When it comes to "drugs," everyone feels that they are far away from themselves, but they don't know that many people have already unconsciously taken "spiritual opium" and cannot extricate themselves. Just look at the recent internet celebrity incident in Heze, Shandong.

A man named Guo Youcai became popular for his cover songs, gaining three million followers in a week. Many people went there to listen to his songs, and the once sparsely populated Heze South Station had an average daily flow of 400,000 people. In order to embrace this sudden wealth, the local area renovated the dilapidated Heze South Station overnight, and a large number of volunteers went to the scene to serve tourists, and the public security even set up an office on the spot.

In addition, there are a large number of internet celebrities gathered, and major operators have also sent signal trucks to escort the internet celebrities. Heze South Station has directly become a base for internet live broadcasts, and the scene can be described as "chaotic."

Many people are curious, why can Guo Youcai be so popular? Because he has created a dream for the public, a dream that "ordinary people have the opportunity to become internet celebrities through the network and achieve financial freedom."

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And it is this "spiritual opium" that has quietly eroded the hearts of contemporary Chinese people. Nowadays, in the vast land of China, it is almost everywhere to see people doing live broadcasts - in the park, by the river, on the bridge, and even in the toilet. There are those who show off their singing and dancing talents, those who show off their coquettishness, and even those who are naked, as long as they can attract attention and attract fans, they don't care about the ugliness.

This scene is like China around 1840, but at that time it was "opium," and now it is spiritual opium. This is not a farce, but a tragedy related to the whole people.

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Unregulated growth of short videos and live broadcastsThe Crisis Hidden Beneath the "Prosperous Era"

If one were to describe the true portrait of modern life in a single sentence, it might be "With a device in hand, I have the world at my fingertips."

It's unclear when it started, but sports, reading, and healthy social interactions are no longer the mainstream activities for people's entertainment and relaxation. Instead, short video shooting and live broadcasting have become ubiquitous, whether in urban streets, parks, squares, or scenic spots like mountains, rivers, and lakes.

According to the "China Online Audiovisual Development Research Report (2023)," Chinese netizens now spend over 2.5 hours per day on short video platforms. As of December 2023, China has 1.053 billion short video users, accounting for 96.4% of the total netizens, and the scale of online live broadcasting users has reached 816 million, accounting for 74.7% of the total netizens.

It is evident that Chinese society has entered the era of mass live broadcasting.

From Xiucai, Yu Wenliang, Wen Huijun, to Teacher Huang from Wuhan, Wang Po from Kaifeng, and today's Guo Youcai from Heze, some have become wealthy overnight, while others have reached the peak of popularity and fame in just a few days, becoming top influencers. People have seen the enormous economic benefits and found the most cost-effective and least demanding way to make money. As a result, people of all ages and genders have started their own live broadcasting rooms.

With the phrase "Let everyone become the protagonist of their own life," everyone has started looking for "family members" everywhere. Even if only a few survivors among thousands of people, it cannot stop the public's yearning.

Some show off their dance moves by swaying their hips and lifting their buttocks, some imitate and make funny faces with great enthusiasm, some promote products with flying spittle, and some sing songs with hoarse voices.Under a viaduct in Chengdu, Sichuan, in a tunnel underpass in Liuzhou, Guangxi, and including the current Dongmen Street in Shenzhen, every night is a gathering of live streamers: rows of young men and women squatting on the ground, holding microphones in their hands, performing vigorously in front of their mobile phones, preening in front of the cold numbers and messages on the screen, speaking eloquently, and expressing gratitude for the rewards, the scene is quite spectacular.

This reminds me of the beggars sitting on the street corners before, only now, the bowls in the beggars' hands have become mobile phones with ring lights.

Short videos and online live streaming, which originally emerged during the pandemic as a new form of economy, are an important platform for promoting economic internal circulation, tapping into the domestic market, expanding domestic demand, and stimulating consumption. However, now it seems like an arrow that has been shot and cannot be stopped.

Some internet celebrities even risk taking risks, stepping on the gray area of the law to sell counterfeit and shoddy products, and deceive and cheat people, often shouting, "I have tens of millions of fans, believe it or not, I will expose you," showing the typical face of a nouveau riche.

A while ago, a table circulated showing the education levels of many super internet celebrities, which are basically elementary school, middle school, and junior college levels. But why can they crush the income of civilized people with high education levels? Because they can show the lower limit and can infinitely cater to the dark side of human nature.

During the period when domestic violence was frequent, some internet celebrities took the opportunity to become famous by promoting "domestic violence makeup"; when the epidemic was severe, some internet celebrities launched "COVID-19 imitation makeup" in a heartless manner; even after the arrest of Lao Rongzhi, who killed many innocent lives, some internet celebrities posted photos imitating Lao Rongzhi's makeup.

This is the current situation of the prevalence of short video and live streaming internet celebrity culture - politics can be entertainment, war can be entertainment, news can be entertainment. The impetuous hearts and distorted values are all telling us that this carnival of traffic has spread from the online world to real life, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a spiritual opium.

If this social trend continues to develop, it will greatly promote the shortcut mentality of the people who want to get something for nothing.It turns out that talent is not necessary; all that is needed is the ability to hype, to undergo cosmetic surgery to make oneself look better, and one can gain various honors and wealth. Under the long-term erosion of this spiritual opium, who is willing to work hard, to struggle, to accumulate? Who is still willing to engage in "hard" work such as scientific research, education, and healthcare?

Over time, changing one's destiny through hard work is no longer admired, replaced by the fantasy of becoming an overnight sensation through live streaming, becoming rich overnight, gaining fame and wealth, being profit-driven, and having no bottom line.

The harm to the values of young people is immeasurable, because this is equivalent to telling all young people that even if you haven't studied well, as long as you become an internet celebrity, you can still reach the peak of life. Even if you have no special skills, as long as you know how to make a fool of yourself and lower your bottom line, you can gain attention.

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The "spiritual opium" that destroys the national spirit will also become an economic destroyer.

The questionnaire data released by Weibo on "What Are Contemporary Young People Paying Attention to in Employment" shows: among nearly 10,000 surveyed graduating students, 61.6% of them would consider careers such as internet celebrity live streaming when seeking employment.In fact, in 2022, live streamers aged 18-29 accounted for 64.2% of the industry. They lead a glamorous life and can make money - this is the reason they choose it.

"Graduating from a 985 university is not as good as becoming an internet celebrity, and ten years of hard study is not as good as singing for money." This is like a spiritual opium, once it takes root in the soul of teenagers, it is difficult to eradicate.

Under this distorted concept, more and more young people have developed "soft bone disease," no longer down-to-earth, sliding towards the edge of "three vulgarities." There are even primary school students who secretly film their mothers or live stream their mothers' deaths for ten thousand "likes."

Batch after batch of immature teenagers begin to regard live streaming as the only way out, joining the ranks of chaos at an age when they should be studying in school. They turn on a light, set up one or two mobile phones, a headset, and start the so-called "entrepreneurial mode."

Admittedly, they share some profits, but they themselves have not created value that is beneficial to social development, and their practical abilities have not been truly tested, let alone taking on the responsibilities and burdens entrusted to this generation by the country.

It should be known that the division of social labor was originally intended to allow everyone to play to their strengths and improve overall production efficiency.

However, the current unemployment rate among Chinese teenagers is as high as 19.9%, but there is still an annual labor shortage of about 11.8 million. The real economy such as manufacturing and service industries still lacks labor force, which is influenced by the distorted social atmosphere of "the real economy is dead, the virtual economy should rise."

They are completely unaware that the prosperity of the virtual economy is based on the foundation of the real economy. The prosperity of the short video and live streaming industry attracted by a large amount of capital is also based on false popularity and inaccurate data, just like a bubble, which may burst at any time.What we need is not young people who perform in front of the camera, but a new force that permeates all fields. These are the elite talents who demonstrate extraordinary wisdom and creativity in production, scientific research, teaching, medical care, finance, construction, and other fields. They are the backbone who invest their energy a hundredfold into various industries.

The urgent task at hand is to make changes at the macro level as soon as possible, to break the barriers of the national live broadcasting phenomenon, and to let people return to life, society, and reality:

1. Standardize the Short Video & Live Streaming Industry

Formulate and improve relevant laws and regulations to standardize the content of short videos and live broadcasts. Focus on setting thresholds for live broadcasting, cracking down on illegal and non-compliant behaviors, and optimizing algorithms to prevent the spread of harmful content. Protect the rights and interests of users, especially young people, so that the so-called internet celebrities who are all over the place have nowhere to hide, and return a clear sky to Chinese society.

2. Create More Opportunities for Wealth Creation

Firstly, provide vocational skills training and lifelong learning opportunities to help the public improve their personal abilities to adapt to the ever-changing job market, so that more people can live a life of dignity through hard work.

Secondly, support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises through fiscal and tax policies to create more job positions and encourage innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.

Furthermore, focus on exploring and cultivating local characteristic industries, such as handicrafts, specialty agriculture, cultural tourism, etc., to drive local economic development. Also, guide capital flows through policy to ensure that capital flows more towards the real economy and innovative fields, rather than being overly concentrated in some hot industries.

As long as people can gain higher wealth through hard work, live broadcasting will not become the dream pursued by the public, and society will also return to rationality.3/ Provide More Diverse Cultural Products

The government and all sectors of society should provide a rich and diverse range of cultural products and activities to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the public and reduce excessive dependence on short videos and live broadcasts.

Encouraging artists and creators to engage in cultural innovation can lead to the creation of more cultural products with the characteristics of the times and a spirit of innovation. Additionally, the use of internet technology, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and other technological means can innovate the forms of cultural products, providing immersive and interactive cultural experiences.

Only with regulation, thresholds, and a virtuous cycle can we create a more equitable competition, generate more employment opportunities, and build a healthier economy.

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The spiritual opium of the 21st century is a war without smoke, but its harmful effects are comparable to the first two Opium Wars.

Our young talents should have been eagles soaring in the ocean of knowledge, but now they are addicted to fleeting laughter and illusory praise; our culture should have been as profound as the stars, but now it is covered by trivial entertainment and has become frivolous and superficial; our conversations should have been collisions of wisdom, but now they have regressed into childish babble.

Neil Postman said in "Amusing Ourselves to Death": When a nation's cultural life is dominated by entertainment, and when the people's thoughts are filled with frivolous content, then the spiritual world of this nation will become desolate, and the flowers of culture will gradually wither.

The strength and development of a country do not rely on playing music, showing off, and exposing themselves without limits in front of the mirror. In the era of national live broadcasting, we should not only worry about our own development but also worry about the direction of development of the entire nation. The recent event at Heze South Station should be an opportunity to reflect on the web celebrity model, the chaos of live broadcasting, and to strengthen standardized management.This is a personal crisis, and more importantly, a potential crisis for the entire society.

It is time for a "Lin Zexu's Humen Opium Destruction" to face these issues head-on and reshape a healthy, positive, and uplifting cultural environment. This is not only a cultural awakening but also a spiritual struggle, a rescue mission for survival!