Tang Ping or Lie Flat

       A new slogan has emerged among Chinese youth.   The slogan has been attached to a certain type of response to the modern "work" ethic in Chinese culture:  work 'til you drop.  This seems to be the modern mantra among workers:  work 'til you drop.  The counter is: tang ping- lie flat, or as it is demonstrated, quit your job, don't find or look for a new one,  move home with your parents, drink coffee and smoke while staring at the clouds.  Sounds nice if you're retired or enrolled in a university.  But these young men-and women- are at an age and place when they should be in the work force among the post-industrial masses addicted to the tech world and all its benefits.  What's happening?

        Could this be the inevitable reaction to mass hysteria fostered by Xi JP?  The Dictator for Life?  The Master Puppeteer at the helm of the Chinese Ship of State?  Or are the workers reacting to the Jack Ma's of China's tech revolution?  The phenomena exhibits its effects in the acknowledged slow down in the economy.  Yes, the pandemic that originated in Wuhan(somewhere) with the Covis-19 virus made everybody take notice.  Some businesses closed either temporarily or permanently, depending on government support or lack of same.   Now, workers are needed, but the workers are balking at looking for jobs and are reconsidering options.   Some say JAck Ma's world is too much.  12 hour days, 6 days a week is no fun.  It's the 996 situation: who needs it.?  Even Beijing is looking closer at Jack Ma, Inc.   Hmmm.  The Communist Party is also coming under some scrutiny:  has it followed Mao's Selected Volumes accurately?  What's the status of the workers contest with capitalists?  Who's winning?  Who's losing? Questions like these need answers if workers are to be informed of their futures.  Nowadays, with Hong Kong the shining example of Beijing's heavy-handed control efforts despite a signed treaty, workers will be wary of opposing Beijing and ending up in prison(w/ Mr. Lai).

       So, the Tang Ping attitude will persist as a solution to an unsolvable situation that might just resolve itself.   Can organized labor be just around the corner?  Will workers invoke Mao's revolution against the Party itself?  Let's wait and see.  Things Chinese are soon to be very interesting as Hong Kong residents flee the country with their British passports and American family members living in the US.