Original link: https://utopia.pursuitus.com/archives/4239
May 30, 2022 is another day of liberation in Shanghai. At the press conference in the afternoon, the official announced that the normal order of society will be gradually restored on June 1. This is of course a good signal, but what will be the actual implementation? Not yet known. The history is strikingly similar. On May 30, 1949, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China congratulated Shanghai on the liberation (I checked this picture and it turned out to be not PS), and some of the words in it are still applicable today: “China and Asia’s largest city, China Shanghai, the most important industrial and commercial center, “to work together to overcome difficulties, restore production, restore urban-rural connections and internal and external trade”, but “an independent and free new China”? It seemed a little unbelievable. Aside from these grand narratives, the happy thing in the past two days is that I passed my thesis defense. I finally became a master’s graduate 10 years later than my peers. Unfortunately, the graduation ceremony was cancelled because of the closure. At the sensitive turn of spring and summer, some college students are restless after being detained for too long, and even the relevant departments are nervous. The graduation photo check-in point prepared by the school was useless, and even the students were quickly driven out of the school. The anticlimactic academic career will be a memory of the era for a generation of young people. When I took my first graduation photo after graduating from college more than ten years ago, I wore the wrong bachelor’s uniform, and the color and drape were wrong. There is no graduation ceremony in more than ten years, but I find that the clothes I should be wearing now are the ones I wore wrong many years ago. The causal loop is sometimes surprising. During the lockdown, the only movie I watched was called “The Worst Man in the World”. It tells the story of a Nordic woman who keeps giving up her studies, losing her job, and even her partner because she is confused about life. Her life trajectory is casual and free. In her thirties, she can work as a clerk in a bookstore, or try to write and engage in photography. She gave up her mature and reliable boyfriend. If she cheated on nothing, she felt that she could not be a mother, so she became pregnant. I don’t want to have children anymore… Nordic people may feel completely different from East Asians watching this movie. We East Asians have not even obtained the basic “food and clothing” — the freedom of choice, and their Nordic people are already worrying about the higher-level anchor of life value. Recently, I have often been thinking: How can we live a good life for ordinary people like us? We have a superficial understanding of many philosophies, know what is noble and what is despicable, arty and fond of literature and art, and we claim to be not ignorant and thoughtless people, but our hearts are not strong enough, not rich enough, not genius enough to be mediocre, Not even lucky enough. Such people are ordinary members of the Chinese people. Such people are just a number in front of the state apparatus, and 20 million people and 1.4 billion people are just a number. We may be able to prepare, such as changing our habits, stocking up on household items on a regular basis, buying a house as a place to live, or saving more to reduce unnecessary expenses for higher uncertainty in the future. After all, in such a painful three months, many companies are still laying off staff. Some colleagues came out of the cabin last month, and this month is on the layoff list. We never know what kind of bad luck will appear at any time. But does it really work, can it change our situation? If this is not the case, is it useful to express anger at the incompetence of national governance, disappointment with human nature, or anxiety about future life, or to be more radical to resist, but we don’t even know how to resist, and how to resist What are the objects and demands. I often see some immigrant people on the Internet, pointing at the world outside the wall, thinking that many people in the Jane Chinese world are born with a kind of servility, but this is just like the rich people say that the poor are so poor because they don’t work hard enough. . Immigration is a road with a high threshold. Like the urban middle class, the volume of voices is very large and the actual number is very small. Can immigration really solve the problem? At the Oxford Forum not long ago, Xiang Biao talked with Sandel, he mentioned the concept of “nearby” – pay attention to your surroundings, understand the people nearby, how your parents live, who are your neighbors, who are Sweep your streets, how trash is collected, and then find meaning in life nearby, within reach, instead of dreaming in vain. I think those who believe in grand narratives during the lockdown should read more and stick to the slogan of victory, the Space Cave. What we need is to better understand what the people around us are suffering from and what we are suffering from. But even so, no one can point out what is the efficient and better way in the moment. We all know that even if the lockdown in Shanghai is over, we will never be able to go back to before 2020. The world has changed, and just like the lost three months, it will never be found again. Maybe there are two kinds of people who may increase in the future. One is afraid of uncertainty and becomes more cautious.
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