Unfettered power will inevitably corrupt

“All unfettered power will inevitably corrupt” This is what Montesquieu, a Frenchman who was a judge, said hundreds of years ago. correct conclusion. People who have no power will find troubles to give you benefits. If you want to be corrupt, there will be no way out; even if those with power don't ask for benefits, they will come to you one after another in order to get the benefits of power. When the temptation of human nature is strong enough, Under the impact of power, few powerful people can maintain their chastity; when they have power and are not subject to supervision, they can do whatever they want, and it is even difficult or impossible for a noble person who refuses benefits to obtain this power; this should be a true portrayal of a power-based society. .

According to this conclusion, there are only two explanations for the shocking corruption problem that has existed in China since the reform and opening up. First, China is still a power-based society, that is, people want to get certain things in certain aspects. To gain benefits, you have to pass the corresponding power checkpoints, and the shortcut to get through the checkpoints is to give benefits to those in power, otherwise it will be difficult to obtain benefits through the power checkpoints. Secondly, the effect of restraining power is obviously not very good. Corruption is a headache for any leader. No leader is willing to see rampant corruption without reining in the problem. The current ruling party in China has set up so many barriers to prevent corruption that I believe no other country or dynasty can compare with them; but corruption is still getting higher and higher. The reason may be that it is quite difficult for the left hand to restrain the right hand in a power-based society.

Corruption in China, in the media, especially on the Internet, is a phenomenon that makes people full of indignation and disgust. But in reality, ordinary people have already developed a strong immunity to this phenomenon, and have become accustomed to it and are not surprised by it. Popular views on those in power who have been caught corruptly are: too stupid (the method is wrong), too much (cannot just give up when things are good), do not have a strong backing, or are on the wrong team, or have offended someone. people. This shows the seriousness of corruption in China today.

Corruption exists wherever there is power, but the degree of corruption is different. Great power leads to greater corruption, while small power leads to lesser corruption. Corruption exposed by the media mostly involves officials with relatively large criminal records, and corruption that has not been exposed is actually widespread. In addition to party and government agencies, all powerful departments, such as public security, justice, taxation, banks, schools, hospitals, and state-owned enterprises, Corruption exists in varying degrees among powerful people, and it is so common that anti-corruption departments cannot control it. Even in some places called Qingshui Yamen, those in power will find ways to operate on subordinates within their scope of power, or ask subordinates to accompany them to play mahjong that both parties know well about giving money, or ask subordinates to give money in other ways. Send gifts yourself. If you don’t want to play mahjong or send gifts, you have to have a strong tolerance for wearing small shoes to look at your face.

China's power corruption problem has become a major obstacle to the continued advancement of reform, and may even lead to the failure of reform. Power corruption makes those who advocate reform sad, frightened, embarrassed, and crazy; it makes those who oppose reform and those who are harmed by imperfect reform denounce and oppose reform with reason, evidence, strength, and force. Opponents of reform mistakenly believe that simply returning to public ownership will eliminate corruption. In fact, corruption is not necessarily related to whether social wealth is public or private, but is necessarily related to power.

If the industrial product produced by a private enterprise is a household rice cooker, it will be useless even if the mayor can be hired as an image spokesperson. Since it is useless, why should the private owner give it to the mayor? benefit. If the industrial products produced by a state-owned enterprise are the raw materials for the production of another state-owned enterprise under the jurisdiction of the mayor of another city, then the best way for the director of the state-owned enterprise to consider his own future is to go there with sufficiently attractive benefits. Find the mayor (I am familiar with this in a state-owned enterprise). Furthermore, public ownership requires highly centralized and ubiquitous power to ensure normal operation. This highly concentrated power combined with public ownership, in addition to the inefficiency proven by history, the ubiquitous power has formed another form of corruption - the ubiquitous privileged class. Isn't this one of the main reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union under public ownership? one.

The implementation of reform in a country is obviously a measure that has so many problems that there is no way out without reform. The purpose of reform is firstly for efficiency, because only efficient countries will not lag behind the continuous advancement of human society. The second is for fairness, because only by realizing social fairness can the country achieve long-term peace and stability, and long-term peace and stability can also ensure social efficiency. Corruption of power will bring efficiency to a certain individual in society, but will affect the efficiency of the entire society. Corruption of power will directly undermine fairness, lead to social instability, and ultimately fundamentally affect social efficiency.

Power corruption is definitely not a product of reform, but an inevitable consequence of unchecked power. Power corruption is a social cancer. It is not only the natural enemy of reform, but also one of the goals of reform.