No one is asked to be born? Terribly sorry, but that argument just doesn't hold water. Why? Because one is hard pressed to find large swaths of people committing suicide because they resent being coerced into existence. In fact, many of the people I have meet seem to enjoy life, and the human species as a whole seems rather loathe to relinquish it. Quite a gift our parents have given us, wouldn't you say?

As for the "If you are elderly and can't take care of yourself or haven't made arrangements to be taken care of, the only fault is your own." claim? Try telling that to people who have paid, or will pay, for the education of their children (or, as some might put it, shouldering their "responsibly to the future"). For many people the choice they are presented with in this day and age is either saving for retirement, or ensuring that their children have a good education. Of course one could say that they should take "responsibility for the future" and actively seek to reverse the current trend of rising eduction prices, right? After all, most working parents have plenty of free time to devote to political and social activism...

Anyone with children (my son is two) knows how much of themselves even a mediocre parent (like me) puts into rearing their children. This doesn't mean that the children of the elderly should function as indentured servants, but I think most people would agree that children certainly owe them something, and that something is definitely more than the a quick breeze-through visit to a dreary nursing home during the holidays. A mixture of filial responsibility and well-managed social safety nets seem the most reasonable response, and hopefully China will find the right balance that works well for them. The people who are already in, or soon to be reaching, retirement age in China have by and large lived pretty awful lives and despite what some might say, it really hasn't been their fault.