Recently, I started making videos, so I often receive messages from elderly people in rural areas, hoping that I am a high-ranking official, a big shot whose words count, so that there is hope for increasing the pension for farmers. Hearing these words, I remembered that more than twenty years ago, at the Xuer You Bookstore in Guangzhou, I posted a poster on the wall with a “Farmers’ Issues Reading List.” A middle-aged man who looked like a farmer came to me, hoping that I could help him solve his problems, but he looked a little disappointed when he saw that I was just an ordinary clerk in my early twenties.
Then I also forwarded my public account articles on Weibo, and a more common comment was that this matter was not feasible, especially when I often said that I wanted to reduce the pension benefits within the system, trying to snatch food from the tiger’s mouth, which was simply a pipe dream.
So is this really impossible? I don’t think so at all. I always believe one thing: if most people think something should be done, then it’s not far from being realized.
I fully understand the messages from the elderly in rural areas. Rather than saying they have a “Qing Tian complex” (a longing for a just official), it’s more like they can’t think of any other way. I don’t reject the upward route either. A few days ago, a friend told me that someone also forwarded my article, “He has channels to convey it upwards.” Of course, I was also happy, “I hope more and more people will spread the word.” But I don’t completely rely on this. What encourages me more is the support of farmers and the children of farmers. For example, on the video platform, the elderly in rural areas gave me a series of more than a dozen likes and helped me forward and recommend. Also, my WeChat friends always have “farmers’ children” who insist on forwarding every article. Brother Zhang Feng, because he didn’t forward every article, felt deeply ashamed and wrote two articles to recommend me.
A few days ago, Brother Chen Yu from SMG forwarded my article, saying that I was “popularizing common sense and promoting consensus.” This summary was particularly apt. Yes, what I do is nothing more than these eight words. To be honest, if it weren’t for continuously writing on this topic, about the basic pension for farmers, about China’s pension system, I wouldn’t know a lot of common sense. For example, the difference in national financial subsidies for different groups of pensions. It was under the guidance of Brother Nie Ming that I knew to go to the website of the Ministry of Finance to look at the “National General Public Budget Expenditure Final Accounts Table.” I was shocked when I calculated it. The per capita financial subsidy for those within the system and farmers was 17 times different—and it was because I knew this that I would scold Zheng Bingwen for being “very bad.” Also, the high contribution ratio of China’s pension insurance (especially the 36% within the system), what does this mean behind it? I believe that most people don’t know, this is definitely a big tumor, worth writing a separate article. In short, there is too much common sense that needs to be popularized… Like these, even I, who have been in the media for twenty years, don’t know, I believe that less than one percent of people in China know, and these, in theory, should be known by everyone. I may also make a “10 Common Sense Everyone Should Know About China’s Pension System” later.
I believe that as long as you know, you will understand, and everyone understands, then a social consensus will be formed. Of course, this process requires tirelessly refuting some common sayings. Until now, when you mention raising the basic pension for farmers, many people will still bring up “farmers don’t pay social security,” “farmers have land,” and “the country has no money.” This requires a process, and it needs to be repeated. “Promoting consensus” is not a matter of a day, nor is it the work of one person, so I said in the video that I hope my elderly rural viewers, if they can type, will refute them. I have already taught them how to use a few words to make simple expressions, and if they can’t type, they can send it to their children and let them do it.
So I don’t value the so-called “upward route” so much. If it’s just a top-down “reform” (in fact, this situation has hardly happened in these decades), even if it’s given to you, it can be taken away at any time (for example, from land reform to cooperative transformation, gaining and losing is just a matter of a word). Don’t expect someone to solve the problem all at once. There is no savior in the world. We have to rely on ourselves. What we strive for ourselves is truly ours. The process itself is meaningful and will never be in vain. This is what Hu Shi repeatedly said, “Effort will not be in vain.”
But what I hate is the kind of talk that says “impossible” all the time. I’m not saying to discourage morale, but rather to hate this seemingly calm, objective, and rational mentality. Since you are so sensible, so aware of the times, so understanding, why should others change? Can’t people be less cowardly, less humble, and just accept it when others don’t treat them as human beings? Or do you think you are smart? If you are smart, you should know that even from a rhetorical strategy, you should say this—you can’t lower it, but can you stop raising it? You can’t lower it, but you have to narrow the gap, right? You can’t lower it, but you have to get some money from other places to increase the pension for farmers, right? Moreover, I don’t think it’s “impossible,” on the contrary, reality is “impossible” to last. I don’t believe that in such a large China, there is not a single man who can think about problems and make decisions from the perspective of the country’s long-term stability.
Let’s simply analyze: How big is the mass base of this matter? First of all, all farmers and migrant workers definitely support it, which is several hundred million; secondly, most of the “farmers’ children” definitely support it, which is another several hundred million; finally, there are also people with conscience, compassion, and long-term vision within the system, and this is not an iron plate. I can’t imagine that there is any other matter that has a greater mass base than raising the basic pension for farmers. In addition, as repeatedly said before, it is not only beneficial to farmers, to the children of farmers, but also to the political and economic development of the entire country (even the most critical bottleneck at present). So, if we can’t change such a thing, may I ask what else can we change? Can we change anything?
When did we become so disheartened? If so, then it’s time to rebound.
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