Can migrant workers go back to the countryside?

Today, I would like to talk about a very cutting-edge issue, that is, whether migrant workers who go to the cities today can still go back to the countryside. Whether migrant workers can go back to the countryside should be said from two levels. The first level is whether migrant workers can live comfortably in cities. This question is very important, that is to say, our industrialization development today can let migrant workers living in cities live honorably. The second floor is whether migrant workers can live in the countryside if they cannot live in the city. This question is also very important. Is the answer subjective or objective?. All need to be discussed carefully.

I think comrades at the grass-roots level have a greater say in the answer to this question than comrades at the upper level. When I communicated with scholars, almost all people said that migrant workers who did not know how to farm land would not come back as long as they went to school. I estimate that such a rural labor force is generally not more than 40 years old, but 50-year-old people are eliminated by the city, they are all people who have worked for farmers, and people who have feelings for the countryside will return to the countryside. Assuming that the ideas of migrant workers who are still working in cities at the age of 50 are completely different from those of young people in rural areas, we did a survey to ask migrant workers if they were willing to go back, and the answer was "no". Of course, life in the city is young and romantic, and no one wants to go back. The problem is that the reference of city life is the life of the middle class in TV series, a decent and dignified life, what if there is no such life? So let's talk about it. Let me start with a very interesting example:

A grass-roots comrade in Xiaogan City wrote a report to the province through investigation and research, and there were puzzles and lessons in the report. the title of the report was "Why the improvement of agricultural facilities led to the retrogression of land circulation." three village cadres in one of Xiaogan's villages have, through years of efforts, transferred and managed more than 800 mu of land in the village, forming large-scale operation. (I believe that rural areas all over the country want the land to be transferred to the hands of large households, and it is too unreliable to rely on the elderly to farm land in China. This is not my opinion. Everyone thinks so.) General Secretary Xi asked, "who will farm land in China?" there are more than 200 million farmers in China, and each household has only 10 mu of land. under today's level of agronomy and agronomy, and under today's technical conditions of agricultural production, a 60-year-old couple grows 40 mu of land. There is no problem for a 50-year-old couple to grow 50 mu of land. how can there be no one in the countryside? It's just that some people want to plant it, but they don't have any land. There are also lands that used to be planted in three seasons and two seasons, but now they are only planted in one season and two seasons. Because the grain doesn't make money, the farmers can't even get the money for the insurance cost, and the more they plant, the more they lose. We have no one to farm land now because in a market economy, farming does not make money, and no one is willing to plant it. Under the promotion of the policy, Xiaogan village has formed a scale of 800 mu of land. The turning point is that the urban and rural teams have entered the village in recent years to help the village fight for national project funds. Mainly land consolidation funds of more than 4 million yuan, and then vigorously engaged in rural infrastructure construction, water conservancy construction. The conditions have improved and many old people have asked for their fields back. In the past two years, we have to return to more than 200 households and more than 500 mu. There are three main reasons for the elderly to want land: first, the farming conditions have improved, unlike in the past, it is heavy physical work and can be planted even when they are old. Second, there is a sense of achievement in farming. Third, you can exercise. Therefore, although the contract did not expire, the three village cadres had no choice but to obey the interests of the masses. after the peasants returned to the land, a large number of agricultural machinery were idle and became the original household, so they were very confused.

But is this story just helpless? When the conditions have improved, the old people are still willing to farm. The key is whether they have basic conditions or not. Therefore, many people only see the plight of promoting agricultural production, but do not see that the elderly have a lot of enthusiasm, motivation and ability to farm. As long as the basic conditions for agricultural production are solved, they will be the main force in China's grain production. I am talking about grain here, and there is basically no problem of docking standardized grain with the market. This story reflects a problem that small farmers need to earn income, work, meaning and value from farming. When a person goes to the city and does not find a job, even when he finds a job, it is very important to have a field bureau in the countryside. Village production and village governance are based on agricultural production. Farmers with too small scale have difficulties in docking with large markets, especially with large-scale production. With the development of our productive forces, it is necessary to use our brains as to whether some of the remaining people will be able to plant good fields. In the case of Xiaogan, they used their brains and made use of external resources to solve all the problems. The peasants' enthusiasm for production is released, and the old people regard farming as physical exercise, which is very powerful. When a family of farmers cannot farm, the government intervenes to help. Farmers are willing to farm, and they can also plant good fields, and when heavy physical labor is replaced by modernization and mechanization, the role of the elderly in field management is very obvious. The ability of the elderly to manage and manage agriculture in the field far exceeds that of large-scale operation. Most of the land cultivated by the vast majority of farmers is used to grow grain. More than 70% of our farmers and land are used to grow grain, so there is no problem of connecting grain with the market, because it is a standardized product and can be sold everywhere. The protective price of the grain produced is purchased. And farmers who want to make money have to dock with the market. Including small businessmen and hawkers, it is necessary to make money to open a processing plant. But today's agriculture for the elderly and small-scale farmers is very different from the agriculture in which we want to make money. For the vast majority of farmers, it is impossible for them to make money in agriculture, but they can keep the bottom line, and the bottom line is more important.

Our basic management system in rural areas is good, but there are problems with some of our policy orientations. for example, some of our agricultural policies always require farmers to get rich, how can we get rich by relying on agriculture? If this family gets rich, can that one get rich? We tend to look at the problem from the perspective of market developers. Some media always encourage farmers to grow something to get rich. Hanshou County can get rich by raising fish and soft-shelled turtles. To whom can soft-shelled turtles be sold across the country? There are only so many agricultural bases, but also to provide employment and income for so many people. It is impossible to get rich by agriculture. If we support some people to get more agricultural income, more people will get less agricultural income. Some people say that the combination of government and capital has defeated the small farmers. Why should the government support the capital to defeat the small farmers? if the capital has the ability to swim in the market, it is his business to drown. Why should we find a way to save him? Further talk about land consolidation, social services, state investment in rural areas and village organizations are very important to small farmers, because these are the means to solve the difficulties of small farmers in large-scale production. How to dock with the mode of production of small farmers in a large-scale production environment. These are some of my thoughts on this example. It is also a groundwork for the theme of whether farmers can come back or not.

Everyone thinks that the migrant workers who go to the city can't go back, especially the young migrant workers who can't farm after going to school. Then I will discuss this issue. People who don't want to go back bet their youth on tomorrow. Personally, everyone has a chance, which has something to do with luck. No one can tell. However, in a country like China, at such a stage of development, there is no problem in going to the city when you are young, and you can support yourself. But after you go to the city, can your income support your parents and children, and can you reproduce your family and labor in a decent way in the city? Lucky to find a good job and stable income, continue to accumulate, not only can afford to buy a house, but also can live a good life. But at a time when China has already reached a manufacturing inflection point, what is the end result? that is, most of them are impossible. If the income is unstable, even if both parents and families move to the city, they will live a very uncomfortable life. The income exceeds the income every year, and the family relationship is very tense. When parents lose their ability to work and cannot go back to the countryside, the family will have problems. In the current inflection point, when the per capita income of 100 yuan GDP is only 30 yuan (and tax is included), the social security that the state can provide is limited, most people provide social security for a small number of people, and no country has such capacity. China is rich, but the premise is that many people do not have security, when everyone has security, can we still be richer than Europe and the United States? Countries as developed as Europe and the United States have no money. China now needs money in many places, such as infrastructure, industrial upgrading, the development of high and new technology, and so on. Because China is still a developing country, the farmer should go to the city, but it doesn't matter whether he can afford a house for his parents in the city. In the end, it is whether he can live a decent life in the city that matters.