Why are the elderly highly respected in eastern culture and not so much in western culture?
It’s a direct result of “the Cult of Progress” that developed in the 19th century, spawning among other things the Progressive Movement which deliberately created the generation gap so the new generation would be free to “evolve” being set-free the cultural contstraints and loyalties that transgenerational inculturation produces. Despite lipservice to the contrary, everything in the system was rigged to encourage teenagers to despise their elders (except for their really cool progressive teachers and mass-media stars). “Progress” and “Revolution!” not reformation and restoration is what is praised and lionized. Mass media, affluence, and the youth culture however have spread to the East and the younger generation here are arguably even worse now (in terms of respecting their elders) than their peers are in the West … but with Asian manners (which are also disappearing) and Asian communication patterns it often isn’t as obvious. That is, they don’t argue with you, insult you directly,
I suspect it is actually America’s fault. You won’t see me type those words very often either. . Firstly immigrants who came to America only sometimes could bring their parents. These parents often never learned English, nor did they know much about succeeding in America and much of the lore they did have was inapplicable. . Secondly with westward expansion a lot of people moved away from their families to start from scratch in far away states and territories. This meant that having grandparents nearby was no longer standard. . Thirdly, the Industrial Revolution must also have played a part as the most useful information – technological know-how – wasn’t something older people necessarily had. . As other countries in the West modernized they developed similar attitudes while the East developed more slowly and was able to hang on to their filial piety. . It also doesn’t hurt that some of the East has, on top of an honor-the-elder way of seeing things, actual ancestor worship. . A final
