Chapter 25 Section 6 A walking dead of capitalism

When I was studying in China, I was educated in Marxism-Leninism.The basic idea is that capitalism is decaying, declining, and dying.When I came to the United States, I wanted to understand the essence of capitalism and see what is wrong with capitalism.At the same time, I was also thinking about a question: Is doctrine or humanism the most important thing? Influenced by the Yin-Yang thought of Tai Chi in Chinese Taoism, I always have doubts about the existence of extremes.Capitalism and socialism are just like the yin and yang poles of Tai Chi. If one is overemphasized, one will inevitably lose the awareness of integrity and transcendence.Even the freedom of the press, which is most respected by capitalism, I also see its bias in the United States.

When I was in Chicago, I was driving 300 miles a week, listening to the radio, of course.Radio stations in the United States are different from those in China. An announcer can speak for four or five hours at a time in that seat.One day, the theme of a certain radio station was China.The announcer was extremely dissatisfied with Clinton's China policy, so the man almost tried his best to launch almost abusive attacks on Clinton, and of course he didn't have a good word for the Chinese government and the current situation.An American listener called and asked the announcer if he had ever been to China. Naturally, the nonsense announcer had never been to China, but he still argued with the audience.The listener obviously knew a lot about the current situation in China. Seeing that he couldn't win the argument, the announcer immediately turned off the other party's voice, and then began to talk to himself.I listened to that rascal's bullshit in the car, so patriotic, I almost forgot I was in America.

Another time, it was about the bombing of Kosovo by American planes.When an American listener called to ask that the U.S. bombing operation had in fact violated international law, the announcer replied: "Yes, we violated international law, but we have done so, so we are right." Americans' respect for the law is still being trampled on here.Indeed, in both of my examples, free expression of both pros and cons seems to be better than socialist press control, but the presence of opposing views on American radio feels as if to show The true spirit of press freedom has been seriously distorted.

That drug addict Jed I mentioned at the beginning gave me a new understanding of capitalism.Jed's body is round, like a big ball full of air.Jed's father is a grocery store owner. Although his family property is not hundreds of millions, it is considered a well-off family in Manhattan.Jed has never had to worry about food and clothing since he was a child, and he has been idle and has never attended a day of serious work.Jade's only ability to make money in the past was selling various tickets, which are called "scalpers" in China.The money earned by American scalpers is staggering, and Jed can sometimes make as much as $1,000 a night.Jed's life theory is "Since the money is so easy to earn, why should I go to work?" After Jed made money, he invited girls to restaurants, and the extra money was used to buy drugs.Jed, who is 50 years old, has been selling tickets, inviting women to dinner and taking drugs for the past 30 years.Just such a person who has never worked a day of serious work has actually received a social security payment of US$600 a month from the US government.And this American scalper can inherit hundreds of thousands of dollars in inheritance after his father passed away.

After the millennium, Jed suddenly woke up and wanted to try to quit drugs.After months of sobriety, Jed's addiction has eased a lot, but his weight has increased dramatically, from 120 pounds to 220 pounds.Jed also has another vice, walking around the store.Jed never steals big things, but small things are easy to steal almost every day.Jed's home has long been a warehouse. "Jed, what do you do every day besides stealing and eating?" I asked sarcastically. "There is also sleep. When I arrive at the weekend, I take medicine and sleep like crazy. I sleep from Friday night until next Monday morning. At most, I get up to go to the bathroom and eat something indiscriminately."

"And what about Monday?" "Come to your place for psychotherapy on Monday." Jed regards coming to me for psychotherapy as part of his life, because psychotherapy is something that can be done.Jed couldn't think of anything else to do but this one. "Jed, don't you feel like doing anything but stealing, eating, and sleeping right now?" "If I do things, I'll lose my social security. I'm still willing to hang around like this." "Are you willing to live in such absurdity for the rest of your life?" "What I am most worried about now is that after my father dies in the future, I will have no one to rely on."

"Don't you have hundreds of thousands of inheritance?" "Money is my problem. If I have money and I spend it on drugs, it will run out in no time." "Then why don't you want to use money to create some good life?" "Because I never learned how to live." "You're still a kid who hasn't grown up." I sighed to 50-year-old Jed. "Yes, I'm a kid." Jed agreed with me eagerly. "Jed, if a person can only eat and sleep, and eat while sleeping, what is the difference from a pig?" "Yes, I'm no different from a pig." Jed answered me mechanically, with a vaguely shameful expression on his face.

"But pigs don't steal." "Then I promise not to steal." In the next week, Jed did not steal anything, but in the next week, Jed told me that he stole a peach cake in a coffee shop on his way to the clinic. "Jed, do you really want to change, or do you have no intention of changing at all?" I asked scoldingly. "Of course I really want to change." "Then, you should show it in action." "Yes, I haven't stolen anything for two weeks. It's just a small cake today." "No matter how big or small, the nature of stealing is the same. If you are really determined to change yourself, you hand over the cake."

"No!" Jed put his hands to his pockets. "Can you pay?" I asked aggressively. "No, I want to taste the sweetness of that cake." "You can't buy it with money?" "I will buy it next time, but this time I must eat it." The 50-year-old Jed is by no means imbecile, but his behavior is so childish, whose fault is it? Jed's father worked hard all his life, but his son was so lazy.Jed has never been abused since he was a child. I really don't understand why Jed chose such a life. "Jed, your father is so diligent, but you are so lazy, why are your father and son so different?" I couldn't help asking.

"My father is a workaholic, and I am a kleptocrat. Aren't our father and son both crazy?" Jed's humor is really weird. "Not only are you a kleptomaniac, you're also a drug addict and a bulimia." "I used to be a masturbator." Jed didn't admit it. "What kind of masturbator?" I asked. "You know, when you take cocaine, your sex drive goes crazy. I used to masturbate 10 to 20 times a day. At that time, I rarely ate, my body was lean, and I just thought about taking drugs, masturbating, and finding women. " Jed's life is so absurd.If you say Jed has no taste, that's not necessarily true.As a ticket seller, Jed has seen more world-famous shows on Broadway in Manhattan than anyone else.In his home, he has collected countless photos with world stars.But now Jed's heart is empty and his life is poor. Although he has enough food and clothing, he lives like a walking dead, a standard capitalist walking dead.

"Jed, don't you want anything meaningful in your life?" There was nothing I could do with a patient like Jed. "I don't like going to the movies. Even in museums, I feel like an idiot when I look at the world-famous paintings. I'm tired of Broadway music and musicals. I don't have the time to go to work." "Aren't you willing to give up your Social Security benefits?" "Yeah, if I go to work, I lose my $600 a month in social security, so not only can I not work, but I keep getting sick. If I don't even get sick, my social security goes lose." Jed's candid confession led me to believe that my desire for him to be self-reliant was fundamentally at odds with his slob philosophy.For such a lazy man living under the capitalist social insurance system, psychotherapy has become a joke. "Jed, if you're willing to live like this, it's your life choice, and I can't ask you to change your philosophy of life. If there's any point in saying you're willing to be sick for $600 a month in life insurance , your previous reluctance to give up that piece of stolen cake made me lose confidence in you." "Doctor, what do you mean by that? Do you want to give up my treatment?" Jed looked a little anxious. "If you don't repent, what's the use of my doctor? I think the best treatment for you is to put you in prison, where you can't do drugs if you want to, and you can't steal if you want to." .” I really had this thought in my heart. "That's not a joke. If I go to prison, the gang of rapists will definitely rape me. I don't want to go to prison." Jed's answer really made me dumbfounded. He was afraid of going to prison because he was afraid of being raped .But looking at American prisons from another angle is an interesting place. I don't think any Chinese prisoner will worry about being raped in a Chinese prison.America's prisons are a real curiosity. "If you don't want to go to prison, then you should live a good life in reality." I made the best use of the situation.Unexpectedly, Jed said to me: "Doctor, I thought I came to see a doctor at your place. You charged the state government for my diagnosis and treatment. You should thank me and invite me to dinner. You are good, and you keep saying that you want to treat me. I'm in jail." Jade's primitive logic was a real bafflement. Everyone thought that the socialist big pot of rice was a hotbed for raising lazy people, but unexpectedly, Manhattan, where the competition of capitalism is the most fierce, is still a hotbed for raising lazy people.Sloths are as resilient as the dirty rats in the Manhattan subway, always finding a way to survive.