Chapter 656: Consumerism and IQ Tax

“That can all be understood, actually.

“That’s because Tomorrow is Beautiful is a movie, and Struggle is a game. Boss Pei has carefully crafted every detail so that every member of the audience or every gamer that sees it would be able to take away the same message to some extent.

“However, everyone is in a different situation in real life. The lessons that people learn from real life vary as well.

“Some are able to change their fates by striving while others aren’t. Some have seen the warm side of this world, but others have only seen the cold.

“That explains the world of difference between their world views.

“What I want to emphasize is that Boss Pei has already expressed his own views of the real world. It’s just that most people haven’t noticed it.

“Why not? Look at my title: The Silent Expresser.

“He is expressing his views silently. Instead of making it clear as day, he forces you to depend on yourself to be enlightened.

“Alright, next, please click on the second link in the video description. Read what he said to the needy students in his alma mater.

“Three, two, one.

“Alright, all of you understand now. Boss Pei donated fifteen million yuan to those needy students and then delivered a speech to them, telling them to put that money to good use.

“That’s right. Boss Pei did not tell them to be thrifty, but to focus well.

“Actually, that fits in with how Boss Pei views wealth. He doesn’t agree with consumerism, but he doesn’t necessarily agree that being stingy is good either.

“When faced with the issue of wealth, many people fall into the trap of taking either of two extremes:

“The first type assumes that immediate satisfaction is the key. They spend their salaries once they receive them, overspend on their credit cards, and purchase more than they can afford.

“The second type assumes that hoarding money is the key. They think of various ways and means to make tiny profits. They’re wealthy, but they live like beggars and end up missing many opportunities.

“Obviously, both of those ways of thinking are wrong.

“Boss Pei’s speech tells us that the most important thing that every person has is not money, but focus!

“As long as we can use our focus well, we will be able to earn much more money. Conversely, if we chase after small profits and waste our focus, we will lose out more.

“Now, some of you might ask what the speech has to do with Struggle, the theme of this episode.

“Of course, it has everything to do with it.

“The contents of the speech and all of Boss Pei’s businesses fill in what was left unsaid in Struggle. They tell us what struggle really looks like in real life.

“Speaking of struggle, many people take two very different views of that word as well.

“One type of people thinks that struggling is meaningless and wouldn’t be able to change anything. They prefer to take things as they come, enjoy whatever they have at the moment, and deal with tomorrow’s problems tomorrow.

“The other type of people thinks that struggling as hard as they can would guarantee them the lives that they desire. However, they never ask if they are struggling for the right reasons.

“Both of those ways of thinking are wrong.

“Before I answer the question, let me say this: Big Boss He An has pointed out two main sources of the poor man’s misery in Struggle: consumerism and IQ tax. The poor man managed to climb to an elusive position in the middle-class, but consumerism destroyed his riches and caused him to fall back into the poverty cycle.

“Consumerism is in control of the entire society in Struggle. That’s why the poor man had no choice. However, in real life consumerism has not become widely accepted in society. As long as we fight it, our riches would not be destroyed, and we would be able to gather a certain amount of wealth.

“Many people would have questions about this as well… because Big Boss He did not clarify what exactly consumerism means.

“According to its ordinary definition, consumerism is the way the majority in society behaves: they chase superficial spending and crave unrestrained material enjoyment and recreation. Moreover, that becomes the meaning and goal of their lives.

“However, I believe that everyone has their own views of consumerism and IQ tax.

“Many times, we would find that the concepts of consumerism and IQ tax vary from person to person.

“Take this very simple example: two packets of tissue are sold for five yuan and twenty yuan each. Does the one sold for twenty yuan charge IQ tax?

“Many people think so. Both are tissue papers, but the one with the brand name stuck on it is priced four times higher. Isn’t that an insult to others’ intelligence?

“What if I told you that the latter was softer and more exquisite, required more complicated work, and felt better? Would you still think you’re paying IQ tax?

“Similarly, ordinary people might think that branded bags that cost tens of thousands of yuan charge IQ tax. However, would multi-millionaires think the same?

“I think that most people haven’t thought about this question.

“That’s why some hate consumerism, but others don’t think much of it. They think that, as long as they have enough wealth to support it, they can buy branded shoes, bags, and so on.

“At this point, I won’t judge whether that behavior is right or wrong. I’ll just talk about Boss Pei’s views on the subject.

“Many people don’t like Struggle because they think that it brings attention to a problem without offering much of a solution.

“To this, I want to say that the income gap will never go away. It will always haunt us, and there are no good solutions for it at the moment. It’s impossible and impracticable to expect one person to come up with a satisfactory solution for all of us.

“Everyone should think about this independently and offer their own answers.

“However, Boss Pei has indeed offered a practicable solution. It’s just that people haven’t realized it yet.

“Let’s go back to how Boss Pei described his view of wealth in his speech. The most valuable resource that humans have is their focus. How should one make good use of the money in his hands, then?

“We should use it to boost our focus.

“That’s exactly what Boss Pei does.

“An analysis of Boss Li’s interview and the photograph of Boss Pei should help everyone understand this. Boss Pei is someone who spends all of his spare time thinking. He has been putting this into practice: even as a multi-millionaire, his focus is the most valuable thing to him.

“What is Boss Pei’s daily life like, then? We saw that he lives in Sloth Apartments and eats Fish-Catching Take-Out, but he wears branded suits and watches. Yet, the value of his suits and watches is limited. Compared to his net worth, it’s still very far off.

“Now, some people might think that Boss Pei is contradicting himself.

“He emphasizes making good use of one’s focus, but he develops games to distract everyone else.

“He emphasizes the harm of consumerism, but he wears branded suits and high-end watches.

“However, I would like to urge everyone to think carefully. Is this really considered a contradiction? If you can answer that question, you would have all the answers you need.”

…

At that point, He An could not help but feel stunned.

He would not have expected Teacher Qiao to lead the discussion to this point!

To He An, Boss Pei had done nothing wrong by resisting consumerism. Yet, who could possibly remain completely unaffected by consumerism?

Even He An himself had bought a villa and a luxurious car after earning money. Strictly speaking, he had subscribed to consumerism as well.

If he could remain completely unaffected by consumerism, he would have re-invested his money into his company to generate more value or do more charity to help others.

Yet, he had failed to do so. Instead, he had spent a huge sum of money on his own enjoyment.

That was why He An hadn’t explained the concept of consumerism in much detail in his long Weibo post.

Subconsciously, he knew that the concept of consumerism depended on one’s income level.

If a poor person who earned three thousand yuan every month wanted to splurge on a luxurious sports car, he would be considered brainwashed by consumerism. On the other hand, if a multi-millionaire wanted to buy a luxurious sports car, his own daily life would not be affected.

Still, He An knew full well that this conclusion was contradicting. He would not be able to clarify himself well enough.

If he ended his post by saying ‘poor people can’t buy luxury cars, but rich people can’, he would not be persuasive. People might even think that he was discriminating against the poor and saying that they were not fit to buy expensive products.

That would be perpetuating the concept of consumerism.

Thus, it was very dangerous for Teacher Qiao to talk about these things in his video. He had to tread very carefully. A small mistake could backfire at once.

Since he had already pointed out that Boss Pei bought branded suits and watches, how could he also persuade others to give those things up?

Feeling quite worried, He An continued watching the video.

…

“Obviously, this is not contradicting.

“I have been emphasizing this entire time that we should not fall into the trap of this false dichotomy.

“We do need to make good use of our focus, but can humans really guarantee control over every bit of their focus at every second of every day?

“Of course not.

“That’s why I said that we should regulate our working hours to eight hours a day. Within those eight hours, we should work hard and study hard. After that, we can rest and relax.

“We must achieve a good work-play balance.

“Games help us to relax our bodies and minds. Whether the gameplay is unique or the game is particularly artistic or whether the game’s content is funny or thought-provoking, games would still be meaningful to all of us.”