Why isn’t it easy for everyone in real-life China to live?

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This post was last edited by altpage on 2016-12-6 at 19:48. A future that can never be determined or controlled makes us hesitant to slack off in the present, and this actually reflects various shortcomings in social security arrangements. By Yang Gengshen: Recently, Yin, a 39-year-old delivery worker from Zhuzhou, Hunan, died suddenly on HeTai Street in Zhuzhou. Before he passed away, he sat on the ground and told passersby, “I’m so tired.” ” Ongoing overtime work and a widespread lack of rest rights are legal realities faced by delivery workers. According to reports, a delivery worker said that in November he started work after 6 o’clock every day and usually worked until 12 o’clock at night; excluding meal times, this meant working 16 hours a day. Why can such a practice, which is clearly contrary to the law, be so widespread in reality without anyone finding it wrong? The image is from the Zhuzhou News Network. Yin is “very tired,” but the law, which should be accessible everywhere, clearly does not provide them with a place where they can rest for a while. In fact, more often in our society, when it comes to the right to rest, to mandatory or paid leave, it seems more like a joke – something unattainable yet treated with seriousness. This is no longer a phenomenon unique to the delivery industry represented by Mr. Yin. It is worth noting that in 2013, researchers found that Chinese workers worked an average of 2,000 to 2,200 hours per year. In contrast, Britons work 1,677 hours per year on average. Yin’s death also makes me think of a question: why are we Chinese always so tired? When it comes to the word “tired,” the first thing that comes to mind is actually the slogan of a certain beverage brand: “When you’re tired and sleepy, drink XX.” What puzzles me is that, when one is tired and exhausted, why not take a proper rest, but instead rely on energy drinks to regain strength in order to continue working or studying? Just this alone is enough to be exhausting. Life is like a whip shadow, swaying before our eyes at all times, preventing us from stopping for even a moment. This is probably the real living condition of ordinary Chinese people. I’m not entirely sure whether, in Chinese tradition, there is something like a \"culture of enduring hardship\" or a masochistic personality trait, but the necessity to yield to the pressures of survival is an undeniable reality: \"Work hard to earn money in youth, and spend money to buy a life in old age.\" This reality is probably also the reason why, since last week, public sentiment has been dominated by the word \"so tired\". In a country where the number of deaths due to overwork reached 600,000 in 2013, surpassing Japan to make it the country with the highest number of such deaths, Yin’s death is just one case among those hundreds of thousands. Compared to the many cases of sudden death that go unnoticed, Yin was able to touch people’s hearts more easily, undoubtedly because he had the chance to say those two words before collapsing. ““So tired” – how many people have been filled with sorrow because of it, yet there’s nothing they can do about it. After watching the movie \"I Am Not Pan Jinlian,\" you might realize that in real-life China, everyone has a difficult time living; not to mention rural women like Li Xuelian – even court presidents, county heads, mayors, and provincial governors all seem to be exhausted. Chinese people, why are you so tired? “\"Pressure from life\" is naturally the most direct reason. But other than that, what keeps everyone running around non-stop surely isn’t the truth of life itself. Why **as social wealth continues to grow, does our pressure to survive not seem to decrease significantly? The reason why low-income workers feel exhausted lies in the economy’s reliance on cheap labor and the lack of social security systems ； The high housing prices and inflation levels force the middle class to work tirelessly as well, not daring to relax even for a moment ； The bureaucratic system in which communication only occurs horizontally rather than vertically also tires many public officials… I prefer to think that everyone who feels extremely tired has an ambitious and determined spirit. But I hope even more that everyone who says they are tired can receive protection and comfort through systems and laws. When discussing why there are various contradictions and conflicts in our society, Mr. Sun Liping once said, “The system needs a soul that can stretch.” Actually, society is the same. If you’re tired and sleepy, then take a good rest. □Yang Gengshen (senior media professional)