==TAIWAN==

There is an advertisement in which an old man has trouble with the complex remote control of a TV, and after several tries, he gives up. In that advertisement, we can see the elders' declining, and in contrast to his son, we can also see the rising status of the youth. In recent times, Chinese traditions of respecting elders and the transforming thoughts have created a strange situation in our society. But why does it occur? Because of the knowledge explosion and industrialization, the elders face the great change within their family or falling social status. In order to subsist, both the elder and the younger have to do something to conform to the real conditions of society.
In the ancient times, the elders were the source of knowledge and the final authority in the family; younger generations had to obey everything the elders said. Because in that time, the elders usually have more knowledge and experience which was handed down from generation to generation, they could teach the young how to deal with differ- ent situations. However, in the age of the knowledge explosion, the elders are not acquainted with the new inventions, nor with new ideas. In the new family structure, knowledge transfer has been discontinued; that is, there is a gap in cultural transfer. They cannot teach knowledge to the younger; instead, the younger can teach the elder new information and skills. After knowledge, and the final authority changes, the elders' status in the family has inevitably fallen. The health care also has undergone some great change. In a busy and rushed industrial city, both husband and wife have to work to grudgingly support a family. That is, nobody is at home to take care of the elders, especially the sick elders. In that case, the younger couples have to find someone to take care of the elders, that is the nursing home. This behavior, though caused by reality, is still to kick the elders out of the family, and thereby eliminate their status altogether.
In the society, because of the industrialization, which emphasizes production, people in the materialistic cities despise those people without working ability. From that point of view, anything without productive ability should not exist in a materialistic society. The elders may not keep working because of their failing health, and declining strength. Hence, they are usually considered as useless waste by people full of energy. Then the elders' status in a material society deceases.
In order to get used to the change, the elders also change their attitudes and behavior gradually. They may also do something in the family such as taking care of the grandchildren or doing some housework in contrast to the past when they would have had no work at all to do. Now they may save their own money when they are working to prepare a retirement fund for their old age, rather than being supported by their children as in the past. They may learn something like computers to keep pace with society, not only chat with their friends as they might have done a generation ago. They do these to conform to the social expectations toward the elders.
On the contrary, with the elders' falling status, the youth increase their status and worth both in the family and in society. In the family, because the youth support the family, have knowledge, and authority, the youth have more power, and right to claim or decide something that was made by the elders in the past. Consequently, the youth have more freedom than they had before; and they will not be oppressed by their elders.
In society, the respect for the elders exists no more. In our society, youth is more important than age, because the youths have more prospects, which is the significant part of industrial society, than the elders have. Because a higher salary is paid to older people, the company often fires them to save money, but does not hire them as advisers. In order to achieve the fast transportation record, the bus drivers do not welcome the elders because of their slow movement.
These examples are almost all caused by industrialization, of which the standard of value is only efficiency, profit and speed. Industrialization brings the energy and freedom to the youth; but it also brings the neglect and disrespect of the elders. After all, it is a tendency toward the falling status of the elders and the rising status of the youth. The causes of it are the knowledge explosion and the industrialization. The elders and the youth change their attitudes and behavior to fit into the new world which is made by the fast progress of knowledge. If elders can understand it is a tendency of falling status and willingly change themselves to exist, the image of the old man who has trouble with the remote control of the TV will not be seen anymore. This society will still make progress at breakneck speed, and only people who can keep the pace with the world can subsist; of course, the elders should not be the exception.