Why are we always in such a hurry?

Text/Yang Guang

German time 2065438+June 20th, 2004, at sunset, in a bar in Stuttgart, I had the honor to have a conversation with schlappner, the first foreign coach of China football 22 years ago, because of my old friend and former German ambassador to Germany, Mr. Lu Qiutian. Behind him, the World Cup in Brazil is being broadcast live on TV. The noise on the screen and the excitement in the bar are superimposed, but it still can't hide the unique Hong Zhong voice of Uncle Shi and his heavy hammer when he is excited.

This is the fifth day of the "Deep Experience of German-made DNA Investigation Team" sponsored by this magazine. This old friend, who has a profound influence on China's going to the world, answered my question with great interest. The topic is not only the World Cup, not only China football, but also China.

"What do you think is the biggest problem in China?"

"You are too anxious."

This is the sentence that impressed me the most that night. Although brief, it makes me aftertaste for a long time and my thoughts are continuous.

Yes, we are in a hurry. The whole country is in a hurry. From the "Great Leap Forward" with a flick of a finger to the "China Football Development Plan" that became a laughing stock more than a decade ago-in front of our eyes, every time a civil airliner lands, China passengers always scramble to get up and get their luggage, forcing the stewardesses to stop loudly every time they lose their manners, and then they can only stand in the aisle for a long time-they are not unaware that it takes time to open the hatch, and they may not all be in a hurry to get off the plane, but why are they still in such a hurry?

I believe no one will object that China people are in a hurry. But why are people in China in such a hurry? Not everyone has thought about this problem. When the heat of the World Cup fades, I want to share my thoughts with you.

Urgent, because of the lack of rules

As I said in the preface of the third issue last year, there is a contempt for rules in the traditional culture of China. To be precise, we don't believe in rules in our bones. We talk about "rules" because we only believe in power. The rules formulated by the authorities are strictly enforced to restrain the following behaviors and break them at any time to satisfy themselves. The difference between rules and regulations is that the former always varies from person to person and from time to time, and it is full of opacity and uncertainty.

Imagine, under the power culture, what is the survival choice of all sentient beings shrouded by a bunch of rules that are always "strictly defined but widely explained"? They can only rely on their own skills. Either rely on unique power and information, and pay close attention to profits when the rules are cracked or beneficial to you, such as real estate speculation; Or you don't even have any power, just rely on your own brute force to break through the paper rules that have nothing to do with the authorities, such as congestion and crowded cars.

Either way, because there are no rules that we can trust and expect together, we are all doomed to be "anxious". Because you are not in a hurry, unpredictable rules will take away benefits that cannot be ignored at any time; Because you are not in a hurry, others will be in a hurry, and you may not even be able to guarantee the minimum survival dignity or even space. Moreover, "urgency" has become the subconscious of the whole country.

Urgent, because the weak think.

Just because the rules are uncertain and opaque? It seems that in the era of literati, we were not in such a hurry under the wide robe sleeves. Then why are we in such a hurry now?

This has something to do with our education and publicity over the past hundred years and the weak thinking based on it. China was humiliated from 1840. Even people who can't read know that Eight-Nation Alliance deceives others too much. Therefore, the consciousness that "foreign devils will never die" is deeply rooted. Moreover, it has become the consensus of the whole country that "lagging behind will be beaten" and "weak countries have no diplomacy".

The essence of national grief, anger, passion and unforgettable slogan is the authentic thinking of the weak. However, schlappner also said pertinently that night: "In fact, you are not as weak as you think." I extend from this: our weak thinking is actually self-edified.

For example, Eight-Nation Alliance set Beijing on fire, and the treaty of humiliating the country. Even if the crime is obvious, we always try to avoid it-we don't emphasize why people should fight against us together. How do we burn down the church? How to kill a missionary? How to shoot a German minister? What should we do if other countries do this to us? -Don't you emphasize how these treaties objectively push China into modern civilization? Including how boxer indemnity finally played a great role in modern education in China? If we can see the modern history of China, which is full of blood and tears, and understand it as the inevitable tuition fee for China to reintegrate into the world, and dare to be self-indulgent, do we still need to be so sad, so competitive and so urgent?

In fact, weakness and not weakness are relative, but once a weak mentality is formed, all the anger comes from inferiority, which is absolute self-harm. Because there is nothing worse than a bad attitude, which is not conducive to our sustainable development and harmony and happiness.

China can't be anxious anymore. It's too expensive to be anxious. The same is true for enterprises.