Lazy and Slack-off: Farmers’ Survival Wisdom When the State Was Offstage

As a special group, farmers have unique survival wisdom. Under different mechanisms, they are sometimes down-to-earth, diligent, and kind, and sometimes, they are lazy and unambitious. While we are surprised at the survival wisdom shown by farmers, we also ponder the following question: Why did Chinese farmers, who were known for their diligence, choose to slack off under the People’s Commune system? This article suggests that slacking off was a special survival wisdom of farmers under the special People’s Commune system. Starting with the case of slacking off, this article uses the perspective of grassroots politics and the theory of survival ethics to explain the reasons, methods, consequences, and attitudes of the production team leader toward slacking off and answers the question of why farmers slacked off.