Chenyang Li and Jane English

Connor Newlin

Li has some interesting points but I tend to disagree with him in some respects. Perhaps this is my western perspective overtaking my judgment but Li states that even when there is no friendship or love in the parent child relationship, the child is still obligated to take care of its parents. This seems off to me because someone can be a terrible parent in an intentional way and then expect their child to fund their retired life at an advanced age. If my parent was a drunk who beat me and gave me only what I needed to get by in life I still owe them because they bared the burden of raising me? It seems like I bared the burden in this case because I was raised by such a bad parent. Beside this fact, I don't think most parents see raising a child as a burden (although it can be at times) I think a lot of parents out there would say that having and raising children is a great experience  and that they do not think of as a favor that needs to be repaid, but as a delight that they are blessed to have.  This is not always the case but parents often want their child to go out into the world and have their own adventure rather than be tied down at home taking care of an elderly person. I am also curious about what Li would say to a situation where there are many kids. The parent can only live with one child and when everyone wants to take care of their parent who receives the honor of having them live with their family and is that child more virtuous than the others? Because I see a lot of holes in Li's argument I lean towards English in this argument. Everyone loves their parents but they made the decision to have children and know what they are getting into so we should not feel an obligation to wait on them hand and foot.