Dying Of Hunger

Do we really get what we deserve in life or sometimes the life gives us a shitty deal? Today I was reading about this man in Japan who died of hunger and he didn’t get any help from his government. A couple of people who were interviewed for the article remarked that the man got what he deserved. The general attitude in that Japanese city is that you are a proper citizen only if you pay the taxes. People who survive on social welfare are looked down upon and they don’t get any sympathy even if they die without food. I don’t know how this incident was reported by the Japanese media.

Last month in New Delhi three sisters were found totally starved in their house by the neighbors. Only the eldest among them was working I think and when she lost her job they had no money to buy food. Ever since their parents died many years ago they had been living a very reclusive life. The neighbors claimed that whenever they tried to help they were rudely sent back. Then one of the sisters died and for five days they didn’t tell anybody and the body started decaying. The sisters were so mentally disturbed that they didn’t even realize that one of them had succumbed to malnutrition. The stench made the neighbors call the police and get that door opened.

The contrast between the two stories is that here in Delhi people had lots of sympathy for the girls and even the government agencies did whatever they could do to get the remaining two goals rehabilitated. Even when the girls were hostile the neighbors tried many times to help them or at least give them some food. The incident got coverage everywhere and now both of the sisters are recuperating. The resident welfare association has completely refurbished their house and they have collected money to get them started. Nobody said that they deserved it.

Although I personally feel that most of our miseries are self generated, especially finance related, there are some things that are beyond our control and is nothing wrong if society and the government helps us because we would do the same thing if someone else needed our help.

In the Japanese story above even the neighbors think that the person who died should have taken care of his finances while he was alive, without ever bothering to know why that person was in that condition. For months nobody even came to inquire why he was in so much misery. It is scary to live in such a society.