Constructive Suggestions | When a City Decides to “Sell Everything”

There’s a question that has bothered me for many years:

Since a complete pot is worth much more than a pile of scrap iron, why do people in trouble smash their pots and sell the iron?

Until today, when I saw that several cities had established “smash pots and sell iron” working groups and issued “smash pots and sell iron” official documents, I finally understood the essence of this term.The reason for smashing pots and selling iron is obviously due to other reasons. First, iron pots are not high-quality assets, and it is obviously not easy to sell them. Smashing them into scrap iron can quickly exchange for some change. It is true that local governments are in difficulty, and it is also true that they have a lot of debt, but it is also true that local governments have exclusive assets and high-quality assets. No matter how difficult the local government is, there are always a few chickens that lay golden eggs in the backyard, such as mining rights, such as state-owned properties in prime locations. These high-quality assets that are really easy to sell and can be sold at a high price, they are reluctant to sell to private enterprises. Therefore, what is really used to exchange for money is mainly those government assets that do not have much market appeal and are not very valuable, or even “critically ill assets” that need to be subsidized for rescue. These assets, as complete pots, are not easy to sell directly. Smashing them into scrap iron and selling them cheaply will give them a chance. People involved in this process also have the opportunity to get some benefits. Second, the most important thing about smashing pots and selling iron is not how much money is sold, but to make a gesture for the top and the bottom to see. Compared to the debt gap of hundreds of billions of yuan, smashing pots and selling iron to sell some fragmented state-owned assets and clear out a few contract workers without background is of almost no practical significance. It’s not bad to be able to make up the interest. So, since it doesn’t work, since it doesn’t help the overall situation, why bother to toss around? In fact, it is still the idea of selling misery during the poverty alleviation stage. I am so miserable that I have smashed pots and sold iron. Will the top really be willing not to save me? It is also to show the public that we are working hard to resolve the debt, but our foundation is indeed limited and our ability is limited, so we cannot blame the leaders for not caring. In this sense, smashing pots and selling iron is more like the meaning of breaking the cauldron and sinking the boats. They are all for expressing determination. The difference is that the local government that smashes pots and sells iron will still lie down and wait for rescue after smashing the pots, and it is impossible to really charge into battle. Third, smashing pots and selling iron sounds a bit cultured, although not much, but the leaders like it. We often see some words in government documents that sound a bit cultured but have vague meanings, such as “smashing pots and selling iron”. They are especially suitable for arranging those things that are very important but actually have no good solutions. They can be decorated with a variety of words to make them look busy and also look like they have a certain level. For example… uh, I found that there are no examples that can be safely listed, so I won’t write them.
A constructive suggestion: If you are determined to repay the debt, smashing pots and selling iron is not completely useless, but it is indeed better than nothing. What everyone is looking forward to, those truly useful methods, why not give them a try?