文/HuSir

　　这些年，我们的生活确实发生了肉眼可见的变化。高铁四通八达，手机支付几乎取代了现金，外卖和快递让日常生活变得前所未有的便利。许多人因此产生了一种强烈的感觉：我们的生活已经非常发达，甚至可以和欧美发达国家相提并论了。

　　然而，当我们把目光从总量和工具层面拉回普通人的真实体验时，会发现另一种景象。

　　联合国开发计划署（UNDP）2023/2024人类发展报告（2025更新）显示，中国大陆人类发展指数（HDI）值为0.797，全球排名第78位，仍属于“高人类发展”类别。而台湾的独立估算值通常在0.92以上，属于“极高人类发展”，接近全球前20位。德国、美国等典型发达国家的HDI则在0.938至0.959之间。自由之家2025年《世界自由度报告》显示，中国大陆得分为9/100（不自由），台湾则为94/100（自由）。这些数字并非否定我们四十多年来的努力，而是提醒我们：物质工具的升级，并不等于整体文明水准的同步提升。

更让人警醒的是日常生活中的具体感受。

　　在食品安全领域，2024年曝光的燃料油罐车运输食用油事件，曾让无数人感到震惊和不安。这并非孤例，而是行业里长期存在的“公开秘密”。尽管随后开展了全国整顿，并修订了相关法规，但公众“吃得放心”的信任重建，仍需很长时间。生产者为了降低成本，监管有时顾及“大局”，消费者则长期生活在“不知道下一口吃什么安全”的焦虑中。

　　在医疗健康领域，国家通过集采和医保谈判大幅降低了诸多药品价格，罕见病药物也逐步纳入谈判目录。然而，许多普通家庭在面对癌症、疑难杂症时，仍然面临沉重的自费负担或可用性难题。医院运行中，成本控制与患者需求之间的张力依然存在。不少患者和医生反映，部分集采替代药物与原进口药相比，疗效存在明显差异，甚至需要额外自费购买其他药物才能达到预期效果。很多人心里清楚“以利益为驱动”的问题，却很难公开、系统地讨论根源。

　　在教育领域，“素质教育”喊了很多年，但应试压力和贯穿各阶段的思政教育，常常让独立思考、批判性思维和完整人格的培养让位于标准答案和特定价值观塑造。教师和家长们看到问题，却常以“现实如此”“顾全大局”来自我安慰。

　　这些领域的问题，本质上不是技术或硬件不足，而是底层逻辑出了偏差：诚实、良知、信任、尊严这些最基本的东西，没有得到足够重视。物质生活的便利，像一层光鲜的表皮，掩盖了更深层的缺失。我们以为“已经很发达了”，却在食品安全信任、医疗尊严、教育灵魂这些最根本的维度上，与那些真正实现高人类发展和高自由度的社会，仍然存在系统性差距。

那么，为什么这些问题长期存在，却难以得到彻底解决？

　　最大的阻力，或许正来自于那个庞大的体制机器。

　　许多人——尤其是身处体制内的人——心里其实非常清楚：不少问题的根源，不在基层执行，而在更高层面的设计、激励机制或政策导向。但“维护稳定”“顾全大局”“和谐共处”这些堂皇的理由，却常常成为实话的坟墓和顶层虚假叙事的保护伞。说真话，不仅难以解决问题，反而可能让自己陷入被动、被边缘化，甚至被视为“不讲政治”“破坏和谐”的境地。于是，报喜不报忧、层层加码、只对上负责，成为许多人的生存策略。只要上级的权力够大，谎话、空话不仅没有人戳破，向下的一层层官僚体系反而会成为这些谎言的坚强维护者。信息由此失真，问题被层层掩盖，小隐患拖成大顽疾，社会的自我修复能力也随之衰退。

　　我们并非要否定维护社会稳定的必要性。真正的稳定，应该建立在敢于面对问题、允许诚实反馈的基础上，而不是靠压制实话来维持表面的平静。没有真实的语言和反馈，所谓的和谐就成了沙滩上的城堡。一旦底层压力积累到一定程度，再坚固的保护伞也难以长久遮风挡雨。

语言回归，正是打破这个循环的起点。

　　说真话，不是为了对抗，而是为了真实反思自我和社会。只有当我们敢于在安全、私人、小范围的场合，说出心里真实的观察和担忧；敢于对自己承认“我们取得了巨大进步，但也存在系统性差距”；敢于拒绝空洞的套话，用自己的语言描述真实感受时，改变的土壤才会慢慢出现。

　　语言回归不是一夜之间的事。它从每个人今天就能开始：

• 在家庭餐桌上，少说“形势一片大好”，多聊聊自己真实的焦虑和期待；
• 对自己每天问一句：“我今天说的话，是基于事实，还是出于恐惧或习惯？”
• 当看到问题时，不急着用“正能量”掩盖，而是先诚实地面对它。

　　普通人决定不了顶层的“高瞻远瞩”“运筹帷幄”的宏伟计划要求，但至少可以从自我开始，从小事开始，从家庭开始，从与亲朋好友的交流开始，开始实事求是的讨论问题。当这个社会讲实话的人多起来之后，会给周围的人带来哪怕是一点点的改变，也会给顶层的设计者们间接地传递出一个个信号，那就是皇帝的新装里那个小男孩的声音。

　　这只是回归系列的第一篇。后续我们将逐一讨论食物、健康、教育等具体领域的回归。欢迎大家在理性、建设性的氛围中，一起思考、一同反思。

　　心中有数，理性前行。

（数据来源于UNDP《人类发展报告》、Freedom House 2025报告及公开媒体报道，仅供参考。文章旨在客观分析与个人反思。）

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Return Series No. 1: Starting with Language — Only by Speaking the Truth Can We Truly Reflect

By HuSir

In recent years, our lives have undergone visible changes. High-speed rail connects all directions, mobile payments have almost replaced cash, and food delivery and express services have made daily life more convenient than ever. Many people have developed a strong feeling: our lives are already highly developed, even comparable to those in developed Western countries.

However, when we shift our focus from aggregate figures and technological tools back to the real experiences of ordinary people, we discover a different picture.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2023/2024 Human Development Report (2025 update), mainland China’s Human Development Index (HDI) stands at 0.797, ranking 78th globally, still categorized as “High human development.” Taiwan’s independent estimates usually exceed 0.92, placing it in the “Very High human development” category, close to the global top 20. Typical developed countries such as Germany and the United States have HDI values between 0.938 and 0.959. Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2025 report shows mainland China scoring 9/100 (Not Free), while Taiwan scores 94/100 (Free). These figures do not deny the tremendous efforts of the past forty-plus years; rather, they remind us that upgrades in material tools do not automatically equate to synchronized improvement in overall civilizational standards.

What is even more sobering are the concrete feelings in everyday life.

In the area of food safety, the 2024 exposure of edible oil being transported in fuel tankers shocked and unsettled countless people. This was not an isolated incident, but a long-standing “open secret” in the industry. Although nationwide rectification campaigns followed and relevant regulations were revised, it will still take a long time to rebuild public trust that “we can eat with peace of mind.” Producers cut costs, regulators sometimes prioritize “the bigger picture,” and consumers live with the constant anxiety of not knowing whether the next bite is safe.

In the field of healthcare, the state has significantly lowered the prices of many medicines through volume-based procurement and medical insurance negotiations, and drugs for rare diseases have gradually been included in the negotiation catalog. However, many ordinary families still face heavy out-of-pocket burdens or availability issues when confronting cancer or difficult and complicated diseases. In hospital operations, tension remains between cost control and patient needs. Many patients and doctors have reported that some domestically substituted drugs procured through centralized bidding show noticeable differences in efficacy compared to the original imported drugs, sometimes requiring additional self-funded purchases to achieve the desired effect. Many people clearly understand the problem of “profit-driven motives,” yet find it difficult to discuss the root causes openly and systematically.

In education, the call for “quality education” has been made for many years, but exam-oriented pressure and ideological and political education running through all stages often cause the cultivation of independent thinking, critical thinking, and well-rounded personality to give way to standard answers and the shaping of specific values. Teachers and parents see the problems but often comfort themselves with “this is reality” or “we must consider the bigger picture.”

The problems in these areas are essentially not due to insufficient technology or hardware, but because the underlying logic has deviated: honesty, conscience, trust, and dignity — these most basic things — have not received sufficient attention. The convenience of material life acts like a shiny veneer, covering deeper deficiencies. We think “we are already very developed,” yet in the most fundamental dimensions — food safety trust, medical dignity, and the soul of education — we still have a systemic gap compared with societies that have truly achieved high human development and high levels of freedom.

So, why do these problems persist for so long and remain difficult to solve thoroughly?

The greatest resistance may come precisely from that vast institutional machine.

Many people — especially those within the system — actually know very clearly in their hearts: the roots of many problems lie not in grassroots implementation, but in higher-level design, incentive mechanisms, or policy orientation. Yet the grand-sounding reasons of “maintaining stability,” “considering the bigger picture,” and “harmonious coexistence” often become the graveyard of truth and a protective umbrella for false narratives at the top. Speaking the truth not only fails to solve problems but may also leave one passive, marginalized, or even labeled as “not politically aware” or “disrupting harmony.” As a result, reporting only good news,层层加码 (layer-upon-layer escalation), and being accountable only upward have become survival strategies for many. As long as those above hold enough power, lies and empty words are rarely challenged, and the层层 bureaucratic system below even becomes a strong defender of these falsehoods. Information thus becomes distorted, problems are covered up layer by layer, small hidden dangers grow into major chronic ills, and society’s self-repair capacity gradually declines.

We are not denying the necessity of maintaining social stability. True stability should be built on the courage to face problems and allow honest feedback, rather than relying on suppressing truth to maintain surface-level calm. Without genuine language and feedback, so-called harmony becomes a castle on the sand. Once underlying pressures accumulate to a certain point, even the strongest protective umbrella can no longer shelter from the storm.

Language regression is the starting point for breaking this cycle.

Speaking the truth is not for confrontation, but for genuine self-reflection and societal reflection. Only when we dare, in safe, private, and small-scale settings, to voice our real observations and concerns; dare to admit to ourselves that “we have made great progress, but there are also systemic gaps”; and dare to reject empty clichés and describe real feelings in our own words, will the soil for change slowly emerge.

Language regression will not happen overnight. It can begin with each of us today:

• At the family dinner table, say less “the situation is excellent” and talk more about our real anxieties and expectations;
• Ask ourselves every day: “Are the words I spoke today based on facts, or driven by fear or habit?”
• When we see a problem, do not rush to cover it with “positive energy,” but first face it honestly.

Ordinary people cannot determine the top leadership’s grand “visionary” and “strategic” plans, but we can at least start from ourselves, from small things, from the family, and from honest discussions with relatives and friends. When more people in this society begin to speak the truth, it will bring even a little change to those around them, and will indirectly send signals to the top designers — the voice of that little boy in The Emperor’s New Clothes.

This is only the first article in the Return Series. In subsequent pieces, we will discuss the regression in specific areas such as food, health, and education one by one. We welcome everyone to think and reflect together in a rational and constructive atmosphere.

Be clear-minded and move forward rationally.

(Data sourced from the UNDP Human Development Report, Freedom House 2025 report, and public media reports, for reference only. The article aims at objective analysis and personal reflection.)

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