Having read the three articles of “In the Flames of Revolution,” namely “Don’t Stab the Wrong Target with a Needle,” “Happiness and Enjoyment,” and “Hardship and Tempering,” I found the latter two to be particularly impactful.
In “Happiness and Enjoyment,” it starts with the statement, “Not all that glitters is gold,” and that enjoyment is not always happiness.
However, some young friends often equate “happiness” with “enjoyment.” They yearn for happiness and thus desperately pursue enjoyment. When the desire for enjoyment cannot be satisfied, they feel that they have lost happiness in their lives, leading to frustration, despair, and depression.
Enjoyment is always for oneself, so it may bring momentary happiness, but these are merely pitiful, limited, selfish pleasures. For example, indulging in low-quality videos on Bilibili, playing games, listening to virtual singers—these are all just to satisfy temporary bourgeois thoughts of pleasure. Every time they decide to indulge, they reach a peak of satisfaction, but afterward, only emptiness remains, precisely because “the desire for enjoyment cannot be fulfilled.” Similarly, during ideological struggles, old ideas also shout loudly about “losing happiness.” But they fail to see that true happiness can only be achieved after the struggle.
The following example is also very typical, and I quote it for everyone to see: “Once I went to the Dadongnan Tobacco Factory, and Comrade Wang Jifang told me about a young worker who often made a fuss in the dormitory for no reason, hitting beds and stomping the floor. When asked why, he pessimistically said: ‘There’s no money in my pocket, no girlfriend by my side, what’s the point of being a person?’”
Obviously, this young man equates enjoyment with the only happiness—“money” and “girlfriend.” This view is probably quite common among some people. —But I want to ask again: does having money and a girlfriend mean having happiness? No, money can be spent, and when it’s gone, one will want to spend more, possibly resorting to improper means to earn money; bad spending habits can also cause dissatisfaction among comrades and criticism. Viewing love solely as personal enjoyment, when one cannot satisfy the other’s enjoyment or vice versa, love will break down, leading to pain and hardship. Those who pursue happiness starting from enjoyment will inevitably end up in pain. In the new society, this has almost become a rule, but many young people do not understand this.
It is obvious that this pursuit of personal pleasure is even more widespread in capitalist societies. I think now some people believe that revolution is just to improve one’s status and enjoy benefits, and others think that laziness, womanizing, and indulgent pleasures are what they pursue. Someone once said, “You can’t be a bachelor for your whole life!”—which reflects only their pursuit of personal pleasure, only thinking about getting a girlfriend to satisfy their demands, unaware that this path leads only to corruption and suffering, and that the Party is a big family. True feelings can only develop on the basis of collective revolutionary practice. If it’s only for personal enjoyment, one cannot truly consider the partner’s thoughts or help improve each other’s worldview. Only through giving for others and contributing to the revolution can one attain the happiness of “millions of people.”
“Once, a nineteen-year-old young worker, Wu Page, showed me a set of poems. One short poem I found particularly good:”
Eating and sleeping,
are the lives of pigs;
but adding playing and dressing,
can it be called a human life?
The boundary between human life and pig’s life is not that humans enjoy more, but that humans work."
This poem is very well written. Eating large fish and meat, living in villas, wearing fashionable clothes, spending money recklessly in pleasures, playing with women at will—all these cannot bring what can be called human happiness. This is the lifestyle of the bourgeoisie; their worldview is that enjoyment equals happiness. But even the most glamorous bourgeoisie are nothing but parasitic pigs. Only by dedicating oneself to the revolution and abandoning personal pleasures can one attain true happiness.
In “Hardship and Tempering,” it states: “Weak-willed people, when faced with temporary difficulties, setbacks, or improper temptations, cannot hold their ground. Selfish and self-interested thoughts dominate, leading to wavering, failure, or even fall, or becoming complacent in small circles. But those who endure hardships and tempering will not be shaken by difficulties or setbacks in their fight for socialism. No temptation can erode their soul. They will surely make their youth shine through hard labor. Without the spirit of hard work and struggle, when supporting key projects, they are swayed by more difficult material conditions, even to the point of slacking off; when material supplies are tight, they are corrupted by hostile ideas, doubting the socialist cause; when personal pleasures cannot be satisfied, they develop bad thoughts like theft and corruption; after starting a small family, they sink into petty circles, gradually drifting away spiritually from the collective; when faced with heavy tasks, they cannot help but have thoughts of escape… Aren’t these common in life? The result is not only harming the collective interests but also damaging oneself, turning into a laggard who falls behind life, some even destroying their youth. But these are just daily tests! Excessive enjoyment makes a person weak, just like excessive drinking makes a person drunk.”
In a life of comfort and pleasure, one only nurtures delicate flowers in a greenhouse, unable to grow into resilient pines that stand against the wind. The above paragraph precisely describes the problem we face. What we are learning now is criticism and self-criticism. These ideological struggles and difficulties are just daily tests; when real difficulties appear, we need the strengthened will cultivated through struggle to fight. How can we truly achieve “stand firm, hold on”? How can we maintain selfless, strong thoughts in daily life? This is a question we must always face. Being complacent in a small circle, being difficult to handle due to temporary setbacks, sulking, resisting (often because of our own mistakes and unwillingness to abandon personal interests)—these are all signs of spiritual detachment from the collective. As mentioned later, as long as we understand the meaning of our lives and firmly determine our future direction, we will have confidence in overcoming temporary difficulties, viewing them as stepping stones on the road forward. What is youth? Those who are only obsessed with pleasure and self-interest, even if young, their thoughts are already old; the more they indulge, the older they become. Water that flows does not rot. Only struggle is alive; only active struggle and persistent effort can keep one’s vitality vigorous, like the sun at dawn, creating a new world with vitality.
“If you can refrain from night-long dancing, from gluttonous feasts, from envy of fashionable dressing, from longing for warm winter mornings in your bed, from yearning for a peaceful and comfortable life, and from fantasizing about personal status and fame… From the moment you understand the meaning of life, strictly demand and temper yourself in all these aspects, never let them distract your thoughts, devote all your energy wholeheartedly to the happiness of the people and your labor, then you will surely be able to overcome various future difficulties with the same spirit, resist the attacks of bourgeois ideas, and become someone who does not waste youth.”
The task given to us by the motherland is great; only with strong shoulders can we bear it. The road ahead is arduous; only tireless feet can walk it.
Youth is precious. It can be spent in laziness and wandering, or it can be preserved forever through hard struggle and tempering. Which path will you choose? I have no doubt that everyone will make the right choice.