Dear Readers,
As you are most likely aware, we have been struck with a national tragedy. The past several years have been extremely trying for our great country. Natural disaster after natural disaster have rocked the people to the core. Chairman Mao’s genius plan to fix the backward economic system that has kept China from taking its rightful place as a great world power was bound to succeed without what seemed like divine intervention against our nation. When making this great leap of economic progress, Chairman Mao was smart enough to warn against boasting or exaggerating production levels in order to prevent unhealthy competition between different provinces [Dietrich, 121]. By the end of 1958, the future looked incredibly bright for our great nation. Both industrial and agricultural production had risen significantly [Zhou, 3], and the country was on the verge of an economic breakthrough. However, through no fault of the Party or Chairman Mao, these positive changes would not last. The efforts to transform the landscape of the country were valiant, but the unfortunate natural disasters have sadly lain waste to the Chairman’s great vision.
The initiative to build backyard furnaces was something that came from the right idea but was unfortunately derailed by the conditions of the country. The people were eager to jump to the Chairman’s call to join the industrial effort, but unfortunately, the people began to neglect the fieldwork that was necessary to maintain the agricultural economy. The timing of floods and droughts combined with the new iron smelting effort have had disastrous results on crops. An eyewitness I interviewed in one village told me that “Strong people have left to smelt iron, only children and old women reaped the crops [Dietrich, 130]. Economic reform originally made drastic improvements, but the natural disasters quickly prevented any lasting growth.
Famine has hit our great nation with a vengeance, as people are now starving, looking for any way to find food to eat. In my recent travels, I have seen several extreme cases of people eating food substitutes such as weeds, leaves, and mud in order to try to stay alive [Zhou, 8]. Famine has pushed the people to riot and cause unrest, greatly straining the countryside even more. Reports from Shanxi and Gansu Provinces indicate that both provinces have seen riots over food shortages in more than twenty counties in each province [Zhou, 12.] These shortages have brought out the worst in the people, with forced labor, torture, and even murder in some cases [Zhou, 21].
Our great nation is going through an incredibly trying period, and I must stress that this is not the fault of Chairman Mao and the Party. While the policies of the so-called “Great Leap Forward” were drastic and could be considered radical in some cases, they were only doomed by the natural disasters of flooding and droughts that have plagued the countryside and brought about this famine unlike anything ever seen before. We must stand strong together as a united people behind the Chairman, for only he can lead us out of this crisis.
Stay safe,
孙诚