[WATCH] Child's Speech: "I Want Money, Not a Meaningless Life"
We'll admit it: living in China can bring out the cynic in anyone, all but ensuring that even the best of us is just a wrong-side-of-the-bed away from a bad China day. And yet, as much as it is expected from world-weary Chinese news bloggers, cynicism has somehow even infiltrated its way into China's next generation of dreamers.
That's why it is with no small amount of surprise that a Hangzhou elementary school student used a public speaking contest as an opportunity to reveal his one and only dream: to make money. Lots of it.
A video (see below) of the young boy's speech began making the rounds on Chinese news feeds this past weekend in which he demonstrated his lack of faith in his country's future.
https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=t0026rvk76d&width=500&height=375&auto=0
As part of the recently held "I Have a Dream" speech contest, an unidentified boy told a crowd of onlookers that becoming rich is the only way to overcome the "vicious cycle" of a meaningless existence.
"We must throw off the mechanisms of this endless cycle of life, and only by becoming rich can one finally achieve one's own true desires in life," the boy told a nervous, tittering audience.
We must throw off the mechanisms of this endless cycle of life, and only by becoming rich can one finally achieve one's own true desires in life.
Instead of making unremitting efforts, the boy simply didn't see any point to a hard day's work.
"Start early, return home late, unable to guarantee a good salary... life is like being inside a prison cell," said the boy. "After doing the same thing every day, it becomes so that life has no meaning whatsoever."
The boy used his speech to explain that wealth was less about prestige and more a means to avoid the pitfalls of society that punish the poor. And although he encouraged others to be charitable, he also openly questioned acts of altruism.
"I am not going to be as grandiose as the people before me who have said they will give away money upon becoming wealthy," the boy told a laughing audience. "Money is hard to come by, so why would I earn it just to give it to someone else? That's not practical."
Money is hard to come by, so why would I earn it just to give it to someone else? That's not practical.
As surprising as it may be to hear such pessimism from a young child, the speech is doubly surprising when considering the boy's values run against the group to which he belongs.
Wearing the iconic red kerchief and flanked by the group's flag, the boy is a member of the Young Pioneers of China, a Communist youth group to whom members pledge they "will study hard and toughen myself, and prepare for my contributing effort to the cause of Communism."
Using an unassuming, tell-it-like-it-is delivery that saw him patiently wait for his audience to finish laughing, the boy's comedic stylings were praised online for his older-than-his-years wisdom.
"Unlucky boy; to understand so clearly at such a young age," wrote one Chinese netizen. Another person called the boy "realistic" and said, "Those who make false reports are just fooling themselves."
Unlucky boy; to understand so clearly at such a young age.
However, despite the praise and the applause and national coverage from a few Chinese news outlets, the unidentified elementary school student may be facing repercussions for his words after video of the boy's speech was censored online.
Hopefully, there's still a chance for the boy to realize his dream of becoming rich; at any rate, it doesn't seem his stand-up comedy career will be going anywhere.
Images: Weibo.com
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