one
Deng Xiaoping summarized the essence of socialism from the height of productive forces, and undoubtedly grasped the core issues of socialism. Marxism holds that productive forces play a decisive role in the historical development of human society. Marx pointed out: "when people develop productive forces, that is, when people live, they also develop certain relationships;" The nature of these relationships will inevitably change with the changes and development of these productive forces. " [2] Then someone pointed out: "Social relations are closely related to productivity. With the acquisition of productivity ... people will also change all their social relations. Hand grinding produced a society headed by feudal lords, and steam grinding produced a society headed by industrial capitalists. " [3] Productivity determines a certain production relationship and determines the nature and appearance of society, which is the economic source to promote the change of production relations and realize social progress. Productivity is the driving force of all social development, and so is socialism. For a long time, it's not that we don't understand the meaning of productive forces, but in fact, our knowledge and understanding of socialism is more focused on the relations of production, ignoring the development of productive forces. Because of the unclear understanding of the essence and task of socialism, there is even a great misunderstanding that the fundamental task of the whole socialist historical stage is class struggle, which has raised the significance of stage struggle to a higher and higher level and even developed into the "Cultural Revolution". Under the slogan of "taking stage struggle as the key link", we will vigorously break the so-called "bourgeois legal rights", adhere to many things that constrain the development of productive forces and do not have the essential attributes of socialism as socialist principles, and deny many things that are conducive to the commercialization, socialization and modernization of productive forces and production under socialist conditions, such as the principle of distribution according to work, commodity production, currency exchange and law of value, as capitalism. This goes against the basic principles of Marxism. According to the basic viewpoint of Marxism, productivity is the most common condition for social existence and development, and it is also the decisive force to promote the development and progress of human history. The establishment of the socialist system is, in the final analysis, the requirement put forward by the productive forces. The further development of socialism is also inseparable from the improvement of the level of productive forces. Deng Xiaoping regarded the liberation and development of productive forces as the essence of socialism, which not only fundamentally restored the original Marxist thought, but also fundamentally corrected the mistakes we made in the past. It not only reflects the urgent needs of the primary stage of socialism in China, but also answers the challenges posed by the contemporary world. Of course, the fundamental difference between socialism and capitalism is not productivity, but the greatest function, goal and value of socialism is that it can develop productivity better than capitalism. Moreover, one of the important reasons why socialism can replace capitalism is that it liberates and develops production, can apply all civilized achievements created by human society to social practice, and promotes the development of productive forces.
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Deng Xiaoping's exposition on the essence of socialism not only emphasizes the development of productive forces, but also emphasizes the liberation of productive forces. Our party has always believed that after the establishment of the socialist system, it is mainly to develop productive forces, not to liberate them. But the facts tell us that if there is something wrong with the system of socialist countries, it will also constrain the development of productive forces, so there is also a problem of liberating productive forces. Deng Xiaoping said: "After the establishment of the basic socialist system, we must fundamentally change the economic system that restricts the development of productive forces, establish a socialist economic system full of vigor and vitality, and promote the development of productive forces. This is reform, so reform is also the liberation of productive forces. In the past, it was incomplete to talk only about developing productive forces under socialist conditions. It is necessary to talk about liberating productive forces and developing productive forces. " [4] It is a significant development of Marxism and the most important content of the essence of socialism to highlight the liberation of productive forces and raise it to the height of the essence of socialism.
Socialism is a brand-new social form to replace capitalism, and socialist relations of production are public relations of production established by developed societies to adapt to mass production. This kind of production relationship meets the needs of the development of productive forces and liberates the original bound productive forces. Although there are contradictions between the relations of production and the productive forces, the nature of this contradiction is non-antagonistic, which can be overcome through the conscious adjustment of the socialist system itself, so as to ensure that the relations of production adapt to the development of the productive forces and constantly play a normal role. Deng Xiaoping said that through the reform, "the domestic economy has been invigorated and socialism has come to life, without damaging the essence of socialism." [5] Socialism can liberate productive forces through reform, thus promoting the development of productive forces and realizing social development. This is the basis that socialism is superior to capitalism, and it is the thing that best embodies the essence of socialism.
Because of course, the difference between socialism and capitalism lies in productivity, but the greatest function, goal and value of socialism lies in its ability to develop productivity better than capitalism. If we forget this, socialism will lose its meaning.
three
Eliminating exploitation, eliminating polarization, and finally achieving prosperity are the fundamental goals and objectives of socialism, the most essential difference between socialism and capitalism, and the most essential embodiment of the great ideal of socialism. On the one hand, the purpose of liberating and developing productive forces is to make people rich. The liberation and development of productive forces is to achieve prosperity, and it is a means to achieve prosperity. Without the development of productive forces, it is impossible to eliminate exploitation and polarization and finally achieve prosperity. Therefore, it is the key to prosperity. At the same time, this is not our goal. Our goal is to achieve prosperity and prosperity. Deng Xiaoping said: "The greatest advantage of socialism is wealth, which embodies the essence of socialism." [6] Here, * * * and affluence, as the embodiment of the essence of socialism, contain two basic concepts. One is that poverty is not socialism, and socialism should achieve prosperity. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "The experience of 20 years from 1958 to 1978 tells us that poverty is not socialism, and socialism should eradicate poverty. Without developing productive forces and improving people's living standards, it cannot be said that it meets the requirements of socialism. " [7] "Socialism is untenable if it is always poor." [8] In the past period of time, due to the interference of ultra-left ideological trend, people dared not mention the pursuit of wealth, and mechanically and metaphysically opposed wealth to socialism, thus making people's understanding of socialism appear great deviation. In this case, Deng Xiaoping clearly pointed out that poverty is not socialism, and socialism should eliminate poverty, which is of great significance to correct people's understanding of the essence of socialism. Second, it is not socialism that a few people are rich and most people are poor. Poverty is not socialism, but a few people are rich and most people are poor. "The purpose of socialism is to make the people of the whole country rich, not polarized. If our policies lead to polarization, we will fail; If there is a new bourgeoisie, then we will really go astray. " [9] In socialist society, through the joint efforts of the people of the whole country, the productive forces have been liberated and developed, thus eliminating poverty and rapidly increasing social wealth. However, if these wealth is accumulated in the hands of a few people through various improper ways and forms, most people will remain poor, which is completely contrary to the essential requirements of socialism. Being * * * and being rich and strong is not only the essence of socialism, but also an important embodiment of its superiority. On the other hand, eliminating exploitation, eliminating polarization and finally achieving prosperity are the essence that distinguishes socialism from capitalism. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "The difference between socialism and capitalism is that they are rich, not polarized." [10] The difference between the rich and the poor in a society and its members is a concrete reflection of the essence of a society. The essence of capitalism is private ownership of the means of production. Therefore, it is reflected in the distribution that a few capitalists take away other people's labor for free and grab a lot of social wealth with the means of production in their hands, while the working people have nothing because they do not possess the means of production. This has caused the polarization of the disparity between the rich and the poor; One pole is the accumulation of wealth; One pole is the accumulation of poverty. In socialist society, the public ownership of the means of production is the main body, and the broad masses of the people become the masters of society and means of production. The essence of this social system is reflected in the distribution of social wealth. It must be based on the public ownership of the means of production and make all members of society rich through the joint efforts of all the people. As Deng Xiaoping said, "There is no exploiting class or system here. Gross national income is fully used by the whole society, and a considerable part is directly distributed to the people. " Capitalism is "a disparity between the rich and the poor, and most of the wealth is in the hands of capitalists." [1 1] It is precisely because * * * and affluence embody the essence of socialism different from capitalism that Deng Xiaoping insists on taking it as the fundamental principle of socialism.
four
Deng Xiaoping's theory of socialist essence covers the issues of socialist productive forces and social relations based on socialist relations of production. These five sentences are interrelated and contain three levels of content, which constitutes a complete theoretical system and is called the theory of socialist essence by academic circles. The first level is to liberate and develop productive forces. This is the material premise and fundamental way to consolidate and develop the socialist system. Only by "liberating and developing productive forces" can we eliminate exploitation and polarization, and finally achieve prosperity with * * *. This level reveals that the essential requirement of socialism is high efficiency from the perspective of productivity. The second level is "eliminating exploitation and polarization". This provision ensures the socialist direction of the development of productive forces, makes the fruits of production development belong to the people, creates conditions and opens the way for the sustainable development of productive forces and the realization of prosperity. This level reveals the essence of socialism from the perspective of production relations, and another requirement is fairness. The third level is "finally realizing * * * and prosperity". This is the fundamental goal of socialism and the starting point and destination of liberating productive forces, developing production and eliminating polarization. This level reveals the essence of socialism from the perspective of the unity of productivity and production relations. It is a high degree of unity of socialist efficiency and fairness, which embodies the greatest superiority of socialism. Prosperity is the result of efficiency improvement and productivity development; * * * Being rich is the highest embodiment of social equity. These three levels of the theory of socialist essence are mutual conditions and preconditions, closely linked and inseparable. They have their own specific positions and functions in the theory of socialist essence, which fully embodies the unity of socialist productive forces and relations of production, the unity of socialist fundamental tasks and objectives, the unity of socialist material basis and social relations, and the unity of socialist development process and ultimate goal.
five
Deng Xiaoping's theory of the essence of socialism is of great theoretical and practical significance. First of all, it broke through the traditional concept that public ownership is the essence of socialism. Both public ownership and distribution according to work are restricted by productive forces. They are the fundamental requirements of the essence of socialism, but they are not the essence of socialism itself. In the primary stage of socialism in China, we must always maintain the dominant position of public ownership and distribution according to work; At the same time, we should also realize that the realization form of public ownership and the ownership structure with public ownership as the main body can only be determined according to the objective requirements of productive forces. In other words, the realization form of public ownership should be constantly improved and developed in the reform. Secondly, it breaks through the traditional concept that planned economy is the essential feature of socialism. Deng Xiaoping pointed out that planning and market are two means of resource allocation. Whether there are more plans or more markets is not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism. This fundamentally removes the ideological shackles that the so-called market economy, that is, capitalism and planned economy are socialism, and makes us clear the goal of socialist economic system reform. Market-oriented socialist economic reform has had a great and far-reaching impact on China's social development. Thirdly, Deng Xiaoping's theory of the essence of socialism inherits and develops the basic principles of scientific socialism about the essence of socialism. It is true that classic writers have never explicitly used the concept of "the essence of socialism", but when they examine the development trend of capitalist society, they reveal the essence of socialism. Marx and Engels once predicted that in the future society, "* * * composed of all members of society will work together with the consortium to make full use of productive forces in a planned way; Develop productivity to a scale that can meet the needs of all members; Eliminate the situation of sacrificing the interests of some people to meet the needs of others; Completely eliminate class and class opposition; By eliminating the old division of labor, conducting production education, changing jobs, enjoying the benefits created by everyone, and integrating urban and rural areas, the talents of all members of society can be fully developed. " It is not difficult to see that Deng Xiaoping's theory on the essence of socialism is in the same strain as the essence of socialism revealed by Marx and Engels. Socialism is to realize the all-round development and common prosperity of all members of society on the basis of highly developed productive forces. This is the highest value goal that socialism should achieve. To adhere to socialism, we must adhere to this goal. Deng Xiaoping's theory of the essence of socialism not only embodies the thought of the founder of scientific socialism about the essence of socialism, but also has strong practicality and times. This proves once again that Deng Xiaoping Theory inherited the predecessors on the basis of practice, broke through the stereotypes and opened up a new realm of Marxism.
In a word, Deng Xiaoping's theory of socialist essence is one of the greatest theoretical achievements in exploring Socialism with Chinese characteristics's road. It answers the primary and fundamental question of what socialism is at the highest level, which not only adheres to the basic principles of scientific socialism, but also conforms to the actual situation in the primary stage of socialism in China, and makes our understanding of socialism reach a new level.
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The origin of the word "socialism"
The word "socialism" comes from Latin, which is derived from the word socialis and the word socius, meaning the same and collective life in primitive society.
About the earliest use of the word "socialism", there are usually three statements. The first view is that Anselmus, a German theologian and Benedictine astronomer, was the first to be used. Desing called people who follow the laws of nature socialists when arguing with people in 1753. The second view holds that the word "socialism" was first used by Italian missionaries, indicating a legendary system arranged by God. Later, it was linked with the proletarian liberation movement and gained political significance. The third view holds that the word "socialism" first appeared in the Erwinian periodicals Cooperation and Saint-Simon Globe in the 1920s and 1930s. Utopian socialists use this word to express their collective ideals that they are dissatisfied with the individualism prevailing in capitalist society and expect to realize.
The word "socialism" was widely circulated in western Europe from 1930s to 1940s. At first, the word meant reforming the social system to improve the welfare of working people, ensure social peace and allow property inequality. At that time, the term "productism" generally refers to the establishment of social equality through public ownership of means of production (sometimes including means of subsistence) and advocates the abolition of property inequality. Therefore, proletarian revolutionary instructors sometimes call utopian socialism and utopian capitalism before scientific socialism "socialism" and sometimes distinguish them. Marx and Engels used the word "socialism" and made a scientific explanation, which turned socialism from fantasy into science.
After the proletariat began its independent political struggle, the bourgeoisie often used "socialism" to oppose class struggle and proletarian revolution. Engels once pointed out: "In 1847, socialism is a bourgeois movement, while * * * productism is a working class movement."
Marx wrote "* * Capitalism and augsburg" in his article, and Engels used the word "socialism" for the first time in the article "Progress of Social Reform Movement on the Mainland" written by 1843, and gave it a scientific meaning. However, at that time, Marx and Engels regarded socialism as a synonym for * * * productism.
Since then, "socialism", as the name of ideological trend, usually refers to scientific socialism, which is a theory about the conditions of proletarian liberation, that is, a science about eliminating all classes and realizing the general law of * * * productism.
However, "socialism" still has various meanings and usages. In the Manifesto of the Productive Party, Marx and Engels classified the socialist ideological trend popular in Europe except scientific socialism in the middle of19th century as reactionary socialism (including feudal socialism, petty-bourgeois socialism and "real" socialism, bourgeois socialism and critical utopian socialism).
19 in the 1970s, the word "socialism" began to appear in Japanese and China books and periodicals. Hiroyuki Kato, a Japanese scholar, transliterated the western word "socialism" in Japanese katakana in 187 1, and Fukuchi Genichiro used Chinese characters for the first time in 18765438 Tokyo Daily News. China Western Language Magazine was transliterated as "Sosiaris" in 1878, and World Bulletin was translated as "learning for the people" and "learning to support the people" in 1899. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao went from 190 1 to 1902. Liang Qichao transplanted the word "socialism" commonly used in Japan at that time from 18 of Xinmin Cong Bao published on September 25th, 902. Since then, the word "socialism" has gradually been used in China's books and periodicals. Liang Qichao was the first person to introduce the socialist theory to China, and Li Dazhao was the first person to spread the scientific socialist theory in China.
Existing socialist countries
** * People's Republic of China (PRC)
* * * Democratic People's Republic of Korea
* Cuba * * * Republic of China
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Lao People's Democratic Republic
* * * Capitalist countries in history
* Soviet Socialist Federation (USSR) (1922~ 199 1 year)
O Joining the Soviet Socialist Republic;
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan
O Georgia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Estonia
:: Eastern European countries:
O Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948~ 1990) (People's Republic of * *1948-1960; People's Republic of China (PRC) 1960- 1990)
O Hungarian people's Republic (1949~ 1989)
O Socialist Republic of Romania (1947~ 1989) (Romanian People * * Republic+0947-1965; People's Republic of China (PRC) 1965- 1989)
O People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946~ 1990)
People's Republic of Poland (1944~ 1989)
O german democratic Republic (east Germany) (1946~ 1990)
O Socialist People's Republic of Albania (1946~ 199 1 year) (People's Republic of Albania1946-1976; People's Republic of China (PRC) 1976- 199 1)
O Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945~ 1992) (Democratic Federation1945-1946; People's Republic of China (PRC)1946-1963; Socialist Federal Republic of China 1963- 1992)
+Join the Socialist Republic;
+Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina
+Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia
* East Asian countries:
O Mongolian people * * * People's Republic of China (PRC) (1924~ 199 1 year)
O Democratic Republic of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge)&; People's Republic of Cambodia (1975 ~1979 ~1989)
:: West and South Asian countries:
O democratic Republic of Afghanistan (hereinafter referred to as Afghanistan) (1978~ 1992)
O People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) (1967~ 1990)
:: African countries:
O People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1974~ 199 1 year)
O People's Republic of Benin (1975~ 1990)
People's Republic of Angola (1975~ 1992)
O Democratic Republic of Congo (1969~ 199 1)
O Photo: Mozambique national flag 1975.gif Mozambique People's Republic (1975~ 1990)
O Somali Democratic Republic (1969~ 199 1 year)