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Comment by alexgoodhart | Hacker News Reader

I find the article to be morally upright and goodfeeling nonsense being used as a cudgel to redefine independence as dependence rather than acknowledging that the two factors coexist in different concentrations depending on class.

Independence is not infrastructural support, it is *choice*. You may depend on a housekeeper, but I depend on my own body to clean. That housekeeper doesn't get to say "I'm too busy to do my job"; not many times, at least. Because wealth means you get a new housekeeper, while poverty means you get a single aging body.

In the context of a world with AI increasingly being positioned to become a mediator of reality and access, I find the article distasteful and dishonest.

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Just for the record - it's not a class thing; the colonial cultures stem from the Viking culture (largely) which favoured independence over interdependence.

Most other cultures favour interdependence - Asia, rather famously, doesn't have a pension/superannuation program (in general) because their cultures are heavily geared toward elderly living with their children and grandchildren.

How is that not pseudo science. Colonialism and Vikings would be separated hundreds of years and long distances. And there are no indication Vikings were less dependent on each other than in other iron age cultures.

Not sure why you think lashing out with claims of pseudo science is anything but poor behaviour and misinformation, but let's have a quick look at your claims.

1. Colonialism and Vikings would he separated by hundreds of years...

Vikings were colonists, famous colonies include Normandy, large parts of the British isles, and, Russia.

Note that they also settled in other lands.

2. The iron age comparison.

Not sure how carefully you read, but you might notice that there is a parenthesised word in my comment, (largely) indicating precisely what you are arguing i missed.

Note that i had to edit this because the phone and i disagreed on what words I was intending to use

What happens to people in those societies who don't have kids?

They are discarded to care homes much like elderly people globally

https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2026/01/china-elder-care-p...

beggars in the street.. or a walk to the closest river or lake!

Before pensions in the West, they'd get help from other relatives, nieces and nephews most commonly or others from the extended family. If there were no relatives, usually the village or church would give some very meager charity to them, called "going on the parish", or they'd become beggars in towns.

In China, at least 100 million retired people with rural Hukou (户口) can only get 100-300 CNY (or ~15-45 USD) pension per month from the government. Note that they just pay their taxes like everyone else. That's why raising children so they can help you when you're old (养儿防老) is so wide spreading in rural China.

Ask me how I know this? Most (99.999999%) people in China do not have the freedom to express themselves online safely. You meet them and ask them personally to know this kind of thing exists. Then you check the statistics from Chinese government about pension distribution, retired people with rural Hukou get the most discrimination from the government.

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