Ideals and convictions are the "calcium" in the bones of Communists. If we lack or are infirm in our ideals and convictions, being in a sense of "calcium deficient," we will have weak spines. Some Party members and officials suffer from this ailment and problems of various kinds occur, which, to the final analysis, is rooted in their lack of ideals and confused faith.
-- Speech given by Xi Jinping at the first collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, November 17, 2012
Calcium Deficiency and Weak Spines
-- The damages caused by lack of ideals and confused faith
Calcium is an element of life with strong functions and a very active chemical nature. It can combine with many substances to form new substances. Calcium is extremely important for our health, and the protein in our muscles, nerves, fluids, and skeletons is all formed from calcium ions. To have a healthy body, 1.5-2% of its weight must be calcium. A lack of calcium will affect our health and development. For example, osteoporosis is a physiological disease caused by calcium deficiency.
Xi Jinping brought the element of calcium and physical ailment of weak spines into the political arena to demonstrate the importance of calcium - members of the CPC having firm ideals and convictions and the grave danger of the lack thereof, resulting in weak spines.
History has proven that the CPC is the party with the most calcium and strongest bones. The Party was established at a moment of national peril and led the people of China on the great path of national liberation and independence. In those dark times, through those ordeals, along the arduous journey, without firm ideals and convictions, our world-shaking revolution would have been impossible. Over the past nine decades, the Party went from having just a roomful of members to becoming a great ruling party with more than 80 million members. It is inseparable from the firm ideals and convictions of the Chinese Communists and from the power of their spirit and beliefs. Countless Party members including Li Dazhao, Liu Hulan, and Xia Minghan held firm ideals and beliefs in sacrificing themselves for the Chinese revolution. During the era of building socialism, firm ideals and convictions are also the spiritual driving force of the Communists in their tireless struggle. Jiao Yulu, Kong Fansen, Yang Shanzhou, and Guo Mingyi are typical examples of this.
Then why is it that "some Party members and officials suffer from this ailment and problems of various kinds occur, which, to the final analysis, is rooted in their lack of ideals and confused faith"? The root of the problem is that over the long course of Party governance, some Party members were not able to overcome real-life enticements, trials, and challenges. They had low standards for themselves, let down their guard, and fell behind in their studies. Without even realizing it, their ideals and convictions had wavered, and they became spiritually "calcium deficient." It was their "calcium deficiency" that caused them to be egotistic, hedonistic, and materialistic. Going on like this, they found themselves lost when confronted with major questions of right and wrong. They wilted when enticed with money and became captives to beauty, resulting in an endless onslaught of "problems of various kinds." Individual "calcium deficiency" is like this, and collective "calcium deficiency" is like this as well. Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasized, "Faction-forming is not allowed. Interest groups and interest exchanges are not permitted." This is a serious warning to Party members and officials at all levels.
Having a "weak spine" due to lack of "calcium" not only ruins the lives of Party members, it also ties into the very existence of the Party itself. Since the Party's progressiveness must be jointly upheld by Party members, the people form their image of the Party as a whole through the images of individual Party members. This is even more the case today when no longer can one hero cover up a hundred fools. Rather, now one fool sullies the reputations of a hundred heroes, so the demands on Party members and officials are greater than they ever were before. This is also a reason why Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasized the importance of having steadfast ideals and convictions.
Those suffering from "calcium deficiency" need extra "calcium." Due to the nature of the CPC, the basic principles of Marxism are the first "calcium" to be replenished in the case of a deficiency to make up for theoretical weakness and solidify the basis for ideals and convictions. They must be incorporated into real work. Improve oneself through work, be a paragon of socialist morals, take the lead in upholding integrity, and safeguard fairness and justice. Replenishing one's spiritual "calcium" lets one live up to the wishes of the people. Show the communist character through real actions and do not turn into a clown loathed by the public. One also must constantly be on guard, as one's "calcium" is easily lost. This is why replenishing our "calcium" must be a daily, long-term effort. Just like eating and sleeping, we have to make replenishing "calcium" a daily necessity and not let up in the least.
Using "calcium" as a metaphor for the communist spirit deftly turns the abstract notion of ideals and convictions into something everyone instinctively comprehends. This is a brilliant rhetorical device that deepens our understanding of the importance of steadfast ideals and convictions.
(An excerpt from XI JINPING: WIT AND VISION -- SELECTED QUOTATIONS AND COMMENTARY, published by FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS in 2015)
