Chapter 40 The key is still on public goods

On October 14, 2003, the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Issues Concerning Improving the Socialist Market Economic System", and a passage in it particularly caught my attention: "It is necessary to coordinate and promote various reforms, Efforts should be made to coordinate macroeconomic reforms with microeconomic reforms, coordinate reforms in the economic field with reforms in the social field, coordinate urban reforms with rural reforms, and coordinate economic system reforms with political system reforms." How should we understand this paragraph exactly? Two words in words: "coordination" and "coordination"?

Mao Zedong said: "In the process of the development of complex things, there are many contradictions, and one of them must be the main contradiction, because its existence and development determine or affect the existence and development of other contradictions." However, Mao Zedong also It is said that "this situation is not fixed", because "the main and non-main aspects of a contradiction are transformed into each other, and the nature of things changes accordingly. In a certain process or stage of the development of a contradiction, the main aspect belongs to Party A, The non-principal aspects belong to Party B; when another development stage or another development process is reached, their positions are exchanged, which is determined by the degree of increase or decrease in the strength of the struggle between the two contradictory parties in the development of things."Mao Zedong's exposition is very dialectical.If we can use this dialectical discussion as one of the important methods for us Communists to "correctly determine their political and military strategies and tactics", we will not find it difficult to find that the main contradiction in our society has not changed. It is still the contradiction between the people's ever-growing material and cultural needs and backward social production. This principal contradiction runs through the entire process of the primary stage of socialism in our country and all aspects of social life.This determines that we must take economic construction as the center of the work of the whole party and the country, and all work must be subordinate to and serve this center.Only by firmly grasping this principal contradiction and the center of work can we clearly observe and grasp the overall situation of social contradictions and effectively promote the resolution of various social contradictions.Development is the last word.The key for China to solve all problems lies in relying on its own development.At the same time, the reform must be a comprehensive reform. On the premise of adhering to the basic system of socialism, we must consciously adjust all aspects and links of production relations and superstructure, so as to meet the historical requirements of the development level of the primary stage of productivity and the realization of modernization.We say that the principal contradiction in society has not changed, but the main aspects of the principal contradiction have undergone periodic changes.For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, the main aspect of our principal conflict was to solve the problem of food and clothing, housing and transportation, or the problem of private goods, that is, what kind of food to eat and what kind of clothes to wear. Taste.At that time, "living" and "travel" were mostly within the scope of private goods.Just say "OK", rely on two legs, "No. 11 bus", at most one bicycle, all solved.

There are also a lot of migrant workers who come to the city to work. They don't have high requirements for "housing". They can build a shed at will, in the green belt, under the viaduct, or under the bridge. As long as you don't interfere with them, they will be very satisfied. up. No one will pick and choose fat and thin when it is a problem to have enough food and clothing, and have too many extravagant expectations.Only after the problem of food and clothing for private goods is solved, will we think of running for a well-off society and demand an effective and fair supply of public goods, and we will start to "pick up the bowl to eat meat, put down the bowl to scold mothers".Entering the new century, after building a well-off society in an all-round way, the main aspect of the main contradiction in our society has changed, from insufficient supply of private goods to insufficient supply of social public goods.Therefore, what the common people scold is not about private goods, not about general food, clothing, housing and transportation. That has already been solved, and what is not enough is public goods.What they criticize is that the supply of public goods is insufficient and unfair.Because after the improvement of life, the demand for public goods has also increased.Their "living" and "travel" are also related to public goods.Their "line" is no longer satisfied with bicycles.They need a private car.Does the private car have a place to park?There must be a smooth road, right?This is about public goods.This will involve the outer ring, the inner ring, and the cross-river tunnel. "Live" is the same.It turned out to be very simple. A family with two bedrooms can laugh out loud in their dreams.Not anymore.The per capita housing area continues to increase, and the requirements for community facilities, surrounding environment, and humanized management are getting higher and higher.The same goes for others.Social Security, Medicare, and full employment are all bullish.Some people say that it is difficult for college students to find employment.I said it's not that it's difficult to get a job, it's not that there is no job, it's that the requirements are high, and I want a high salary, but also want to be comfortable and comfortable.There are also medical problems. The government's financial burden has decreased, and individuals have paid more, and the common people have responded.The same goes for education.In some places, he can't even pay the salaries of civil servants, so how can he afford the salaries of elementary school teachers?This affects our popularization of compulsory education.Therefore, the voices calling for public goods are getting louder and louder, and the most opinions have been concentrated.The biggest concerns of ordinary people are also concentrated on these issues.

This means that after our development reaches a certain level, ordinary people increasingly demand fair and reasonable distribution of public goods. That is to say, the main aspect of the principal contradiction in our society has changed.From the original insufficient supply of private goods to insufficient supply of public goods.From a historical perspective, Western developed countries have also gone through such a road.Especially in the United States, after experiencing the "Gilded Age" at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, after the economy developed, Americans' moral values ​​began to decline, advocating materialism and money worship, social life was chaotic, and the gap between rich and poor widened. The life of workers is not guaranteed, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, medical conditions, living conditions, and employment conditions are not guaranteed, corruption is serious, government and business collusion, prostitutes walk around the streets, and cheating is also very common. Enter the so-called "Dark Ages".There is a "dung picking" campaign in the American press, which is dedicated to exposing the dark side and how monopoly enterprises exploit workers.This also happened in "The Rise of Great Powers".There are several journalists who are famous, such as Lincoln Stephens and Ida Tarbell are very famous.They are reporters of "McLure" magazine. They have successively published long reports such as "The Shame of Minneapolis" and "The History of Standard Oil Company", which exposed the corruption of city officials in detail and described how the oil tycoon relied on cruel means. Accumulate wealth and build a monopoly empire.These reports were later compiled into a book and became a bestseller in the United States, becoming a call for social justice and promoting reform of government intervention in the economy.

"Dung pickers" come from all walks of life. In addition to journalists, there are also university professors, reformers, environmentalists, pastors and government officials. They are called "freedom fighters" who specialize in exposing shady scenes. They cover all kinds of issues, from the government Corruption, illegal monopoly of trusts, counterfeit medicines and unhygienic food conditions, use of child labor to racial discrimination and so on.They "pick up dung" as much as they want, but they love their country deeply. They don't want to overthrow the American system. They just hope to awaken the hearts of the people, promote reforms, and achieve justice through exposure.

We people are the same.Our generation is very grateful for the training of the country and the party. At that time, after graduating from university, we received 60 yuan a month for more than 10 years and never complained.In terms of life alone, it is very poor, very poor, but it feels very fair.What's the point?You have a bursary for school, and you have been enjoying it from middle school to university graduation. Otherwise, how can you, a child in a remote mountainous area, receive higher education?If you are sick, you will receive public medical care.After work, I will get married and have a house assigned to me.It's not very big, but there are, no sleeping on the street.There are also monthly tickets for urban transportation, which are issued uniformly.

In this way, my basic life is guaranteed.With security, I feel at ease and feel that socialism is superior.Although many things are still unsatisfactory, I feel comfortable, without so many complaints, and without so many grievances today.Now life is better, but there are so many injustices.Later, I realized that the key lies in the provision of public goods and services.It is impossible to narrow the income gap, and the income gap will always exist, but the provision of social public goods can reflect fairness.Only when the principle of fairness is more reflected in the provision of public goods, and everyone can enjoy them, will people truly feel satisfied.Now that the gap between the rich and the poor is large, if you say that the gap between the rich and the poor can be narrowed, I say it is impossible.Because a person's contribution to the creation of social wealth is different, the income gap naturally exists.You said that the income gap in western developed countries is even greater than ours. How can the income of Bill Gates compare with his employees?

But the public goods they provide are relatively fair.Whether the poor or the rich can enjoy the same, this makes the society more stable.Therefore, I propose that the government should pay special attention to this issue, otherwise it will be detrimental to economic and social development. So why does this public product become a problem?Where is the problem? In the final analysis, it is still a problem of the government's administrative management system. Our government's social management is still economically-oriented, and has not returned to the public service model, and has not helped the people solve this public goods problem well.In some places, from the township level to the county and city level, they are keen to build very wide roads, high-rise buildings, and beautiful office buildings for government agencies.Their political achievements are attracting investment, blindly pursuing the growth of GDP, and fighting fiercely with some business owners. In addition, there are some institutional deficiencies, system imperfections, especially the loopholes in land leases. Collusion between officials and businessmen is very easy. All over the country, all the leaders who have fallen from the horse are not related to real estate development.

Because we are in the stage of system transition and social transformation, as long as the government is not in place in the reform of administrative management, it will be difficult to avoid the phenomenon of power intervening in the market and the phenomenon of power-money transactions. It will soon be 30 years since China's reform has come to this day. We have to calm down and think calmly about how to take the next step and how to develop.