PureInsight | April 18, 2005
[PureInsight.org] A friend of mine who just returned from a visit to his family in Mainland China was deeply disturbed by the unceasing sounds of mahjong and gambling dens sprouting up everywhere in Mainland China. Using his words, the scenes were exactly like what were depicted in old movies about the 1940s, right around the time the Kuomintang (the Chinese Nationalist Party) collapsed. Everyone was involved in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and "don't talk about the country's affairs" could be heard everywhere. Even though the central government of China has announced a ban on gambling, people still carry on as if nothing has happened. According to official government reports, 1.3 million people have been arrested for participating in illegal gambling activities. The government estimates that almost six hundred billion Yuan ($US 1 = 8.27 Yuan) have been lost to gambling dens and racecourses overseas, in Hong Kong, and Macao. How could this figure not startle and shock everyone?
The mentality of a gambler is to utilize the minimum outlay to gain a maximum return. Although I had never gambled, there is also that deep-down risk-taking element in my bones! While performing scientific research, I would blindly experiment without any basis, thinking, "perhaps my luck is good, and I can achieve something from this." Of course, I always met with failure! I have also noticed that many Chinese people will invariably [try to] think of an easy way out in all they do, always thinking that they are smarter than others and will reap the most benefit with the least amount of effort. Be opportunistic and achieve a marvelous result! But often they meet abject failure.
Drawing lessons from bitter experience, I wondered why the present day Chinese people are having such an intense interest in gambling. I suddenly remembered the following political slogan that I heard frequently as I grew up in Mainland China, "Go all out, strive for the best, and achieve the best result with the least amount of effort - that is the general aim of our nation." Right! Therein lies the "achieving the best result with the least amount of effort" mentality of the gamblers. Good and abundant return for a minimum outlay! I will have gained all the fortune under the sun! It is akin to going to a gambling den and winning all the bets. But could such an unlikely thing happen in real life?
And yet, for many generations we have been that way, being indoctrinated by the "achieving the best results with the least amount of effort" principle all our lives. Unwittingly, we invariably relied on "achieving the best results with the least amount of effort" in whatever we did. The whole nation of China no longer values a serious and steadfast way of life. We have substituted the excessive and impetuous gambling mentality, always being opportunistic. If I were a manufacturer, because of "achieving the best results with the least amount of effort," I would not hesitate to do shoddy work and skimp on materials, make second rate products and pass them off as genuine products. If I were a government official, I would not care about the truth and blindly and grossly exaggerate results to look good. If I were a student, I would try to ask question after question hoping to get the teacher to inadvertently reveal which questions he is going to ask on the exam.
But our traditional culture warns us that "pie does not fall from the sky." But "achieving the best results with the least amount of effort" has been instilled in us since we were very young and we have absorbed this rubbish as gospel truth! The Communists have made us choose the devious paths for our lives. The mentality of a gambler is only a minute part of us but it could destroy our lives!
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/3/21/31655.html
