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If an older person claims their kids won't speak to them because they won't give them money, they're almost certainly lying. This doesn't pass the smell test.
Agreed, I cut contact with my dad because he's a narcissistic, bipolar asshole that refuses to get any therapy because "he's the only normal one around here". Well, except for the 10 Sessions of court mandated Anti-aggression therapy, where he actually got into an argument with his therapist because he said that he's feeling fine, and therefore shouldnt have to change.
Sure, your wife and son left within a few months, and it's everyone else's fault.
You’re underestimating the sheer entitlement produced by executive wealth.
I’m watching this exact scenario play out. My stepfather spent decades treating his kids to an bottomless piggy bank for business ventures and personal debts. Now that he’s retired and married to my mother, he stopped funding the circus. His Ivy-league educated adult offspring immediately cut all contact until he pays up. When a relationship is built purely as a financial transaction, turning off the money means turning off the relationship.
Ever seen that famous reddit post about what to do if you win the lottery? Well worth the read! Speaks volumes about human nature and money.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/comment/chb38xf/
you might consider picking another G7 or otherwise mainstream country other than the U.S. according to where you want to live if [...] Britney Spears is elected to the United States Senate.
How did the actual US end up worse than a throwaway joke from like 13 years ago
I disagree. I can absolutely see this happening.
That said, I do get what you're saying. Usually the person who has been cut off will paint themselves as a victim.
My wife knew a man who was murdered because he wouldn't keep giving his nephew money. I get your smell test, probably because the parent is an asshole, but it certainly happens.
This is hate posting and I hate it.
Children and Parents are just people. Nothing more or less.
Objectifying them as caregivers is bad.
Objectifying them as caregivers is bad.
Correct. And yet literally the first line of argument employed on people who don't want to have kids is "who will care for you when you're old and frail?", as if kids are some sort of investment you can cash in on after you've retired
But that’s not the post. “Alone” is not opposed to “cared for by his kid” but to “visited by his kid”.
If and when I’ll need care, I’ll hope to have a professional but also my family and friends coming for visits. I don’t think that’s a weird sentiment. I would definitely help care for my parents and visit often but I’d never take on the full physical care for them.
But that’s not the post. “Alone” is not opposed to “cared for by his kid” but to “visited by his kid”.
It is, though. A lot of people (especially where the OOP and I come from) expect that their kids will either care for them directly in old age by moving them into their house, or fully pay for their professional care, or help pay for their care at the very least. Even "coming for visits" doesn't really qualify as the opposite of alone.
I get what you’re saying and agree that children should not be obligated to take care of their aging parents, but I have to agree with the other comment that the post is more about loneliness and your children going no-contact with you, not necessarily them taking care of you.
I live half the world away from my parents, so I literally can’t physically help them with anything. I also don’t send money or help them financially because they were smart enough to save for retirement and never expected their kids to help them. But I keep in touch with them and chat over Signal every couple of months or so.
Is that really something people say?
Its not so much about being physically cared for, but just having some connection to someone.
Plenty of lonely old people around.
The two things that amaze me most on social media are people believing they know "the real story" based on absolutely minimal information, and that those stories overwhelmingly judge and demonize someone.
Don't leave out the cultural component! My Filipino wife is still sending money back home to her youngest, an adult. If we move there when we retire, I'd be shocked if those 4 boys didn't come together and take care of her. There's something of a social contract in some societies. YMMV.
This is hate posting and I hate it.
destructdisc turned this community into a cesspool. no original content at all, just flooding with social media hate regurgitation.
You're more than welcome to contribute original content and I'm more than happy to engage with it in good faith.
There is nothing that destructdisc has posted that is outright hateful. I may not agree with everything posted, but it hasn’t been hateful.
And I’ve absolutely heard “who will take care of you when you’re old” from people when I say I don’t want to have children. Multiple times from multiple people. This is not a hate post, this actually happens to real people.
True. I guess it is actually at a point where one should start a talk on how to improve the situation. Who is their instance's admin?
I’m not sure this is real, as this (blue checkmark) account Tweets a lot, with tons of “bait” stories like this:
https://nitter.netbub.com/sheetalbytheway/
They appear to be some kind of daytrader in India, so there might be motivation for engagement (though I don’t see any kind of ad in their bio).
The context of India makes the story somewhat interesting, though.
Honestly, I do feel terrible for the poor Uncle if this is true.
I can understand from the Son's point of view that seeing his parent's "hoarding" savings that he could really use to keep afloat would make him feel spiteful...
But ultimately that is an incredibly selfish perspective - trying to guilt your parents into giving up the dreams they'd possibly spent years saving towards after all the years they spent putting them aside to raise you.
... And to punish them so harshly for refusing to give up their dreams is cruel. If I do have a child one day, I would hope they're not so self-minded.
Life is also cruel in that way. You finally manage to scrape away the time and money to do what you wanted and its robbed from you.
I kinda think this is one of those “Everybody Sucks Here” but we are only getting half the perspective. In any case the son isn’t owed his dads life savings and a dad isn’t owed his sons affection or respect.
i promise any child who gets to this point wishes their parents weren’t so self-minded as well, but now housing and healthcare are impossibly commodified and the ladders have been getting pulled up for 45 years.
maybe if we didn’t live under oligarchical control, you wouldn’t have to scrape away the future of your children just to take a trip overseas- but acting like it’s an inevitability of life and not an injustice of the slave drivers in control is thought terminating and frankly disturbing.
not that i know how this specific guy treated his kid, but it’s a far worse punishment to be born into a family that treats you like an investment above all and most children with this attitude had that kind of upbringing. in such cases, the parents are simply reaping what they sowed. the children didn’t get a choice.
I imagine it would be more painful, yes. But I wouldn't pretend to know, without the psychic powers some people here seem to possess.
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2026
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