After thirty years of reform and opening up, the most tangible experience of the people is that life is getting better day by day! My brain is getting more alive every day! The spring breeze of reform in the past thirty years has inspired people's incomparable yearning and pursuit of material and spiritual wealth, and the resulting hot words have profoundly marked the life memories of the people of that era. Of course, some of these words are popular today and have become synonymous with people summing up their work and life, while others have been submerged by the tide of history and become markers of the past. Looking back at the changes in current events in the thirty years of reform and opening up, after thirty years of With unremitting pursuit, our lives have changed dramatically.
Thirty years of reform and opening up have not only brought huge material and spiritual wealth to the Chinese people, but also left many unforgettable words on the trajectory of history, which will make it possible for people thirty years later to We review them with a calm and critical attitude, but what is unexpected is that these hot words have become so meaningful after being washed away by history...
万元屋
Meaning Refers to a household with 10,000 yuan. This new term that emerged in China in the early 1980s quickly swept across the country and became synonymous with the first batch of people who "got rich first."
Ten-thousand-yuan household was the most popular term at the beginning of my country's reform and opening up, and it represented a person who became rich through hard work. Before the reform and opening up, in the era of "the poorer, the more glorious" and "the poorer, the more revolutionary", anyone with a household worth ten thousand yuan was definitely the target of dictatorship. After the reform and opening up, policy changes have made the awareness of "getting rich glorious" increasingly popular among people.
In the 1980s, an ordinary apprentice worker in Baotou Steel earned only 18 yuan a month. When mentioning a household worth 10,000 yuan, everyone’s eyes lit up. How many villages, towns, and industrial and commercial industries had appeared? Ten thousand yuan per household is the glorious target. It shows people's strong desire to get rich in the early days of reform and opening up, and their unprecedented joy after getting rich.
Thirty years of reform and opening up have been a period of rapid growth in the family income of Baotou people. By the end of 2007, the per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 17,876 yuan, and the per capita income of farmers and herdsmen reached more than 6,000 yuan.
Today, the word "ten thousand yuan household" that once represented affluence has become a thing of the past. The per capita disposable income of 17,876 yuan has already raised the standard of wealth. Nowadays, a household can only be considered well-off if it owns a house, a private car, and fixed assets of at least 500,000 yuan.
Going to the sea
In the early days of reform and opening up, with the prosperity of the market economy, many people were dissatisfied with the status quo and turned to business, which they called "going to the sea."
In Baotou, there are too many entrepreneurs who have taken advantage of the spring breeze of reform to venture into the sea to mine gold. Mr. Lu is such a local entrepreneur in Baotou. He once described the scene when he first went to sea: "At that time, Relatives and friends all know that I go to Shenzhen to go to sea, and they often ask me to bring electronic watches, socks and other supplies that are difficult to buy in Baotou. So every time I go back to my hometown, I always pack big and small bags, part of which is given away, and the rest The products sold are sold in Baotou, and the price difference is huge. Products that cost only a few yuan in Shenzhen and Guangzhou can be sold for dozens or even hundreds of yuan in Baotou, and the supply exceeds demand in some inland and coastal cities. The huge price difference of commodities allowed this person who went to the sea to seize the gold mining opportunity of commodity trading.
Today, thirty years after the reform and opening up, the term "xiahai" is still in popular use, indicating that "xiahai" still effectively affects people's lives in pursuit of wealth.
Family Planning
Take Qingshan District of Baotou City as an example. As an ordinary district (county) in the country, the birth rate and natural growth rate of Qingshan District have increased from 15.78% in the early 1970s. and 13.6%. , dropped to 8.27% in 2007. and 4.84%. . In the past 30 years, more than 200,000 fewer people were born in this district.
In the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform and opening up, deeply analyzed China's basic national conditions and pointed out that China must realize the four modernizations on the basis of summarizing the experience and lessons of socialist construction since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The characteristics of China, which is a large country, has a weak foundation, has a large population, and has little arable land, must be taken into consideration, which reveals the objective requirement that population, economy, society, resources, and environment must develop in a coordinated manner. Deng Xiaoping's main contribution in solving China's population problem was to examine and deal with the population problem in the overall context of national economic and social development, and clearly stated that China's population policy is a major strategic policy. Based on Deng Xiaoping's thought, the Chinese government has determined the implementation of family planning, population control, and improvement of population quality as a basic national policy, and has made it clear in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
In the past 30 years of reform and opening up, the autonomous region has had a cumulative reduction of 9.13 million births, saving 529.5 billion yuan in child support for the society, increasing per capita GDP by 6,886 yuan, and contributing 27.52% to the national economy.
From the former superbirth guerrillas to planned births to the choice of DINK, people's views on fertility have undergone tremendous changes.
Rejuvenating the Country through Science and Education
Around 1985, Mr. Li had been a high school teacher for more than 10 years. His monthly salary was only 80 yuan, which was only 10 yuan more than his wife who was a domestic worker in the factory. Yuan. The couple needs to use this 150 yuan to support their elderly parents and their two children to go to middle school. At that time, Teacher Li's neighbor worked as a loader at the train station and earned about 200 yuan a month. There was also a neighbor who drove a horse-drawn carriage for transportation and earned more than 300 yuan a month.
In 1987, Teacher Li also used Sunday to start a small business. Early in the morning on weekends, I went to the wholesale market and sold two baskets of fruits on the street. At first I was a little embarrassed, so I wore a straw hat and a pair of big sunglasses. I am afraid of being embarrassed when meeting acquaintances and parents of students. Although it is hard work, I can earn an extra sixty or seventy yuan a month. This amount of money is equivalent to his monthly salary and can solve many problems for his family.
At that time, the phenomena of "professors selling sesame cakes" and "doctors setting up street stalls" were often talked about. This phenomenon of "brain-body upside down" continued until the 1990s, leaving a legacy to that generation of knowledge Molecules have the same imprint of life. Someone once calculated an account: In 1985, the cost of a tea egg was 0.15 yuan, and the market price was 0.40 yuan. As long as 100 tea eggs were sold a day, the monthly income would be at least 750 yuan. At that time, Li Guanxing from Factory 202 only earned 500 yuan a month. "Those who make atomic bombs are not as good as those who sell tea eggs, and those who hold scalpels are not as good as those who hold razors" became a strange phenomenon of that era.
In 1977, Deng Xiaoping proposed at a symposium on science and education: "If our country wants to catch up with the world's advanced level, where should we start? I think we should start with science and education." Science, education, and the four modernizations will have no hope and become empty words." From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Comrade Deng Xiaoping adhered to the core idea of ??"to realize the four modernizations, science and technology are the key, and the foundation is education", which laid a solid theoretical and practical foundation for the formation of the development strategy of "rejuvenating the country through science and education".
With the deepening of reform and opening up, simple small workshop production and extensive commodity management models are becoming increasingly uncompetitive in the tide of market economy. The proposal and in-depth practice of the development strategy of "rejuvenating the country through science and education" has gradually made scientific and technological talents with rich scientific knowledge and management talents with advanced management knowledge more and more popular. Talent strategy has also become an important task that governments at all levels must pay attention to.
College Entrance Examination
In 1977, the country resumed the College Entrance Examination. Li Minghua, a candidate at that time, described himself like this: "Putting down the sledgehammer with the front foot, then entering the examination room with the back foot." Countless educated young people finally looked forward to returning to school. In those days, however, it was very difficult to enter the highest universities.
There are 5.7 million people in the country taking the college entrance examination, and only one in 29 candidates can be admitted to university. In 1982, the number of applicants for the college entrance examination in our city was 8,788, and 1,090 people were admitted. Only one in 12 people was admitted to university. In 2008, the number of applicants was 25,120, and the admission rate reached 78%. Like the whole country, higher education in our city has developed from elite education thirty years ago to mass and universal education.
The country’s increasing respect for talents has made more and more people understand the importance of knowledge. "Technology is the primary productive force" is no longer just a slogan, but a guide to guide people towards prosperity. The strange phenomenon of "those who sell atomic bombs are not as good as those who sell tea eggs, and those who hold scalpels are not as good as those who hold razors" has become a joke of history.
If hot words such as ten thousand-yuan household, going to sea, family planning, rejuvenating the country through science and education, and college entrance examination indicate people’s urgent pursuit of wealth, ideas, and life at the beginning of reform and opening up, then laid-off, golden week, job-hopping, House Slave shows from another level the tremendous changes in people's lives and thoughts in recent years. People can take the initiative to change their jobs, travel during long vacations, and financial institutions lend you money to buy a house... These are all the results of reform and opening up. Things that people could not even imagine at first have now become a reality.
Laid-off
In 1995, the wave of layoffs finally blossomed in Baotou's large, small and medium-sized enterprises. "Everyone was afraid at that time. It was not easy to have a regular job. Once it was gone, you would be too old. Who would want it?" Aunt Wang and her husband, who both worked in a small business in Donghe District, encountered the same problem. "To be laid off or not to be laid off?" Aunt Wang began to waver, maybe being laid off is not terrible. At that time, my son was already 16 years old and needed money to go to school. My wife firmly disagreed, "It's great for two people to make money. What are you going to do if you're laid off?" But my son was particularly supportive, "Mom, it'll be okay for you to come down, you have the ability!"
Later, Aunt Wang took the initiative to ask to be laid off. This move was incomprehensible to many people at the time. However, 13 years have passed, and the snack bar that Aunt Wang ran after she was laid off has long since turned into a large restaurant. She not only provided for her son to finish college, but also sent him abroad. Old sisters who once didn't understand Aunt Wang now admire Aunt Wang's courage back then.
Laid-off, the abbreviation of laid-off workers, is an objective phenomenon caused by the long-term oversupply of labor force in our country. Our country has a large population, a large and fast-growing labor force, which far exceeds the needs of social production, and a relative shortage of jobs. As a result, many surplus employees in enterprises who need to be diverted cannot find employment opportunities temporarily and become laid-off workers. In the past, under the all-contracted and unified employment system, state-owned enterprises undertook too many employment placement tasks, resulting in redundant staff, overstaffing, and low efficiency. In the face of fierce market competition, if enterprises want to survive and develop, they must separate the surplus personnel accumulated in the past.
Laid-off is an inevitable product of the transformation from a planned economic system to a market economic system. At the beginning of the reform and opening up, there was a mantra circulating in society - Holding an iron rice bowl and eating from a big pot, it does not matter whether you do good or bad. At that time, being able to work in a factory as a worker meant you had an iron job. No matter whether you worked well or badly, you would always have something to eat. However, with the in-depth development of the market economy, laid-off workers and the extended word competition for jobs have effectively improved people's work efficiency and diverted part of the surplus labor force, making an indelible contribution to the rapid development of the tertiary industry.
Golden Week
On the eve of the National Day Golden Week in 2001, Wang Xiaoshuai took his wife to the travel agency to sign up for a group trip to Shanghai. This was also the first long-distance trip for him and his wife. travel. Usually, Wang Xiaoshuai and his wife are very busy at work. They go to work at 8 o'clock every day and have no chance to go out for a walk. The seven-day long holiday finally arrived. Wang Xiaoshuai saw that his relatives and friends around him were planning Golden Week travel, and he also wanted to be fashionable. However, after seven days of long journey, Wang Xiaoshuai and his wife brought back not only large and small bags of tourist souvenirs, but also a thick stack of "scenery photos" full of people.
In order to stimulate domestic demand, the State Council introduced a new statutory holiday system in September 1999. The three statutory holidays of National Day, Spring Festival and May Day are "bridged" with the preceding and following weekends to form three consecutive 7-day holidays. long vacation. Since then, the Golden Week has changed people's lifestyle and leisure style, and also created a "holiday economy" with Chinese characteristics.
Since 2008, the "May Day" legal holiday has been changed from 3 days to 1 day, which means that the "May Day" Golden Week has been cancelled.
From 1999 to 2008, Golden Week has gone through 10 years. This public holiday consumption craze with Chinese characteristics has been highly sought after at first and now controversial. Although it has brought people a lot of leisure days and consumption days, in recent years, the Golden Week has become more and more popular. Problems are also emerging - environmental damage, excessive waste of materials, etc. Therefore, whether to stay or go during the Golden Week has become a hot topic among people. However, with the cancellation of the May Day Golden Week and the establishment of the paid leave system, the problem of Golden Week is now less glaring.
Job hopping
means changing jobs. It turns out that in the era of planned economy, people were not allowed to change jobs at will. The work units tightly constrained people, and many people even worked in the same factory for their entire lives until they retired. It is very difficult to change jobs and change companies. It takes many trips between the two companies and the personnel bureaus of the two places to complete the procedures.
Mr. Zhang, who had worked in a media company in Baotou for nearly ten years, changed jobs last year. Friends said that he had the courage to stay in a stable and well-paid public institution, which was enviable. But Mr. Zhang But he gave up this stable job and switched jobs to a company. Perhaps higher income, a satisfactory position and different pursuits in life were the driving forces for him to change jobs.
As the saying goes, when people go to higher places, water flows to lower places. But it would have been difficult to change jobs twenty or thirty years ago! To pass the approvals at all levels, countless seals must be stamped on a single transfer order. Today, job hopping is nothing new. As long as you are willing and the receiving unit is willing, no one can hold you back. Job-hopping and firing the boss have also become the mantra of many white-collar workers.
House Slave
In May 2007, Ms. Zhang, who had been married for five years, decided to change her house for her newborn son. She bought a 140-square-meter house in Poly Garden. The price is 3,400 yuan per square meter. She used provident funds to apply for a 20-year housing loan. The monthly repayment amount is 2,400 yuan, which accounts for 1/3 of the family income. Regarding this loan, Ms. Zhang, who has some savings, said that although she can afford it, if she takes into account her children's future education expenses, the house bought with this loan will affect her quality of life to some extent.
In 2006, the new term "house slave", which shines with wisdom and poignancy, began to spread among the people. It refers to the fact that urban residents purchase houses with mortgages. During the 20 to 30 years of their prime life, they spend 40 to 50 or even higher proportions of their disposable income to repay the principal and interest of the loan every year. This causes long-term pressure on residents’ family life and affects normal consumption. . Purchasing a house affects one's own education expenses, medical expenses and taking care of the elderly, etc., which reduces the quality of family life and even makes people feel enslaved and depressed.
When housing prices continued to rise from 2005 to the first quarter of 2006, it was no longer possible to find low- and medium-priced real estate on the market, causing many home buyers to bear a heavy loan repayment burden; at the same time, the People's Bank of China in 2004 The interest rate hikes announced in 2006 and 2006 further aggravated people's concerns about the burden of mortgage loans. The dual concerns about high housing prices and high interest rates led people to worry about working for banks like slaves. The term house slave came into being and became a symbol of the real estate bubble. The same word is "negative man".
Buying a house with a loan has realized the dream of "home ownership" for many people, but it also puts a huge financial burden on many people. Of course, the name house slave seems embarrassing and bitter now. If it were thirty years ago, when people were still living in "tube buildings" and "pigeon cages", house slave, what kind of happy word would it be?