Spirit of hard work equally important as building welfare system

Does Chinese society still have the spirit of working hard and persevering?

There is hardly any discussion about it currently. People would like to hear more about how the government should establish a complete welfare system.

However, the public should not forget that the spirit of working hard and persevering is key to realizing the hopes we hold for our country.

Due to the high-profile publicity given to the spirit when the new China was freshly established, many hold the wrong perception that this spirit is just an ideological slogan. This is absolutely wrong. The spirit is the support of the success of all major powers. For example, it was the Protestant work ethic that promoted social development in Western countries.

The spirit of working hard and persevering in the US once brought the country to the top of the world, but its attitude to its own development has been corroding US society.

The US federal government maintains welfare finance by borrowing money from other countries; Wall Street turned the financial sector into a gambling game, and its manufacturing industry has declined.

After the 2008 financial crisis, the mainstream media in the US cried out for society to take more practical actions.

In Japan, some elderly entrepreneurs say that it was the diligent and brave people in the 1950s that created many economic miracles; and that younger generations lack such spirit, which is the root of Japan's decline on the world stage.