The future needs you to create *
(July 28th, 1984)
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Dear young pioneers and children, dear counselors and comrades,
Today, you have come to the capital Beijing from all directions of the motherland to hold a grand congress. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to you!
In our country, when you are a child, people always send you two sentences: one is "the flower of the motherland" and the other is "the future of the motherland." What does "Flower of the Motherland" mean? I think this is not only a praise for your innocence, liveliness and loveliness, but also a profound meaning, that is, I hope you will thrive in the bright spring of the motherland, open to the outside world and decorate the motherland more colorful. Comparing you to "the future of the motherland" is even more earnest. In other words, the future belongs to you, the future of the motherland belongs to you, and the grand cause of socialist construction is calling you and looking forward to your creation.
The future belongs to you and needs you to create it. So, do you know what this "future" means? I think there are two explanations; First, this "future" refers to materialism. This is the inevitable law of the development of human society and the ultimate goal of our party. Isn't the call sign of your young pioneers like this: "Get ready and fight for the cause of * * * *!" "Always be ready!" So you should set up the lofty ideal of productism from an early age and swear to fight for it all your life. Second, judging from the goal put forward by the Twelfth National Congress of our Party, it can also be said that this "future" is 2 1 century. By then, our country and economy have achieved the grand goal of quadrupling, social productive forces will develop at an unprecedented speed, culture and science and technology will enter the advanced ranks in the world, our socialist system will be more perfect, the superiority of socialism will be further demonstrated, and socialist China will stand in the east of the world with a new look of prosperity and strength! By that time, most of you will be in your thirties, in the prime of life, and you will have a lot to do. You can not only paint a more magnificent blueprint for the four modernizations, but also experience the sweetness of new life in the 2 1 century. So I said that the task in the future is very arduous and the life in the future is infinitely beautiful.
How to meet this beautiful future? Then you have to create it by yourself. Our Chinese nation is a great nation with innovative spirit, and our party is a great party with innovative spirit. You are descendants of China people and children of the Party. If we want to shoulder the historical mission of creating the future, we must inherit and carry forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and the party, be determined to reform and innovate, and be pioneers in the revolutionary cause.
The future needs you to create, and you should be ready to create the future now. To this end, I give you three hopes.
First of all, establish the ambition of creation.
Ambition is a powerful internal motivation. Without creative ambition, there will be no creative action. Creative ambition does not fall from the sky, nor is it innate, but comes from a high sense of political responsibility and a strong sense of professionalism. You should bear in mind the entrustment of the motherland, the expectations of the people and the glorious mission entrusted to you by history. You should not only learn from the virtues of your predecessors with an open mind, but also have the ambition to surpass them. We sincerely welcome you to surpass us and surpass us. I hope you are not a generation that craves comfort and enjoys success, but a generation that works hard to benefit mankind; Not a hidebound generation, but a generation that dares to innovate and forge ahead; Not a generation that is content with the status quo and does not make progress, but a generation that yearns for tomorrow to create the future. The ancients said that since ancient times, heroes have made teenagers. I say contemporary teenagers are more heroes! You just want to have revolutionary aspirations from an early age and make contributions to the country when you grow up.
With creative ambition, you must also have confidence and perseverance to realize it. Setting up creative ambition does not mean creative action, let alone achieving creative results. In the middle, there is still a hard journey. This is like the Long March of that year. On the way forward, there are snow-capped mountains and grasslands, as well as rivers and swamps. If you want to create the future and rush to tomorrow, you must have firm confidence and perseverance, and you must overcome all kinds of difficulties and obstacles. I believe you can do it.
Second, cultivate creative talents.
Have the ambition to create, but also have the ability to create, otherwise people will say that they are ambitious and sparse.
You should study the knowledge in the textbook well. This knowledge is the foundation, and only when the foundation is laid can we master more and deeper knowledge. However, it is not enough to learn the knowledge in the textbook well. We must also learn as much extracurricular knowledge as possible, broaden our horizons, be flexible and enrich our knowledge. The richer a person's knowledge, the more developed his intelligence, the more active his thinking and the stronger his creativity.
In addition to mastering knowledge, we must also have the ability. "High marks and low abilities" is not our training goal. First of all, you should gradually learn to use some basic labor tools, learn to carry out small scientific experiments, apply what you have learned and enrich your original knowledge. Only hard-working and dexterous hands can create. Secondly, we should exercise the ability of organization, management and social activities. You are the masters of 2 1 century. How to be a master if you can't manage? Therefore, I hope that children will actively participate in various practical activities that will help you increase your knowledge and talents while learning their lessons well, and improve your ability to analyze things, solve problems and organize and manage during the activities.
Of course, you must also pay attention to exercise, so as to gain knowledge and health. In this way, in the great practice of creating the future, you can ensure that you have abundant energy and strong body.
Third, carry out creative activities.
Although you are preparing for your future creation, your creative activities should start today.
Young Pioneers' activities are a vast world for establishing creative aspirations and cultivating creative talents. To cultivate innovative spirit, we must creatively carry out the activities of the Young Pioneers.
How can I be creative? First of all, we should carry forward the spirit of ownership and carry out activities. You can't wait for a counselor to arrange everything. You should make your own decisions, make your own suggestions, prepare and organize yourself. You are all active participants, designers and organizers of various activities. In this way, you can not only give full play to your creativity, but also cultivate your creativity.
You should also carry out more activities such as "small investigation", "small production" and "small invention" to lay the foundation for big inventions and big creations when you grow up. Today's "small inventor" may become a great inventor tomorrow. I believe that China and Li Siguang in the 2nd/kloc-0th century came from your generation.
Above, I put forward three hopes and demands, which can be summarized in four sentences: people are small in ambition and determined to create. Be prepared today and make contributions in the future.
The future needs children to create. Now, children need our care and training. Young Pioneers' counselors have made great contributions to the education and training of children, and I express my deep respect to you! At the same time, I hope that the whole party and society will care about the growth of children and support the work of the Young Pioneers. This is a strategic task. We should be far-sighted on this issue. I believe that with the strong support of the whole party and society, the work of the Young Pioneers will become increasingly active, and the vast number of children will surely grow stronger!
Finally, I wish the conference a complete success!
* This is Deng's speech at the meeting of representatives and counselors of the Chinese Young Pioneers. Originally published in People's Daily 1984 on July 26th.
Cai Chang, Deng and Kang Keqing talk about children's work.