Flattery

One of the most interesting and strange things about the human ear is probably its ability to receive compliments. It seems that no compliment has ever been mistreated and no criticism has ever been enthusiastically received, regardless of whether it attacks or flatters the simple or the luxurious ear. There are people who crave and are ready to devour any compliment, regardless of whether the combination of compliments has passed any superficial quality control. Greed for compliments is also a disease, the severity of the "patient" depends on the circumstances, level, and personality of each person. It is the self-delusion combined with the chronic hunger for compliments that has pushed many people into a helpless situation before the disturbance of the matrix of truth and falsehood. "Praise-hungry patients" are no longer sober and wise enough to distinguish between compliments and flattery.

Flattery is not only a disease but a serious one, a serious one that is also chronic. What is more dangerous is that it is both an infectious disease and an addictive one. This disease that does not cause immediate harm has been silently destroying personality, manipulating and swallowing up healthy relationships in social life. There are many people who live, work, study and then "grow up" rapidly thanks to only three inches of tongue. Yes, the tongue of these people is the most superlative curving organ, it, itself, has flexibly carried its owner through all the obstacles. The soft but dangerous tongues regularly and gently pull their owners up. Faced with the brazen and unpredictable developments of the tongue, and also the weakness of the enchanted ears, people have been forced to "declare war" on this problem. The "Public Service Culture" project has just been officially issued. It is not surprising that flattery is bluntly named in the document: "For superior leaders, cadres, civil servants, and public employees must comply with administrative hierarchy, obey the direction, management, and assignment of work from superiors. Do not avoid or shirk tasks; do not flatter for impure motives," the project clearly states.

“True words are unpleasant to the ear”, straightforward words are hard to reach the ears, while “curved” words are soft, penetrating and penetrating deep into the soft tissue of the auditory system. Compliments are like medicine, it will be wonderful when absorbed into the heart, but it will be very dangerous if overdosed. The most miserable and difficult thing is that we become victims of compliments, either overdosed leading to intoxication, or false compliments leading to poisoning! Compliments are different from flattery, but unfortunately sometimes we cannot distinguish between compliments and flattery.

Flattery is a distorted compliment, when people take advantage of compliments to exaggerate in order to gain benefits, it is called flattery. It is too easy to identify these people if we are outsiders. Well, they flatter all kinds of things in the world, sometimes just eavesdropping and getting goosebumps. The story of giving advice to superiors like "I severely criticize the chief comrade for being too busy with work and forgetting to take care of personal health" has become an anecdote. Now the culture of flattery is also keeping up with the times and is no longer childish and clumsy. With female bosses, oh my gosh, everything is beautiful, "Did you just go to the spa? Oh my gosh, your skin has been so white and smooth lately like a baby's skin." "I don't know where you bought this dress, it fits so well, it accentuates every curve, and if you don't wear this kind of dress, your curves are wasted." And that's just the beginning of chapter one. After those greetings, you have to praise "her" for being smart, capable, decisive, and multi-talented, and don't forget to remind her that "she will go far"! Some people even whisper, "Be careful with A and B, they are not as kind as us." When you come back to your hometown, you will definitely get a few pieces of mackerel and a few dozen "home-made eggs" and of course, the gift is also very "sticky rice", "let me take care of my body that is always busy with housework and national affairs". Oh my god, if the girls are so "smooth", which sister won't be swayed? Poor thing, knowing that it is flattery but still can't escape it. Those who are good at flattery are mostly on the list of "living sensibly". The example of the sisters is just for "gender equality", but once they are "addicted", which boss doesn't like to listen to others to pour honey. There was a guy who traveled all the way to his boss's hometown to record all the death anniversaries and Tet holidays, and then pioneered the application of "four dots zero" by taking notes on his phone. Every time the familiar reminder bell sounded, he would bring money, incense, and go to his boss's hometown to "behave like a human being". Amazing. The boss was so moved that he asked, "How did you know to come back?", "Well, I don't understand either, every time the death anniversary of your grandfather approaches, my heart feels like it's on fire". Hearing that made me cold. Not everyone realizes how brazen this is, or if they do, they don't have the ability to resist. The flatterers are often on the same list as the scheming, the treacherous, and the opportunistic. Admitting this "team" is admitting the lurking danger.

Life would be boring and frustrating if we only filled each other with criticism and disparagement, but life would be terrible if we only gave each other false compliments. Flattery to please superiors is not a new problem, nor is it easy to cure. The story of the great teacher Chu Van An who retired from the coffin after failing to eliminate the sycophants has never cooled down.

Returning to the "Culture of Public Service" project that stipulates that subordinates are not allowed to flatter their superiors, I would like to boldly express a few thoughts as follows: Firstly, if only blaming flattery on subordinates, I'm afraid it is not fair. Honestly, if superiors do not "receive", who would dare to "give". For an upright official, certainly no flattery is charming enough to pass the preliminary round, let alone run rampant. Only when superiors are discovered to be eager for flattery, or in other words, only when subordinates find flattery "delicious", will they join together to spell out the word "flattery". So to "fight flattery", perhaps we should open a two-way valve, to punish both the flatterer and the person who consumes the flattery. Secondly, if it is regulated that subordinates flatter their superiors, is it allowed to banish the evil of superiors flattering their subordinates? Every time before the vote of confidence, the boss goes around and whispers to everyone he meets, "If you haven't entered the planning, it will be a big loss for the agency." Which "box" does he fall into in the "Public Service Culture" project? The third problem is how to blame the flatterer? The nature of flattery is deception, but what tool can be used to distinguish between flattery and praise? Flattery is very "sophisticated" now, there are some "artisan" flatterers who can easily bypass all "technical barriers".

We are moving towards a civilized, modern, professional and transparent administration. Curing flattery is an administrative order but also the people's wish, however, it is like drug addiction treatment, it must be done step by step, and must be determined by the "addicts" themselves, this has never been easy!

Well, the project has been issued, it is better to implement it and then gradually adjust it than to have nothing to implement. The straightforward naming of the culture of flattery in the project is already a great effort. For me, this is the most specific, elaborate and progressive project on public service culture ever, really, no flattery!