> nor is rotting away in a forgotten corner of a human warehouse

To play devil's advocate, a lot of older people in Asian, Latin, and Middle Eastern societies don't end up in retirement homes.

Yes, they exist, but it's culturally expected for children to take care of their parents in old age (just like the parents took care of the kids when they were young). Sure it doesn't make the quality of your last decades in life much better but I think at least it'd involve less crippling loneliness.