Some Issues That Deserve More Attention
(May 1, 1922)

Would it not be a joke if the autonomous province of Hunan, the Hunan that
loudly proclaims the politics of all the people, were to turn aside completely
from the workers? If we believe that one should not turn aside from the workers,
then "May Day," the only holiday there is to commemorate the workers, surely
deserves at least some attention from everyone!
If people are going to pay attention, then please pay attention to the following
three matters concerning the workers: (1) the workers' right to existence, (2) the
workers' right to work, (3) the workers' right to the full fruits of their labor.
Except for those who practice usury, those who live on an inheritance, and
those who have investments in some business enterprise, most people are workers who work with their hands or their minds. From their bodies these workers
produce "labor power," which alone makes it possible for them to support themselves on the one hand and, on the other hand, for the capitalists to make a profit.
This assuredly depends on one thing, namely, the "existence" of the workers. If
they were unable to "exist," there would naturally be no "labor power." In that
case the result would inevitably be "death" for the workers, but how could the
capitalists "live" on their own? According to this line of reasoning, it is imperative to provide food adequate to maintain the lives of young workers who are
now under the age of eighteen but are going to become older workers over the
age of eighteen, so that they will eventually have some labor power to sell. This
is truly a point to which astute capitalists should pay attention. As for workers
who have sold their labor power throughout their lives, once they are over sixty
and have exhausted their labor power and cannot sell it any more they should be
put in a position to live out their allotted span, just like the plants in autumn that
can soak up the rain and dew and thus live out their allotted time. According to
this reasoning, those over sixty who cannot sell their labor power should be
given a bit of life-sustaining food. A person should have the right to receive the
food necessary to preserve his existence during the "old" and "young" stages
when he is not able to work. This is the right to existence.
Except for those too lazy to work, who may be left to starve, all healthy persons
with labor power between the ages of eighteen and sixty should be given work to do;

This article was published in the Changsha Dagongbao on May 1, 1922. Our source is
Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 8-9, which reproduces the text as it appeared in the
newspaper. (This version is superior to that in the Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 9, pp. 117–
19, from which a few characters are missing because they were illegible in the photocopy
available to the Japanese editors.)