If you have a problem, who should you contact?

As soon as this statement came out, public opinion was in an uproar, and some even said that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security no longer talks about people. To be fair, when we Chinese encounter difficulties, we do not fully rely on the government. In the old society, during times of famine, although the government came forward to provide disaster relief, touching scenes of rich families giving porridge to the poor were also common. He Tianjue, an American missionary who came to China in 1869, later joined the U.S. Embassy in China as a diplomat and served as Acting Minister. He had a profound observation of China and wrote a book "The True Character of the Chinese", which is very worthy of those who care about China today. People who have an image in the minds of foreigners should read it carefully.

Yuan Tengfei's book "What Is History?" tells a story about He Tianjue, which profoundly explains how the Chinese people have gone through thousands of years of suffering to get to where they are today. He Tianjue once met an old beggar who pretended to have a pair of rotten and suppurating feet and deceived people many times. When He Tianjue found out, he angrily accused him that at such an old age, he should not lie to others, but should support himself with his honest labor. The old beggar confessed: Actually, I am a shoe repairman. I don’t want to be a beggar anymore. I’m old. I want to go back to my old job and repair shoes! A few days later, the old beggar came to He Tianjue with a complete set of shoe repair tools and a stool, hoping to set up a stall in the corner outside the American Legation to repair shoes. He Tianjue agreed. He repaired shoes in that corner for nearly ten years until his death.

After the old shoemaker died, his son came to He Tianjue and asked He Tianjue or the U.S. Embassy to fund the funeral of the old shoemaker. In He Tianjue's view, this is an unbelievable request, but this detail reveals the Chinese people's thinking: First, the government or capable people should provide help to the beggars and help them change their profession. For example, He Tianjue agreed to the old beggar to set up a stall in front of the American embassy to repair shoes. He Tianjue, who was an American missionary, may think that this is just a simple task, but for the old beggar, he got the stall position, and there is no one behind the stall. The big name of Tianjue and the American Legation can protect him and save him from a lot of trouble. The second is the power of human kindness. After ten years of seeing each other, in the eyes of the Chinese, the old shoemaker and He Tianjue were no longer friends but old acquaintances. It was only natural that He Tianjue or the American embassy should contribute to the funeral of the old shoemaker.

It seems that when the Chinese people encounter difficulties, they certainly hope that the official government can lend a helping hand, regardless of which country it is, because this tree is relatively thick after all. However, the Chinese people will not pin all their hopes on this big tree. With everyone's help, they can overcome difficulties that are difficult to cope with alone and make up for the shortcomings of social security. People in ancient China generally lived in poverty. From the perspective of Americans, most Chinese people were just struggling to survive. Thirty years after reform and opening up, this is still the case for most Chinese people today! The reason why large-scale beggars rarely appear is mainly because Chinese people have developed the traditional habit of helping each other under low-level living conditions. Yuan Tengfei believes that when social wealth has not achieved rapid development and the social security system is temporarily difficult to improve, these two forces may be the most reliable and powerful forces to help the beggars.

Some good people on the Internet dug up old photos from decades ago. At the beginning of family planning in the 1980s, the slogan was: Family planning is good, the government will provide for the elderly; after ten years, The slogan of the 1990s was: Family planning is good, and the government helps provide for the elderly. In the new century, social wealth seems to have developed by leaps and bounds. China's GDP ranks second in the world, and its annual foreign aid and public consumption are even more Countless people actually use the slogan that it is better to postpone retirement and rely on oneself for retirement. Where are the social security promised before? Compared with the evil capitalist countries in the West, they are getting worse and worse as they develop! I remember that when I first traveled to Xi'an a few years ago, I saw a large group of laid-off workers petitioning in front of the Xi'an Municipal Government. The slogan was: If you have difficulties, go to the government. Originally, the Chinese people did not place so much hope on the government, but you have ignited the fire of hope in the hearts of the people. Now if you go to the government, there is nothing the government can do! You extinguished it ruthlessly again, no wonder the people are scolding you!

Now, we finally have people in the government who understand: the government is not omnipotent! Moreover, China has China’s national conditions, that is, a large population and a weak foundation (this has been said for more than 30 years, I wonder if the foundation is still weak now? Anyway, when talking about the achievements of reform and opening up, I haven’t.