Creation: Political Economy Group of the Proletarian Liberation Struggle Association
Recently, a 57-year-old Aunt Li Xiaoxia from Shandong quickly became famous under the extensive promotion of mainstream media. She presents herself as a “simple fruit farmer” and sells her apples in live broadcasts with fluent English. Videos on her Douyin account are filled with scenes of her working alongside other genuine working women, shaping her as a “hardworking laborer.” Currently, her Douyin account has accumulated hundreds of thousands of followers. This phenomenon has puzzled many, as it seems to tell people in capitalist society that as long as you “study hard,” you can change your fate and find a way out; her promoted “contentment and happiness” slave philosophy also attempts to make the working people forget their exploitation and oppression. Media outlets like Workers’ Daily, Zhengzhou Union, Fuzhou Evening News, and others have reported that she “reads daily and self-studies for a bachelor’s degree in English,” describing her as having “gone from the three-foot podium to the fields.” State media head CCTV News even conducted an exclusive interview with Li Xiaoxia, vigorously promoting her on television, emphasizing that she “broke through her difficulties” solely through her own efforts and struggles, and now lives a happy life. During the International Women’s Day on March 8, many “female workers” were showcased on screen, and Li Xiaoxia was among them. Multiple official media such as China Youth Network and Douyin’s official channels selected Li Xiaoxia as a representative for Women’s Day, promoting the so-called “nameless flower can also bloom with fragrance.” But is this really the case? In fact, this is merely a marketing tactic by the bourgeoisie to deal with sluggish commodity sales, and also a tool for the revisionist government to confuse the proletariat with the “laborer” image, promoting the “happy struggle” theory, used to blur the class struggle.
First, regarding Li Xiaoxia herself, she has already introduced herself in her Douyin profile: “After years of hard study, just to jump out of the rural door, but I fell in love with the rural life, with a family of a thousand acres of orchard, helping the local three rural products.” It is clear that her identity is not simple, not the “simple peasant” her account portrays. Originally, Li Xiaoxia was a teacher at a vocational high school. In her thirties, due to a shortage of teachers, she switched to studying English, became an English teacher, and taught at the school for 20 years. After retiring in 2023, she began helping her son manage the orchard industry. Two years ago, her son invested tens of millions of yuan, introducing modern facilities like water and fertilizer integration and micro-spraying systems, creating a 1,500-acre modern agricultural base. Ask yourself, in capitalist society, how many “ordinary farmers” can own 1,500 acres of orchard? Moreover, Li Xiaoxia is not a diligent farmer studying every day; to “jump out of the rural door,” she worked as a formal teacher in the school for over 20 years, enjoying higher-than-average wages, which gave her ample time to self-study English.
By 2024, her orchard once faced the problem of tens of thousands of jin of apples being unsold. She racked her brains to find sales channels. Later, with her family member Li Xiaoya’s help, they adopted new marketing methods such as “wearing camouflage to speak English,” “showing the contrast of ‘rustic and modern’ on her aunt,” and “matching the temperament of a knowledge-based farmer.” These methods once convinced many viewers, who exclaimed: “Shandong farmers speak English so well,” “The weathered face truly belongs to a farmer,” etc. Just over a month after launching her account, Li Xiaoxia sold nearly 200,000 yuan worth of apples through live streaming. This shows that the “farmer’s appearance” is just a deceptive facade; to sell apples, capitalists also imitate farmers.
Secondly, the propaganda by the revisionist state media also serves political purposes. Li Xiaoxia is portrayed as a “poor farmer,” promoting contentment and acceptance of hardship, which aligns with the revisionist government’s need to maintain its rule through Confucian ideology. In her videos, she claims: “Contentment surpasses inferiority; happiness will guide life.” She claims that the spiritual and material poverty of the broad masses of poor workers is due to inferiority, and then uses unwarranted contentment to solve this problem. Contentment essentially means accepting bourgeois rule and feudal oppression. This is a blatant promotion of non-struggle, self-comforting slave philosophy. Li Xiaoxia also promotes bourgeois “cultivation theory,” saying: “Material poverty may destroy your self-respect, and spiritual poverty will exhaust your reincarnations… Reading may not make your future bright or bring fame and fortune, but at least it can make you speak with shame, joke with moderation, speak with virtue, and act with surplus. Reading is the best cultivation in life.” She attempts to make the broad working masses place their spiritual reliance on the abstract “reading and cultivation,” hoping to make people forget the suffering of the present world, believing that improving personal cultivation can lead to liberation. In reality, the “gentleman” who speaks with shame, laughs with moderation, speaks with virtue, and acts with surplus, as promoted by feudal etiquette, is merely a slave maintaining the feudal system. Besides, Li Xiaoxia’s other videos also vigorously promote this slave philosophy: “You don’t have to be perfect, it’s okay if life has flaws, venting emotions is actually normal, don’t worry, you are already great!” “In life, the first half is persistence, the second half is letting go; listen and forget, follow the wind, walk and see, and stay calm.” “Family harmony brings prosperity,” etc. To sell apples, Li Xiaoxia is thus kowtowing to the revisionist government, flattering them, with a very shameful appearance.
However, happiness never comes from “self-comfort” and “self-reconciliation.” The happiness of the proletariat must be obtained through their own struggle, and the mask of revisionists like “Li Xiaoxia” will eventually be torn off.
