Chapter 20 Two O Minben

The people-oriented thought is a further step forward of the equality thought.Within a group of people who use the name of the country, in terms of belief (not in fact, because there must be division of labor, criminal punishment and other measures), all people are "equal" in value, equal, and "highest" in value. People-oriented.This belief is very important, because it will and must become the starting point and evaluation standard of all social achievements and measures.Its importance is also manifested in that it has its own way of dealing with life. For example, compared with the traditional "monarch and minister" thinking, it has a tough side, that is, it believes that so many people sitting on the throne in history All the domineering and autocratic demon kings should be driven out and replaced by themselves.But on the other hand, it appears weak. This is compared with the Buddhist idea of ​​universal love for all living beings. It has self-knowledge and admits that at most it can only achieve "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen". If you want to eat, you have to eat.Dare to make up your own mind and eat whatever you want, which is close to wild and unrestrained. This kind of thinking also has its roots, that is, the common sense mentioned above. For the whole, there is no other way except "people-oriented".

In fact, there is another way, that is not the people-based, but the end of the people, that is, the people bow their heads and obey orders.This other path does not come from "reason", but from "force".Assuming that the legendary history is true, Huangdi and Danyou fought in the field of Zhuolu, Huangdi won, Chiyou lost, and Huangdi had to sit on the throne.Sitting is not necessarily because of reason, but because of strength.If you are powerful, you can kill and kill, so you can have the final say.Afterwards, the powerful ones got used to having the final say, and almost all of them thought that it could only be so "in fact"; some of them added fuel to the fire, thinking that it must be so "in theory".This kind of belief is very powerful, and sometimes it is even terrifying. For example, Fang Xiaoru, when two Zhus surnamed Zhu competed for the throne, he believed that it was only natural for the one who had already sat on the throne to sit still, and he would not change his words even if he punished the ten clans.That was hundreds of years ago.What about hundreds of years from now? Aren't the dramas of "Dabaoguo", "Second Entry into the Palace" and other dramas that cry bitterly for the protection of the throne still being performed?It can be seen that the so-called Shiben, let alone practice, is not easy to know.There is another reason why it is not easy, or in other words, it is the reality of the end of the people and wearing the hat of people-oriented. It is inevitable for people to judge people by their appearance, so it is easy to be fooled.Here we have to put aside the appearance and just reason, assuming that the belief of Minben has been accepted, and then it is implemented. What should we pay attention to?I want to talk about it both individually and as a whole.

An individual refers to an individual person in the whole, Minben, he or she is a member of the Minben, so it becomes the base.For such a book, it is necessary to match the name with the truth, and it is not enough to just provide it in the book, it must be reflected in reality.There are so many things in reality that it is too much to say; we have to talk about principles, or use examples to show principles, and there are many principles. Only the important ones can be summarized into three.One is "safety".As the saying goes, it is better to live than to die. People, who have life, do not want to die, so the people should (or should first) hope that the people can live.The way of seeking can also be divided into two aspects: on the one hand, living people, as long as they do not violate one of the three chapters of the law, should not be forced to die; Yes, do your best to save.Let me talk about forced death first, it was not uncommon in the past, let me just give some examples.It's about the Song Dynasty. I saw it in a certain notebook. There was such an ignorant peasant who lost his nerve one day. He put a bucket on his head as a hat and said loudly, "I want to be the emperor."At that time, there were many people who knew current affairs and immediately reported them.Report to the real emperor all the way, it is said that the sage loves the people like a son, and is magnanimous. The three tribes of Weiyi only killed him.From the perspective of people or equality, why can't he be the emperor?But, just say it and die.This is forced death.Another example is "Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai", which is performed again and again now. Yang Naiwu pleaded guilty because he could not stand the torture.Torture can be used arbitrarily to make people unable to survive, which is also forced death.In addition, instead of direct killing and torture, it is possible to invent other tricks to make the people tremble and seek death, which is also forced death.Death by force is indifferent to the safety of the people, so it is not people-oriented.On the other hand, if your safety is threatened, you need to be rescued.This threat can come from natural disasters, such as floods and droughts, earthquakes, house collapses, car accidents, serious illnesses, etc.; it can also come from man-made disasters, such as robbery and assassination.Because I believe in the people, people want to live, so human life is the first, we must do whatever it takes, as long as there is a glimmer of life, we will not let go.

The second is "happiness".What is happiness?There are also many problems.For example, the relationship with happiness, at first glance, seems to overlap, but it may not necessarily be the case when you think about it carefully, because so-called hobbies, gambling, alcoholism, etc., can be exchanged for happiness, but they may not necessarily be called happiness.Or add a limit, saying that happiness that does not have undesired consequences is happiness.Even this auspiciousness is too much to describe.I have no choice but to use the big ones to draw inferences about other cases from one instance.Let me talk about its nature first, it is the reasonable satisfaction of desire.Desire, the ancients summed it up into two categories, saying that "eating and drinking men and women, people's great desires exist", so we might as well take this as an example.Then, the so-called happiness, on the one hand, has a good taste, not only can you be full, but also the food and drink are not bad; It is not easy, because there are many conditions such as wealth, education, and equality.Fortunately, we are not talking about specific measures here, so we can ignore them.Just remember that since you believe in people-oriented, you should put your personal happiness first.

The third is "upward", which refers to the development of high places.What is high and low?Taking the development of human history as a metaphor, in ancient times, there were many elements of barbarism, which was low; today, there are many elements of civilization, which is high.The same is true for an individual, who is just born, ignorant, low, and should develop to a higher level, that is, increase the degree of civilization.This increase, the content is very complicated, such as intelligence, from illiterate to rich in knowledge, from unskilled to proficient in one or more skills, married; physical, from not necessarily strong to strong; moral, from vulgar Become virtuous; and so on, all.These changes are like the growth of crops, which require suitable soil.Therefore, if everyone can make progress, everyone should have the opportunity to develop.For example, in terms of seeking knowledge, there should be schools to provide teachers, and libraries and publishing institutions to provide reading materials.

Let's talk about the overall aspect.Caring for the whole is also for the individual, because only the individual can really perceive.But the focus is different, and the measures will be different, at least the focus will be different.This point of view can be viewed from two aspects: one aspect, which can be said to be spatial, changes from looking at the individual to looking at the whole at the same time;The result of seeing at the same time is taking into account; because it is necessary to take into account, sometimes it is necessary for an individual to require restraint.To give the most obvious example, smoking is prohibited in some public places to take care of non-smokers who hate smoke and ask smokers to refrain. This is obviously aimed at the whole.Another example is family planning, which requires a couple to have only one child, so believers who are as many as three and nine have to be restrained. This is done with an eye to the future.Requiring some people to be restrained and purposeful is still a matter of personal safety, happiness and progress, so the starting point or rationale is still the people.

As mentioned above, the formation of a society, trust and conduct, should be based on the people.Nowadays it is often said that democracy is the same thing as people-based?Yes and no.It is said that it is because democracy is based on the people, and the people-based refers to the purpose, and democracy refers to the means.Say no, because the same purpose can use different means.Mencius, for example, said that "the people are the most precious", he believed in the people, but he did not oppose the autocratic monarchy, and he did not use democratic means.It was not adopted because he never imagined that the people could be the rulers.He failed, ideal or disillusioned.This is also beneficial. It is an infinite fact that accompanies history, which is enough to prove that if you want to realize the people-oriented, the only way is to follow the path of democracy.Walking is a matter of travel, the content is complicated, and there are many problems, so we will discuss it later.