Three Sentences of Toxic Chicken Soup#
I often hear three sentences that are full of energy and incredibly powerful, but in fact, they are toxic chicken soup.
1. If you can't change the environment, then adapt to it#
This sentence is a typical expression of cynicism, surrenderism, and complacency. A netizen said, if a person falls into a cesspool, should they just adapt to the cesspool? If one does not work hard, then they are destined to live a life of misery.
In fact, even if you fall into a cesspool, even if you cannot escape it, we can still change. For example, we can utilize the cesspool, adapt to the local conditions, plant many flowers, creating a riot of colors, competing for beauty, as flowers bloom slowly along the path.
If you can't change the environment and haven't tried to change it, how do you know it can't be changed? If you can't change the larger environment, then start by changing the smaller environment, starting with yourself, and take joy in every small progress. It's impossible to achieve everything at once, and it's also impossible to succeed in one go.
The South Korean film "The Crucible," based on a true story, depicts a substitute teacher, Kang In-ho, who discovers that the principal and other staff are abusing and assaulting deaf children. He is furious and resolutely fights against the dark forces, even if it means throwing himself into the crucible.
There is a line in the film that touched the world: "We rise up to resist, not to change the world, but to prevent the world from changing us." That is what it means to be human, truly human. Humans have dignity, and this dignity comes from the fact that humans are the only animals capable of thought, the only animals with a conscience that cannot be tamed.
2. Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent#
This sentence sounds righteous and is often used when justice finally arrives after many hardships. But the problem is, this sentence provides a safety net for "injustice" and creates conditions for the "delay" of justice, offering a theoretical basis for it.
Justice may not be absent, but if you arrive late, the opportunity has passed, and even lives may have been lost. When you finally exonerate someone, does that justice still hold meaning?
Delayed justice is injustice. At best, it can be seen as a truth found after the fact, which only has historical reference; but for the parties involved, it does not reflect justice at all and has no practical significance.
Justice must simultaneously adhere to the principles of "timeliness, gratuitousness, and sufficiency." Any justice that does not meet these three conditions is hypocritical and is injustice.
In 1999, Zhao Zuohai, a villager from Shangqiu, Henan, was convicted of murdering villager Zhao Zhenshang and was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in 2002. However, on May 9, 2010, the "victim" Zhao Zhenshang miraculously returned. This created an awkward situation, and Zhao Zuohai was subsequently declared not guilty and released, while a responsibility accountability mechanism was initiated.
For Zhao Zuohai, we can say that although justice was delayed, it was not absent. But the question is, what if the "victim" Zhao Zhenshang had not miraculously returned? What if Zhao Zhenshang was forever absent? Wouldn't justice then be absent? More importantly, even if justice arrives, what about the harm Zhao Zuohai suffered over the years? What about the youth he lost? Is this the price of delayed justice?
Delayed justice is a desecration of justice; it is not something to boast about, but rather something to reflect upon. As a netizen said, who caused justice to be delayed? I get penalized for being late to work; shouldn't delayed justice also be held accountable?
3. Tighten your belt and live a hard life#
From preparing to live a hard life, to getting used to living a hard life, to enjoying living a hard life, and then to tightening your belt to live a hard life.
Why tighten your belt? In fact, it means to constrict your waist, causing intestinal blockage, eating less, and working more. But the question is, whose belt are we tightening? If it's your own belt, then you can tighten it as you wish; no one will interfere.
If you require others to tighten their belts, then is everyone tightening their belts? Why should others tighten their belts?
Over the years, we have come to understand one principle. Those who tell us to tighten our belts are generally not tightening their own; those who ask us to consider the bigger picture are certainly considering others, not us; and those who say they will spare no expense are certainly not the ones paying the price, but rather are the ones who will not spare any expense.
There is not a single good person standing on the moral high ground...