Chapter 26 The Social Evolution of Thirty Years of Reform and Opening Up

Interviewer: "China Business News", murong Time: September 25, 2008 Judging from our previous successful experience, being open to the media and public opinion will be a breakthrough.Once it appears, it will be an independent incentive source and judgment standard outside the real system. As long as this independence is maintained, it will have an impact on society. China's reform and opening up has been carried out for 30 years. If you observe the process of these 30 years, what is the biggest change? Everyone has their own observation angle. I choose the paradigm of biological evolution, which simply means "genetic variation, survival of the fittest".Looking at China in the past 30 years from this perspective, the biggest change in both economics and politics is the emergence of several new species—that is, the emergence of new classes.

Thirty years ago, there were no self-cultivating farmers in China, and some were only members of the People's Commune. It was only when this road was blocked that the species of peasants and the small peasant class were restored.Afterwards, they went on with great fanfare, from which a large number of migrant workers were differentiated—the real proletariat, and the township enterprises established were further differentiated into a group of capitalists and businessmen. This can be described as a wonderful path of social evolution.It can be said that China’s rural areas have gone through a process of retreating and moving forward, which conforms to the law of biological evolution, and a biological form—people’s commune members—fails and starts again.

Thirty years ago, there was no bourgeoisie in Chinese cities, and it was dominated by government-owned, government-managed, and government-run government-owned enterprises.There were no workers, only workers—employees in government-run enterprises whose occupation was labor.Managers are not capitalists, but state cadres and officials. The same is true for commercial enterprises.These are the situations after the public-private partnership in the 1950s, which history has proven to be a failure.So the government began to loosen some limits, allowing some urban unemployed such as educated youth returning to the city and prisoners released from labor camps to be self-employed. After development and differentiation, two new species gradually emerged-the bourgeoisie and the worker.With the vigorous growth and rapid development of the private economy, government-run enterprises have encountered strong challenges and competition. Their resources, sites and living space are shrinking, and low-efficiency government-run enterprises have been eliminated in large numbers.To adapt to this situation, the government's countermeasure is to focus on the big and let go of the small, and shrink the front.

What has this transformation brought to Chinese society? From the perspective of ecology, the biggest change in the past 30 years is that it started from a single ecology of monotonous people's commune members, government-owned enterprise employees, and cadres, and it has become very rich, with various new species growing vigorously. emergence, the ecological structure has become more complex.This is a very gratifying scene. When the ecology is rich and complex, there will be more variation, and variation is innovation.The ecology is also basically stable, and there will be no drastic fluctuations in the ecosystem due to the demise of individual species.

Government-owned enterprises have disappeared, but private enterprises are developing, and private enterprises have problems, and joint-stock enterprises still survive. Each has its own living space, including self-employed individuals. It can be said that an environment for the survival of the fittest has been established.In this process, the relative share of government and government-run species continues to degrade and shrink.For example, after the abolition of the rural people's communes, they were replaced by townships. The government's control over the village-level political power declined, and the functions of the township level were also greatly weakened. Many economic functions almost disappeared, and some political functions also disappeared.This is especially true after the abolition of the agricultural tax.Such changes have also occurred in the form of enterprises. Whether it is passive, active, or bargaining, the result of a game between the two sides, in short, the government has retreated in many fields.

The economic ecology is enriched, but where are the political changes reflected? The same is true in politics.The control of power has changed from the dominance of officials in the past to the infiltration of emerging classes.The first is ideological concessions, allowing the existence of the private economy, allowing the hiring of workers, proposing that the rich first get rich later, and efficiency is fair, etc. In the end, there is no debate at all, and it is allowed to grow quietly.The ideology should be adjusted first, and the mind should be liberated first. Once there is a statement, the policy can keep up and be adjusted again.Since the adjustment, Chinese society is still dominated by the government, not a society dominated by capital, but this society is different from the bureaucratic society of previous dynasties.

Now the main creators of social wealth are not farmers, but come from industry and commerce.The leaders, leaders, and organizers of industry and commerce are the bourgeoisie, so what is formed now is not small peasant-officialism, landlord-officialism, but capital-officialism.Of course, whether it is the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference or the Party Congress, officials still dominate the number of people. In short, the achievements of our political reform in the past 30 years are: ideology and policies have been greatly adjusted to adapt to the changes in this society, and created a presumably good environment for the survival and development of various new species. Both are signs of political progress.

Going one step further, completing the construction of constitutionalism and democracy is not just a matter of adapting to changes, but the key to resolving conflicts and unease in all aspects.Let domestic capitalists feel that this is our country, and we can continue to invest with confidence; let workers feel that we can also form a labor union and bargain with capitalists, and the government will not help capitalists infringe our rights; similarly, farmers can also form farmers’ associations, The land and houses will not be taken away or demolished at any time; the appointment of officials can also be on the right track, and they can have a clear conscience when performing their functions, and they can truly serve the people without looking at their superiors.Once the hurdle of political system reform is overcome, a road will be paved, smooth, and harmonious.Not only have the previous achievements come naturally and paved the way for the current reform, but once this hurdle has been passed, the road ahead can be said to be flat.

Where do you think the breakthrough of political system reform is? This may be similar to our previous economic reform process: don’t forcefully reform government-owned enterprises, just allow self-employed businesses to develop; there is no need to forcefully reform people’s communes, just don’t prohibit them if someone wants to make a big contract.In fact, they are all so-called incremental changes. When something independent of the system emerges, it will succeed if it grows gradually. Judging from our previous successful experience, being open to the media and public opinion will be a breakthrough.The forces of public opinion will make their own choices. "Thousands of people accuse him of dying without illness." When everyone scolded him, he felt like he was on his back. At least he could feel threatened, shameless, and unable to hold his head up.If everyone followed suit, his confidence would double.The encouragement and denunciation of folk and unofficial public opinion have a major impact on human behavior.Once it appears, it will be an independent incentive source and judgment standard outside the real system. As long as this independence is maintained, it will have an impact on society.

Moreover, this kind of public opinion supervision itself exists among the people. As long as the government does not say a few things that are not allowed, and more things are okay, so that it can survive and grow, China's political system reform can be promoted. This is an extremely low cost. A way of transformation.Just like the reform of the economic system was carried out step by step, and gradually became the climate. With the protection of the law, the Chinese nation will have a new growth point, and the source of power for the reform of the political system will be supported by non-governmental forces. and push.This is a very simple and simple breakthrough that I can think of, which can reduce major social turmoil.

Who is the beneficiary of suppressed speech?Not the central government, but vested interest groups in various localities and departments.This harmed the common people and actually harmed the central government. It is tantamount to exchanging the authority and reputation of the party for self-interest, which is not good for the people or the party.Letting public opinion supervision come out will benefit not only the common people, but also the central government.Let public opinion be the eyes and ears of the central government. This is a very good ecological situation of self-competition and self-restraint. Of course, just taking this step is not enough. If you are more courageous, you can take two or three steps together.That is township and county-level self-government. The fate of townships is directly determined by the votes of the people, and public opinion supervises them.Moreover, elections and self-government at the county level are no obstacle to the stability of the central government. Once the organization at the county level is stable, the most troublesome situation of petitioning everywhere will not be formed.This will create a situation in which the central government can rest assured and the society will be stable.This is another easy path for China's stability, and one that is less risky to implement. If we say that the previous reforms were only about the distribution of power, the current situation is completely different. Will the obstruction of vested interest groups become a problem in continuing to promote reforms, especially political system reforms? In the past, reform of the political system was a question of whether people dared to do it, and whether they had the courage, but now it is mostly a question of interests, not a spiritual matter, but a choice between interests and interests.In the past, beliefs were different, now interests are different, and in the future, life and death will be different. The resistance will be upgraded and stronger. This is the underlying reason why our political system reform cannot be advanced. In fact, regardless of whether the government promotes political reform or not, capital has already changed China's political landscape.I call this situation "one man's revolution".Many times, we see the combination of capital and power in such a way: capital buys a political agent with a small amount of money, and this person will consider his interests when formulating policies or legislation, and when enforcing laws. He will also consider his interests, and will give him a green light all the way during administration, which means that capital has mastered legislative power, law enforcement power, and administrative power through power-for-money transactions to a certain extent, so it is said that this is "one person's revolution. "In this part, capital has the final say. In fact, capital dares to "challenge" officials on certain occasions, and he can do it. Of course, there is a price for this.From the perspective of an official, he is also constantly selling the power in his hands in every transaction, and is constantly using this method to complete the marketization of power. This is an interactive process. In fact, in the end, it is the common people and the central government suffer. If this continues, capital usually wants to maintain this pattern, but corrupt officials often need to be replaced in three to five years.The so-called one emperor and one courtier, one magistrate and one businessman, the current investment will become invalid in a short time.Therefore, this kind of "one-person revolution" has two major disadvantages for capital. One is that the time is short. Although the investment is not large, the effective period is very limited and unstable, and it cannot form a long-term development pattern.The second is unsafe and risky.Then their long-term interest is to let them do business normally, rather than eat this excess profit, but they can maintain a stable expectation, as long as they have the ability to survive.A businessman who can succeed in business is actually not worried about another person who competes fairly, but is afraid of someone who uses public power to suppress him.If everyone plays their cards according to the rules and does business within the framework of the law, everyone will choose the right path instead of the crooked one.Therefore, if we look at the overall situation, apart from a few businessmen who rely on administrative monopoly for their livelihood, capitalists will not be opponents of democracy and the legal system, but will be strong supporters, because these are in line with their long-term and fundamental interests. So I think that in a progressive and progressive society, there is no need to worry about how powerful the capital is. Regardless of whether the "one-person revolution" is successful or not, they are generally a driving force.However, if this trend is allowed to go unchecked, the people who suffer the most are those who are unable to make deals with the authorities.Capital and officials share power, and when it goes to the extreme, there will also be the kind of economic crisis described by Marx: You have earned all the money, who has the money to buy your things?Therefore, for the sake of fairness and longevity, even out of self-interest considerations, the reform of the political system should be fully launched. Many people worry that if democratic elections are implemented at the grassroots level, there will be election bribery and manipulation by black forces.The Ministry of Civil Affairs once pointed out that improper or illegal activities such as bribery, corruption and violent elections in the election of village committees in China are further increasing.In addition, will people's emotions be used to make unfavorable choices for the public interest? It can be said that the issue of vote bribery has already emerged, but this involves how to treat it.I don't think it's a bad thing in comparison, at least the money is used to bribe people and not higher-level officials.There will also be competitors for election bribery. After three elections, the public will know how much the rights in their hands are worth.Elections are a kind of rights transaction about public goods. You cannot ask farmers to know how much this right is worth as soon as they come up. You have to allow him to have a process of observation and gradually understand what the market is like. After three to four sessions, he will understand Extremely.This is how democracy learns and voters mature, and there is nothing wrong with it. Cracking down on violent elections or black forces should be a matter for the Public Security Bureau. The formation of a black force has a background. In the final analysis, it is an issue of the electoral system.There will always be black forces in society, where are there no hooligans and thieves?We should not say that the people have no electoral quality or that the electoral system is not good because of this. We must find the root of the problem.