Over the years, people have different views on China's socialist road in the early days of the People's Republic of China.
Some people think that the establishment of 1949 People's Republic of China (PRC) marks the basic end of China's new-democratic revolution and the beginning of the socialist revolution. Non-stop stepping onto the socialist road is a "write-off" of capitalism and populism. They wrote articles criticizing the socialist revolution in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
This paper wants to use the historical facts of China to discuss whether it is in line with the law of social development for China to embark on the socialist road. Because critics claim to use Mao Zedong's new democratic revolution theory to criticize the "leaders at that time" in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At that time, the leadership was the Central Committee chaired by Mao Zedong. Therefore, this paper will compare the views of critics and Mao Zedong in The Theory of New Democracy and other documents. Let's see what is going on. Talk about the understanding of this article, and then find the appropriate answer from the relevant facts of China's modern history.
Critics' views, Mao Zedong's views and this article's views.
The critical article said: "In backward agricultural countries, can capitalism be written off? What does it have to do with socialism? This is a problem that has plagued generations of China people, especially the advanced elements among them. " .
They said: "One view is that China can skip capitalism (skip industrialization) from an agricultural country and directly reach socialism. This view is generally called' populism'. Both Sun Yat-sen and Mao Zedong have been infected by populism, and Sun Yat-sen's famous saying is' do our best in one battle'. Mao Zedong's typical saying is' a blank sheet of paper has no burden, so it is easy to write the latest and most beautiful words, and a good picture is the latest and most beautiful picture' ".
The key point of the critical article is that in 1953, we violated Mao Zedong's own opinion that "in a long period after the victory of the revolution, we still need to use the enthusiasm of urban and rural capitalism as much as possible to facilitate the forward development of the national economy" and "we need the extensive development of capitalism".
The critical article said: "1953, things have changed. At that time, it was said that the socialist revolution began with 1949. "
"From the 1950s to the 1970s, although the situation was complicated, people were required to believe that the March of socialism began in the first year after the victory of the democratic revolution." The article holds that this seems to be similar to the "Left" view that once the revolution is in hand, it will be transformed into a socialist revolution.
The critical article said: 1953, the party announced the general line of the transition period, "announcing the socialist transformation of the individual economy of agriculture and handicrafts and private capitalist industry and commerce in an all-round way, which is indeed a major step of socialism. The original understanding within the party is that such steps take three years to prepare and ten years to build. " "But in fact, the speed of socialist transformation is unexpected. 1953 completed the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce in the last three years. 1956. " The article holds that "it should be said that the party's policies have changed significantly since the founding of the People's Republic of China three years ago." The article said that this is similar to the kind of populism that "China can skip capitalism (skip industrialization) from an agricultural country and directly reach socialism".
The reason for the author's criticism is that "on the eve of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (when the economic development of old China was the highest), modern industry only accounted for about 10% of the national economy, and agricultural handicrafts accounted for about 90%." China "failed to change the backward situation of agricultural production and rural economy. ) has not fundamentally changed the situation that modern industrial production only accounts for a small proportion of the national economy. " It can be seen that critics believe that the socialist revolution can only be carried out after the great development of economic construction. However, he did not say how big this "big" development was.
Critics find evidence from Mao Zedong's literature, such as On New Democracy, to support his argument. Although he can't help but mention Mao Zedong's exposition that the new-democratic revolution must be led by the proletariat, and after the victory of the revolution, the joint dictatorship of all revolutionary classes led by the proletariat must be established, and it cannot become a capitalist society under bourgeois dictatorship. The new-democratic revolution is to clear a broader road for socialist society, but he emphatically quotes:
The new-democratic revolution "cleared the way for the development of capitalism" and "confirmed the need for the extensive development of capitalism" ... Under the new-democratic regime, the extensive development of capitalism is harmless and intentional. ""In this way, we will certainly develop capitalism extensively, with only advantages but no disadvantages. ""Some people don't understand why * * * producers are not afraid of capitalism, but advocate developing capitalism under certain conditions. Our answer is that simple. It is not only a progress, but also an inevitable process to replace the oppression of foreign imperialism and domestic feudalism with some development of capitalism. It is not only beneficial to the bourgeoisie, but also beneficial to the proletariat. " "Or more beneficial to the proletariat." "We have too little capitalism." Wait a minute.
Since critics criticized "the leadership at that time" with Mao Zedong's new democratic theory 1953. At that time, the leadership was the Central Committee chaired by Mao Zedong. Therefore, it is necessary for us to look at Mao Zedong's thoughts and remarks on this issue.
As we all know, the biggest point of Mao Zedong's theory of new democratic revolution is to clarify that China's bourgeois-democratic revolution has "become a category of new bourgeois-democratic revolution, and on the revolutionary front, it belongs to a part of the world proletarian socialist revolution" (Selected Works of Mao Zedong) 199 1 2nd edition, p. 667).
"On New Democracy" said: "The first step and the first stage of this revolution are by no means and impossible to establish a capitalist society with bourgeois dictatorship in China, but a new democratic society with the China proletariat as the leader under the joint dictatorship of all revolutionary classes in China, so as to end its first stage. Then make it develop to the second stage, so as to build a socialist society in China. ". (same as page 672 of this book)
When talking about the "new democratic economy", The Theory of New Democracy said: "Big banks, big industries and big enterprises are all owned by this country. All domestic and foreign enterprises, such as banks, railways and airlines, are monopolized or operated by private forces, and are managed by the state, making it impossible for the private capital system to manipulate people's livelihood. This is also the essence of controlling capital. This is also a solemn statement in the declaration of the first national congress of the Kuomintang with state cooperation. This is the correct policy of the economic composition of the new democratic Republic. The state-owned economy of the new democratic Republic led by the proletariat is socialist in nature and is the leading force of the whole national economy. However, this Republic does not confiscate the private property of other capitalism, nor does it prohibit it from manipulating the national economy and people's livelihood. " (See page 678 of the same book)
"China's economy must take the road of" controlling capital "and" equal land ownership ",and it must never be" a few people seeking personal gain ",and must never let a few capitalists and landlords" manipulate the people's livelihood ",and must never establish a capitalist society in Europe and America, and must never remain an old semi-feudal society. Whoever dares to violate this direction will certainly fail to achieve his goal and he will break his head. " (See page 679 of the same book)
What a clear and complete program this is. Our new-democratic revolution is already a part of the world proletarian socialist revolution. We are building a new-democratic economy, and the socialist state-owned economy has become the leading force; For the capitalist private economy, we must first control the capital and allow the capitalist development of "not manipulating the national economy and people's livelihood" in order to advance to socialism through new democracy.
Critics incompletely introduce the spirit of "new democracy" and unilaterally emphasize "the need for the extensive development of capitalism", which is pragmatism taken out of context.
The exposition of new democratic economy in On Coalition Government is completely consistent with new democracy.
In the report of the second plenary session of the Seventh Central Committee in communist party, China, Mao Zedong first pointed out:
"Although China's modern industrial output value only accounts for about 10% of the total national economic output value, it is extremely concentrated. The largest and most important capital is concentrated in the hands of imperialism and its lackeys, the bureaucratic bourgeoisie in China. The confiscation of these capitals belongs to the people led by the proletariat, which makes the people and the country grasp the lifeline of the national economy and makes the state-owned economy the leading component of the whole national economy. This part of the economy is socialist in nature. Anyone who ignores or belittles this point will make the mistake of right opportunism. "
Then, regarding the private capitalist industry, Mao Zedong said: "China's private capitalist industry occupies the second place in modern industry and is a force that cannot be ignored. China's national bourgeoisie and its representatives, oppressed or restricted by imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, often take a position of participation or neutrality in the people's democratic revolution. Because of this, and because China's economy is still in a backward state, we must make full use of the enthusiasm of urban and rural private capitalism for a long time after the victory of the revolution, so as to facilitate the development of the national economy. During this period, all elements of urban and rural capitalism that are harmless to the national economy but beneficial to the national economy should be allowed to exist and develop. This is not only inevitable, but also economically necessary. However, the existence and development of capitalism in China will not be as laissez-faire as capitalist countries, but will be limited by several aspects ―― the scope of activities, tax policies, market prices and working conditions. We should adopt appropriate and flexible policies to restrict capitalism in all aspects according to the specific conditions of various places, industries and periods. We still have to use Sun Yat-sen's slogan to save the market. However, for the benefit of the whole national economy and the present and future interests of the working class and working people, private capitalist economies should not be too restrictive or too dead, and they must be allowed to exist and develop within the track of the people's economic policies and economic plans. Restricting private capitalism will inevitably be resisted by the bourgeoisie in different degrees and ways, especially the big business owners in private enterprises, that is, big capitalists. Restriction and anti-restriction will be the main forms of class struggle within new democratic countries. It is completely wrong to think that capitalism should not be restricted now and that the slogan of "controlling capital" can be abandoned. This is a right opportunist view. On the other hand, it is completely wrong to think that private capital should be restricted too much and too dead, or that private capital can be eliminated quickly. This is' left' opportunism or adventurism. " (For the above quotation, see Selected Works of Mao Zedong,19965438+2nd edition in June, 143 1, 1432).
The reason why this article quotes Mao Zedong's report in full is to show us how comprehensive and correct Mao Zedong's views are. The author of the critical article unilaterally quoted him as saying that the new democratic revolution "cleared the way for the development of capitalism" and "determined the need for the extensive development of capitalism?" And so on, but there is no mention that "controlling capital" means "adopting a restrictive policy against private capitalism", nor does it mention "all urban and rural capitalist elements that are harmless to the national economy but beneficial to the national economy", nor does it mention that "restriction and anti-restriction will be the main forms of class struggle within new democratic countries." And so on, is it too out of context, distorting the original intention?
People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, and the party's new democratic economic policy was gradually implemented. Under the guidance and support of the policy of "developing production, prospering economy, giving consideration to both public and private interests, and benefiting both labor and capital", on the one hand, the national capitalist economy has been restored and developed to a certain extent, on the other hand, the national bourgeoisie's resistance to the state-owned economy and state policies has also appeared everywhere, and the class struggle to restrict and counter-restrict national capitalism has inevitably gradually emerged. This fully confirmed the keen insight and far-reaching vision of Mao Zedong's judgment, and made the Party see that the development of the situation was much faster than originally expected. Make the party realize that we must lose no time in socialist transformation, which is why the general line for the transition period is put forward in 1953. The authors of critical articles say that it seems to be unprovoked to start socialist transformation at the right time, which only shows that they are divorced from reality and do not conform to reality.
1959, when Mao Zedong was reading the second volume of the textbook "Political Economy" of the Soviet Union, "Lenin pointed out that if the socialist revolution is to win in a country, it only needs a medium-level capitalist development like that in Russia before the revolution". He criticized "very right" and said: "Lenin pointed out that that sentence is very right. So far, countries with successful socialist revolution have a relatively high level of capitalist development. In other countries, the level of capitalist development is relatively low. In countries with highly developed western capitalism, the revolution is not revolutionary. " "The country where the proletariat wins is a country with a certain level of development of capitalism, not a country with a high level of development." "Facts have proved that under the condition that capitalism has a certain level of development, the more backward the economy is, the easier it is to transition from capitalism to socialism, not the difficulty. The poorer people are, the more they need revolution. Western capitalist countries have many employees and relatively high wages, and workers are deeply influenced by the bourgeoisie. It is not easy to carry out socialist transformation in those countries now. " (Notes and Conversations on Mao Zedong's Reading of Socialist Political Economy, pp. 87, 88, 80, 145).
Lenin said that sentence in the textbook of Soviet political economy after the victory of the October Revolution. Mao Zedong made these remarks after China basically completed the socialist transformation. Are based on the conclusions drawn from practice. However, it is in direct opposition to critics' argument that the socialist revolution can only be carried out under the condition of the great development of capitalist economy.
Is it the critic or Lenin and Mao Zedong who have mastered the truth? Let's talk about our common sense.
1. What are the necessary conditions for a country to embark on the socialist road?
In a word, the victory of the proletarian revolution. In short: (1) a certain degree of capitalist industrial economy; (2) irreconcilable contradictions and struggles with the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and with these two classes; (3) The proletariat and its allies surpassed the bourgeoisie and other exploiting classes in strength and defeated and destroyed the bourgeoisie and all exploiting classes through revolutionary struggle. With these three principles, when the proletariat and its main allies gain political power and practice dictatorship, it is of course necessary to replace capitalist private ownership with socialist public ownership of the means of production and eliminate exploitation. This is a necessary condition and inevitability for a country to embark on the socialist road.
Because after destroying the old bourgeoisie, the proletariat will never find a new bourgeoisie to regain their private possession of the means of production. And then exploit yourself. Of course, they should be the masters of their own collective affairs, rely on their own efforts to develop productive forces and realize socialist industrialization, and do not allow anyone to get it for personal gain. In this case, if the vanguard of the proletariat really wants to engage in capitalism, it will inevitably be spurned by the proletariat.
Second, more specifically, mankind must embark on the socialist road, which is determined by the productivity and production relations of socialized large-scale industrial production. The productivity of modern large-scale industry makes production highly socialized. This kind of production can only be carried out if the working class, the effective force in the productive forces, is organized into an industrial army, so that millions of people can listen to the command of one person and act in unison with iron discipline in enterprises.
In capitalist society, the bourgeoisie occupies the means of production, buys the labor of the proletariat, forces them to engage in productive labor, and creates surplus value for the bourgeoisie. The insatiable nature of the bourgeoisie makes them keep the labor price at a minimum and imprison the proletariat in poverty in order to obtain the highest surplus value rate. In addition, in order to occupy the market and gain more capital profits, blind competition. The contradiction between capitalism, socialization of production and private possession of the means of production constantly leads to the insurmountable crisis of capitalist economy, the irreconcilable contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and the socialist revolution of the proletariat. Once the proletariat is strong enough to destroy the bourgeois dictatorship, the proletarian revolution will win.
The purpose of proletarian revolution and dictatorship is that the working class, as the representative of modern advanced productive forces, should implement socialist public ownership of all the means of production they have created, eliminate oppression and exploitation, be masters of their own affairs, consciously carry out labor production, organize production and economy of enterprises and the whole country in a planned way, overcome the blindness of capitalist private ownership, and make the national economy develop smoothly and create a better life.
Modern large-scale industrial production is entirely carried out by the working class. Once the working class breaks the shackles imposed on them by the bourgeoisie and becomes the conscious masters of the country and enterprises, their enthusiasm and creativity in socialist labor will be fully brought into play and the productive forces will be greatly liberated.
In other words, the productivity of socialized large-scale industrial production requires that the means of production be publicly owned and the socialist production relations in which workers become the masters of the state and enterprises should be adapted to it. On the other hand, public ownership of socialist means of production and workers becoming the masters of the state and enterprises are the inevitable requirements and products of advanced productive forces-socialized modern large-scale industrial production. This is the inevitability for a country to embark on the socialist road.
Third, whether the proletariat can win the socialist revolution depends on many conditions. The fundamental condition is that this country has the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, a certain degree of development of capitalist economy with industry as the core built by these two classes, and a struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
On this basis, if the proletariat wants to win the revolution, it must be armed with its own revolutionary theory-Marxism; We must also organize our own vanguard and headquarters-the * * Production Party to organize the leadership struggle; We must also unite with other revolutionary classes to form an alliance, form a broad United front and isolate the enemy; We should also make good use of various favorable factors at home and abroad; On this basis, formulate the correct revolutionary line, and so on. However, all this is the conscious action of the proletariat. If there were no bourgeoisie and proletariat, no capitalist economy and no contradiction between proletariat and bourgeoisie in this country, all this would be impossible. So it is unrealistic to say that China had "skipped capitalism" when he embarked on the socialist road. On the contrary, China embarked on the socialist road on the basis of the development of capitalist industry to a certain extent.
On the basis of certain development of capitalist industrial economy, China won the proletarian revolution and embarked on the socialist road.
(To be continued)