Epidemic Prevention as a Political Movement——Dynamic Clearing and the Great Famine

Recently I was reading Yang Jisheng's "Tombstone: Documentary of the Great Famine in China in the 1960s". As the title says, this book is about a history that has been deliberately downplayed or even erased in Chinese history textbooks—the great famine of the 1960s caused by the Great Leap Forward.

The author used to be a senior reporter of Xinhua News Agency, and this status gave him the opportunity to conduct interviews and investigations on people within the system, to have contact with people who had experienced it in the party at that time, and to have the resources to investigate archives. It can be said that the credibility is still guaranteed to a certain extent. At the same time, the author's father was starved to death in that era, which also led him to record and reflect on this history for personal emotional reasons.

The first half of the book includes statistics and interviews in 11 provinces where the famine was more severe that year, and presents the tragic situation of that year in a documentary manner. The second half mainly sorts out the causes and consequences of this man-made disaster, analyzes the mechanism that caused this tragedy, and bluntly criticizes the totalitarianism of the Mao era.

Before going abroad, I was not completely ignorant of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine. Our history textbooks will talk about the people's communes and steel smelting that emerged during the Great Leap Forward, as well as exaggeration and communism. We often hear stories from old people about the so-called three-year period of natural disasters in the 1960s, but we never put this into perspective. The Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine are linked. After going abroad, I gradually realized that the Great Leap Forward was not just an understatement like the "tortuous exploration" mentioned in textbooks, but a large-scale man-made disaster that caused thousands of people to starve to death.

However, even though I had a certain basic understanding and psychological preparation, when I opened this "Tombstone", I was still shocked by the naked tragedy revealed by the author's straightforward language, because the description of the tragedy was too much. To be honest, it made me physically uncomfortable at one point. When I finished reading this book, my perception of the catastrophe was no longer abstract numbers and concepts, but living images.

More importantly, from this book reviewing history, I seem to see the shadow of China's epidemic prevention policy since the epidemic.

I don't know if you have considered these questions:

Why make nucleic acids for animals and steel bars? Why create a cluster environment for nucleic acid in sparsely populated snowy plateaus and pastoral areas? Why are questions about the role of Lianhua Qingwen and Chinese medicine in epidemic prevention banned? Why did it feel like a big project when we talked about the closure of the city before, and why is the closure of the city now a commonplace after changing its name? Which person whose brain was kicked by a donkey made the decision to queue up to do nucleic acid in the high temperature of more than 40 degrees? Who asked women's volleyball players to wear masks? Coexistence with the virus, why is no one mentioned in the wall anymore?

Congrats buddy, you are witnessing a political movement called Epidemic Prevention .

What? Are there political movements in this era?

It is true that, strictly speaking, it did not claim to be a political movement from the very beginning like the Cultural Revolution, nor did it have a clear goal to overthrow from the very beginning. However, this does not prevent it from evolving into a political movement, or becoming a carrier of a political movement.

History is always strikingly similar. More than 60 years ago, there was also a political movement under the guise of building a socialist movement—its name was the Great Leap Forward, and its consequence was a famine that starved tens of millions of people to death. Its subsequent development was called the Cultural Revolution. When I turned to the history more than 60 years ago to learn about the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine, I was amazed at the similarities between the construction boom that surpassed the British and the United States and the dynamic clearing that dominates the world today.

Begins to compete with foreign countries

The Chinese system will always be superior. Whether it is the so-called socialism under the planned economy of the year or the socialism with Chinese characteristics today, this is an unquestionable premise. Since the system is superior, we should be able to surpass the UK and catch up with the United States more than 60 years ago, and after more than 60 years, we should be able to continue to clear the virus without the world being able to eliminate the virus. When reflecting the superiority of our system. Coincidentally, Mao Taizu and Emperor Qingfeng unanimously set their goal of catching up and surpassing the Western countries headed by U.S. imperialism.

The three red flags cannot be denied, and the dynamic clearing cannot be shaken

The Great Leap Forward starved to death so many people, but no matter how serious the situation was, no matter how wrong the Great Leap Forward was, the line of "Three Red Flags" (the general line , the Great Leap Forward , and the people's commune ) cannot be denied. This is a question of standpoint and a line of struggle. , is the question of whether to align with Mao's core. Today, the general line of clearing has also become such an existence. All those who raise objections and doubts about the normality of epidemic prevention will be regarded as attacking the general policy and ideology of the party, and there is less and less room for discussion on whether to coexist with the virus. Whether it is violent epidemic prevention or the lack of food and vegetables in Shanghai under the city closure, these are trivial matters for officials. The damage to the economy and people's livelihood is at best a problem of lack of ability, and whether to strictly implement the zero policy is a political matter. Loyalty issues.

Epidemic prevention has become a means for officials to make political statements

In this book, the author has a point worth pondering: In addition to the influence of natural conditions, the fewer people who starve to death (the so-called right-leaning opportunism) who have not implemented the above policies enough, and the more loyal to Mao Zedong's line, the more people will starve to death. The more, and the more you create and play on the basis of the orders issued above, the greater the disaster will be.

Isn't that how the epidemic situation is being dealt with today?

How to deal with the epidemic is no longer a scientific issue, but a matter of political stance. Officials are afraid of being in the wrong team, so they would rather over-execute them. What 's more, they will speculate on their intentions and create their own ideas based on the general policy of dynamic clearing. Going too far than others can show that they stand firmer, and they are more likely to rise to the next level. For example, not only will the city be closed immediately if there is a positive, but even if there is no positive, there will be a "big training" to simulate the closure of the city; nucleic acid testing for animals and non-biological organisms, nucleic acid testing on snowy plateaus and prairie, so that people can be exposed to the sweltering heat Queuing up to do nucleic acid, all this is a political statement. These practices are not just overreactions to fear the high pressure from the superiors, but are more like deliberate flattery to the above. Isn't this the "exaggerated style" of this era?

Not only to eliminate the epidemic, but more importantly to eliminate different voices

The reason why we say that epidemic prevention is a political movement is because, like the Great Leap Forward, he is not only doing unrealistic and stupid things, but the important thing is that the production movement has always been accompanied by "hat-buttoning" criticism. To put it bluntly, Whether it is the Great Leap Forward or the current epidemic prevention , the main purpose of the rulers is not to surpass the UK and catch up with the United States or the epidemic prevention itself, but to eliminate and overthrow the opposition and the forces that do not obey the supreme power in the production movement and epidemic prevention movement. , whether the force of disobedience comes from the bureaucracy or the people within the system.

The process of the Great Leap Forward was always accompanied by an anti-rightist purge movement, and whoever responded to the difficulties at the grassroots level would be labeled as a rightist; while the epidemic prevention movement restricted and deprived people of freedom on the grounds of epidemic prevention, and then opposed epidemic prevention. The policy eliminates those who are fighting for freedom and ideas on charges of crimes, and finally screen out those who can endure unfreedom, and even those who fanatical support totalitarian ideology, the voice of coexistence with the virus in the system is suppressed, and even criticism of traditional Chinese medicine will be directly detained Unpatriotic hat.

inhumane tragedies

Although the humanitarian disaster caused by the famine period was more tragic than the epidemic prevention, considering the development level of the entire world and China today, the inhumane things that happened during the epidemic prevention process can be considered appalling: the lack of food due to the closure of the city; the inability to seek medical treatment without nucleic acid Diseases cannot be treated in time; the abuse of medical resources in epidemic prevention leads to shortage of medical resources; pets are culled on the grounds of harmless treatment; international flights are unable to return to China due to the five-one policy; in order to complete the vaccination rate stipulated by the central government, The local government forced vaccinations, and people who died of adverse reactions had no way to defend their rights; they nailed the door to prevent people from going out for epidemic prevention; they were dragged to the streets to show public humiliation for violating local epidemic prevention policies... These inhumane things are numerous. lift.

As a result, the government's control over society has been strengthened

The negative results of the people's commune are not just the waste of rice that is often criticized. We should also realize that: under the call of realizing the great goal of communism, the government uses the organizational model of the people's commune and production team to quietly Deprived of all rights and control over all sources of information, even personal life, social relations and personal thoughts. The atomization under collectivism is nothing like this - people are a unit of the collective, and there is no free exchange of ideas between atoms and atoms, and all information and ideas come from this collective, so it is difficult for people to have a sense of the status quo. Questions at the institutional level. The confession of the author of "Tombstone" in the book vividly describes the thinking of people in this environment:

My father died of starvation, and I was very sad, but I didn't blame the government in the slightest. I don't think it has anything to do with the government. I don't think it has anything to do with the "three red flags" either. I still have no doubts about the achievements of the "Great Leap Forward" propaganda at that time and the superiority of the people's communes. I don't know what happened further afield. I thought what happened in my hometown was an isolated phenomenon. I thought my father's death was just a misfortune for my family. What is this little misfortune in the family, thinking that the great communism is coming? The party taught me to sacrifice the "small self" and maintain the "big self" in case of trouble, and I absolutely listen to the party's words. This understanding was maintained until the Cultural Revolution.

Looking back and thinking about it, isn't that the case with the pink people who are now being hammered by the iron fist of socialism? In fact, such people have existed for a long time. Although the era has changed, if the system that controls thinking remains the same, the way people think and behave will not change. Look at the nucleic acid tests and health codes that you are used to, look at those volunteers "big white", and look at those white-clothed and black-skinned people called epidemic prevention personnel who are actually stability maintenance forces. Which one is not depriving you of your freedom? When people are forced to obey, to actively cooperate, and then to sincerely agree, everything about the individual—from external life resources to internal autonomous thinking methods will be deprived.

The possible follow-up effects of the political campaign against the epidemic

I use the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine to compare the epidemic prevention movement, not only because the two have many similar characteristics, not only because the two have the same operating mechanism, but also because I vaguely feel that the two are in a similar situation. historical node.

After the great famine caused by the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong's status as a figure at the "Seven Thousand People's Congress" was setback for the first time, and he was forced to retreat to the second line, and handed over the specific affairs of the first line to Liu Shaoqi. However, Mao was a person who was good at reckoning after the autumn, and in what he saw as a "line struggle", he made it clear who was a friend and who was an enemy. Everyone knows what happened later. In order to regain the absolute control of the party and the government, he launched the Cultural Revolution.

Today's dynamic clearing has also caused China's economic growth rate to plummet, which makes the line struggle once again on the bright side. On the surface, this is a dispute over the specific issue of whether to clear the country or the economy, but behind it is actually a dispute over whether to pursue the line of reform and opening up or pursue the line of totalitarianism that strengthens the state's control over everything (although the specific form may be different from before). Unfortunately, I have to say that the latter is much more likely to win, perhaps in the future, like the Cultural Revolution after the Great Famine, to more intensely and deeply quell opposition.

Why Look Back at the Great Famine in the Age of the Epidemic Campaign

This kind of simple comparison of mine may have the suspicion of begging for fish, and I also hope that the tragedy of history will not repeat itself. However, we must fully understand the mechanism of the famine that year, and at the same time, we must deeply understand the seriousness of the catastrophe before we can discuss the premise. What kind of profound reflection will Chinese young people have, let alone that such a society can learn from the lessons of the past and avoid man-made disasters with the same logic.

Especially when this dictatorship has not only not fundamentally changed and is accelerating its return to dictatorship, I would rather think of things a little worse and look back at the worst disaster since 1949 (perhaps in human history). Because only remember the disaster, there is the possibility of avoiding the disaster.

Finally, I still use a paragraph in the preface of this book to end with my friends.

Tombstones are frozen memories. The memory of human beings is the ladder on which a country and a nation rely for progress, and a signpost for the advancement of human voyages. We have to remember not only the good but also the evil, not only the light but also the darkness. Those in power under the totalitarian system conceal evil and promote goodness, and they cover up wrongdoing, forcibly erasing people's memory of man-made disasters, darkness, and evil. Therefore, the Chinese often suffer from historical amnesia, which is the amnesia caused by power coercion. The tombstone I erected is precisely to let people remember man-made disasters, darkness and evil, and to stay away from man-made disasters, darkness and evil in the future.