our answer can help build strong arguments, whether positive or negative.
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I agree with your opinion although the approach of The Dream of Rain is also correct regarding a certain segment in our society. This segment of population is small but will get bigger with the time as we are heading in a wrong direction. The glorification of working 10-12 hours a day in the name of financial independence (which is a fraud actually) is worsening the issue of elderly (along with many other problems but those are not in the scope of this question) in Pakistan. The elderly will remain dependent economically and socially just like a child in young age. This reality can't be avoided. Approaches to reach at this issue must be more than one as Pakistan is diverse but all of them should eventually require a same solution, a solution which doesn't create two more problems by solving one which happens in most of the societies.
In my opinion the solution will make a difference in this question, not approaches because owing to cultural diversity of Pakistan no matter how do you discuss this issue, it will be admissible up to some extent.