How to view the People’s Daily political article: The argument of “class solidification” cannot be established

While visiting the National Museum, the commentator was shocked by a "hypocritical" statement made by a student from a key primary school in Beijing. This short-lived regime after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty was unknown to most people. Compared with the previous visit to a middle school in the suburbs of Beijing that greatly shortened the visit time in order to rush back to eat nutritious meals, the commentator lamented that the knowledge, vision, and expressive ability of the children from the key primary school "crushed" the big brothers and sisters in the middle school. The commentator believed that the performance of teachers and students in the two schools made him “feel the phenomenon of class consolidation in China.” According to him, most of the parents of this key primary school, “well-known in Beijing,” are “social elites, scholars, celebrities, "Government officials, envoys abroad and corporate executives", while the parents of the students in the middle school on the outskirts of Beijing are basically ordinary people.

In recent years, the topic of social mobility has become increasingly prominent. However, using the different performances of children in the two schools to prove the so-called "class solidification" is actually wrong. The essence of the problem is not "class solidification", but the uneven allocation of educational resources. The number of teachers in key schools alone is many times greater than that of ordinary schools. "A great teacher makes a great disciple" is an irrefutable truth. Nurtured by comprehensive quality education, students from prestigious schools naturally have a vision and quality that exceeds that of their peers. This is caused by the uneven allocation of educational resources, and we cannot draw the conclusion of "class solidification" from this.

Although some scholars believe in recent years, according to surveys, that China's social mobility has declined compared with the early days of reform and opening up, overall China's social mobility is still very strong. The influence of parents' occupation and income on offspring is not decisive. Just because the previous generation was poor does not mean that the next generation is destined to be poor as well. There are many opportunities for grassroots people to change their destiny. As long as ordinary people are willing to endure hardships and have brains, I can't say that they will definitely become rich, but at least they can have enough food and clothing. Several of the most famous entrepreneurs in China today, such as Jack Ma, Wang Wei, Liu Qiangdong, etc., are all children of ordinary families. Jack Ma seized the opportunity of the e-commerce boom and became the richest man in China; Wang Wei, the founder of SF Express, was just a courier at first; Liu Qiangdong, the founder of JD.com, just sold computer spare parts in Zhongguancun... The so-called "Heroes Don't Ask" "Provenance" is a vivid portrayal of today's China.

The best example of social mobility in China is actor Wang Baoqiang. Wang Baoqiang was born in a peasant family in Hebei. He did not go to school for a few days. He learned martial arts in the Shaolin Temple at the age of 8. He started as an extra and eventually grew into a well-known actor. In terms of family conditions, education level, and social resources, Wang Baoqiang is considered to be in the worst bracket, but he still succeeded.

These examples all show that the so-called "class solidification" cannot be established.

In fact, China has never been a "class-solidified" country. This is a unique phenomenon created by China's special history and culture. For example, ancient China and European countries also implemented the primogeniture system, but only the Chinese distributed the family property equally when dividing the family. After a few generations of this, the so-called big landowners will automatically disappear. The saying that "wealth cannot last more than three generations" is directly related to this system full of human warmth. In addition, the imperial examination system also gave ordinary people a way to rise through reading. To this day, nearly 10 million students take the college entrance examination in China every year. How many of them are children of so-called "elite families"?

Some sayings that are familiar to the Chinese people include "The princes and generals will be in peace", "Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi", "Emperors take turns, and they will come to my house next year"... Even Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang. It is unimaginable in other countries that a person from the lowest level of society can become an emperor.

We cannot deny that favorable family conditions are indeed beneficial to the growth of children, and the intergenerational inheritance of wealth and values ??is also an objective reality, but this is two different things from "class solidification." Today we cannot use "class solidification" as an excuse to justify our loss of fighting spirit. The more ordinary children are, the more they must strive for self-improvement, and the more they must firmly believe: No matter what you give, you will receive what you gain.