Pens for Ploughshares: Urban Workers Return to Rural Hometowns(b)

Pens for Ploughshares: Urban Workers Return to Rural Hometowns

『返乡进行曲，号角再起』

　　In March 2012, 40-year-old Wen Zhong­-liang published A Letter to Young People Returning to the Countryside in a newspaper. Wen, who holds an advanced degree in city planning, used to work for the Taipei City Government, but he decided to return home to Meinong in Kaohsiung in 2002 because he didn't like wearing a suit. Typical of the first generation of young returnees, he became secretary-general of the Meinong People's Association and began working on protecting irrigation channels as part of an effort to forge a new kind of Hakka farming village.

　　"I'm very uncomfortable with the expression young people returning to the countryside. Perhaps it's the expectations I associate with being a returnee, but I often find myself wondering if I really qualify," Wen said.

　　His thinking is, given that you can travel to one end of Taiwan and back again in half a day, how big of a difference does being in Taipei versus Meinong actually make to his work, his lifestyle, and his thinking. If it doesn't make any difference, what does going back to the countryside really mean? Does it reflect anything more than the location of your physical body? The choice between working in a big city or returning to the countryside is a difficult one for every generation.

　　In Western nations, including the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, a discussion over the concept of downshifting has been underway since the 1990s. In practical terms, this has meant growing numbers of people becoming downshifters who leave the rat race to seek lower-paying, low-stress work.

　　2012 年 3 月，40 岁的温仲良在报上发表了《给返乡青年的信》一文。成大都市计划研究所毕业的温仲良，曾在台北市政府工作，因为不喜欢穿西装上班，于是在 2002 年返回位于高雄美浓的故乡。温仲良返乡担任美浓爱乡协进会总干事，并开始致力保护灌溉沟渠，希望能打造新型态的客家农村，俨然是第一代的返乡青年代表。

　　温仲良表示：『对于返乡青年这个说法，我一直觉得很不自在。这可能是外界对我的期许，但我发现自己常常怀疑这个说法是否名符其实。』

　　他的想法是，从台湾头到台湾尾来回只要半天的时间，台北与美浓在他的工作、生活方式及想法上究竟有多大差异？如果没有任何差异，那么返乡的意义到底在哪里？除了身体所在的位置之外它还反映了任何事情吗？对每一个世代而言，在大城市工作或是返回乡下都令人难以抉择。

　　在包含美国、英国、纽西兰及澳洲等西方国家，从 1990 年代起便开始讨论反朴归真的概念。以实际的说法而言，这个概念的意思便是愈来愈多人离开充满竞争的生活，而去寻找低薪而低压力的工作。