Socialist paper 1
On Utopian Socialism
Abstract: Utopian socialism is the general name of socialism before Marxism came into being, which originated from Thomas Moore's Utopia. Utopian socialism has three remarkable characteristics: there is no clear class position, blindly advocating rationality and adhering to the idealistic historical view. The development of utopian socialism * * * has gone through three stages until it reached its peak at the beginning of19th century. Although utopian socialism has the limitations of subjectivity deficiency and objectivity that violates the law of social development, its positive role in criticism and foresight can not be ignored.
Keywords: utopian socialism; Utopia; * * * Manifesto of the Productive Party
1. What is utopian socialism?
In the history of socialist thought, socialism before Marxism is called utopian socialism, which refers to a kind of socialist theory that originated in the immature period of capitalist production and class status. Its? Fantasy? The name comes from the earliest socialist ideological document-Thomas? Moore's Utopia.
Utopian socialism, that is, utopian socialism, is usually called utopian socialism. The word originated from the English humanist Thomas? Moore wrote Utopia in 15 16. ? Utopia? Is this word based on Greek? Virtual? Build? What do you mean? Utopia? , is a place that does not exist in the real world.
Utopian socialism theory originated from capitalist relations of production in the anti-feudal bourgeois movement in the16th century, which is its profound historical root. ? In every big bourgeois movement, there has been an independent movement of that class, which is the pioneer of the development of modern proletariat to varying degrees. ①? Thomas during the German Reformation? Menzel, Francois Noe l Babeyf during the French Revolution, etc. It is against this background of proletarian revolutionary struggle that the relevant theories and thoughts of utopian socialism have emerged. These revolutionary riots were accompanied by an immature class and produced corresponding theoretical expressions. .
According to Engels' exposition in "The Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science", Utopian socialism has the following three characteristics:
First, there is no clear class position. ? None of them appeared as representatives of proletarian interests produced by history at that time. They want to improve the living conditions of all members of society and liberate all mankind. Moreover, utopian socialists did not realize that the proletariat was the main body of this revolution, but pinned their hopes on the ruling class, hoping to realize their socialist plan through peaceful means and experiments.
Second, respect rationality. Like enlightenment scholars, dreamers also hope to establish a rational and eternal kingdom of justice. Different from enlightenment scholars, the rational kingdom of enlightenment scholars declared that private property was sacred and inviolable, and only advocated the elimination of class privileges, not the class itself; The idealist's rational kingdom is to eliminate private ownership and class division. Compared with enlightenment scholars, this is undoubtedly a great progress. However, it is undoubtedly unrealistic for dreamers to try to build an eternal country beyond class.
Third, adhere to historical idealism. Dreamers believe that only a few talents are needed to realize socialism? They regard socialism as a purely subjective accidental product. In their view, the future world history is nothing more than publicizing and implementing their social plans? .
Second, the development stage of utopian socialism
(A) 16 and1utopian socialism in the 7th century
The typical representative of this period is Thomas? Moore's Utopia and Thomas? Sun City in campanella. Utopian socialism in this period was in the early stage, and its main feature was that dreamers described a beautiful society he longed for from all kinds of ills and evils caused by private ownership in the real society-an ideal society in which all means of production were owned by the whole people, necessities of life were distributed according to work, and everyone was engaged in productive labor.
For example, Moore's Utopia tells the story of a fictional navigator sailing to a strange land and a foreign utopia. ? Utopia? This word comes from Greek, which means? Utopia? . Moore used it for the first time to represent a happy and ideal country. There, the foundation of society is public ownership of property, people are equal in economic and political power, and the principle of distribution according to needs is implemented. There is no commodity currency relationship, and gold and silver are used as toilet drowning devices. Moore's conclusion is clear: private ownership is the root of all evil. Moore put forward the problem of eliminating private ownership and establishing public ownership for the first time in socialist history.
/kloc-utopian socialism in the 0/8th century
What are the main features of Utopianism in this period? Asceticism, forbidding all enjoyment of life, Spartan capitalism? , which mainly represents natural password and mably's related works.
/kloc-utopian socialism at the beginning of 0/9th century
/kloc-Utopian socialism in the early 0/9th century was the period when utopian socialism reached its peak. Its main characteristics are: the criticism is directed at the capitalist system; Theoretically, it is put forward that the economic situation is the foundation of the political system, and private ownership produces class and class exploitation, and from this point of view, it analyzes the history and present situation, thus predicting the exploitation essence of the capitalist system. When designing the blueprint of the future society, we take the big factory as the prototype, completely abandon egalitarianism and asceticism, and make socialism a highly developed society with material civilization and spiritual civilization. Saint-Simon, Fourier and Owen, three famous visionaries, are only typical representatives of this period.
3. Limitations and enthusiasm of utopian socialism
limitations
According to what Marx said in the Manifesto of the Productive Party? Criticize utopian socialism and capitalism? Regarding the contents in the first section, utopian socialism mainly has the following two main defects.
First, the lack of subjectivity. Utopian socialists, represented by the three great visionaries, have seen the role of class opposition and disintegration factors in the dominant bourgeois society itself. ? However, they can't see any historical initiative of the proletariat, and they can't see any movement unique to it. ? But the ruling class hopes to realize their socialist plan through peaceful means.
Second, it violates the objectivity of the law of social development. In dreamers, their personal inventions have replaced social activities in an attempt to liberate all mankind with their beautiful fantasies. ? In their view, the future world history is nothing more than propaganda and implementation of their social plans. ? However, the future society is actually the result of realistic movement.
enthusiasm
The positive factors of utopian socialism mainly include the following two aspects.
First, criticism. ? These socialist and productive works also contain critical elements. ? These works serve the working class. They criticized the bourgeoisie and attacked all kinds of disadvantages of the existing society, which provided extremely valuable materials for enlightening the working class.
Second, foresight. A visionary's foresight about the future society. For example, eliminate the opposition between urban and rural areas, eliminate families, eliminate private profits, eliminate wage labor and advocate a harmonious society? Wait a minute. At that time, class opposition was still in the primary stage, and it was extremely rare for dreamers to put forward the idea of eliminating private property and class opposition in the future society. (Author: College of Law and Politics, Zhejiang Normal University)
References:
[1] Carl? Max, Christopher? Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin Central Compilation Bureau. The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume II [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2009: 30 ~ 67.
[2] Carl? Max, Christopher? Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin Central Compilation Bureau. Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume III [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2009: 523 ~ 567.
[3] Thomas? Daimore Utopia [M] Beijing: Commercial Press, 1997: 8 ~ 47.
[4] Morelj, Huang Jianhua and Jiangya. Natural code [M]. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1982: 20 ~ 55.
[5] Gong Yukuan. Philosophical course of "anti-Turin theory" [M]. Beijing: Central University for Nationalities Press, 2007: 3 1 ~ 44.
Precautions:
1 Carl? Max, Christopher? Engels: The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume III, Beijing? People's Publishing House, 2009, p. 525.
2 Carl? Max, Christopher? Engels: The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume III, Beijing? People's Publishing House, 2009, p. 525.
3 Carl? Max, Christopher? Engels: The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume III, Beijing? People's Publishing House, 2009, p. 525.
4 Carl? Max, Christopher? Engels: The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume III, Beijing? People's Publishing House, 2009, p. 526.
5 Carl? Max, Christopher? Engels: The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume II, Beijing? People's Publishing House, 2009, p. 63.
Socialist thesis ii
On the superiority of Socialism with Chinese characteristics's democratic system
Socialism with Chinese characteristics's democracy has its own characteristics, and its essence is that the people are the masters of the country, which is suitable for China's basic national conditions. The democratic system established and developing in the long-term revolution and construction process in China is different from that in western countries, which conforms to China's current national conditions and needs and has outstanding advantages in theory.
Keywords: Socialism with Chinese characteristics democratic decentralization, western bourgeois democracy
Today, with the wave of democratization originating from Western Europe and North America sweeping the globe, China has embarked on a road of democratization different from that of western countries and established a socialist democratic system with China characteristics. Facing all kinds of questions about China's democratic system at home and abroad, it is necessary for us to have a clear understanding and judgment of Socialism with Chinese characteristics's democratic system and its advantages.
First, the connotation of democracy
Etymologically speaking, the word democracy comes from ancient Greece, from ancient Greek, and consists of demos (people) and kratos (rule). What does it mean? The rule of the people? That is, the rule of the majority means that the final decision does not depend on individuals or a few people, but on the majority or all the people of a specific group.
The concept of democracy originated in Europe, and the external condition for its existence and development is European culture. After some Europeans immigrated to the North American continent, democracy also developed into an important element of American political culture. So? Democracy? As the same body of European and American countries and their regions, political culture is a concept of political philosophy with regional significance, which does not exist in the original form of other cultures. Today, democracy is accepted and used by other cultures because the basic values of democracy, such as equality, freedom, perfection and majority rule, have been recognized by all countries in the world, but the recognition of the essence of democracy does not mean the recognition of the specific forms of realizing the essence of democracy in the West. Confusing the relationship between the essence of democracy and the form of realization is often an important reason for the tortuous or even failed democratic process in some countries.
Second, the choice of system.
System is the carrier of democratic spirit, ideas and principles, and it can also be said that it is a tool to realize democratic spirit, ideas and principles. Due to the different historical culture and value choices of different countries, it is entirely possible (and should) to choose a realization form that is more suitable for the current national conditions. The history of the development of human political civilization has repeatedly verified a truth: what kind of political system a country implements and what kind of democratic road it takes must be adapted to its national conditions. This national condition first includes natural factors such as the size of the country, natural resources and population size, which is the basis of a country's survival and development and has a profound and long-term impact on its political system. Influenced by its historical tradition and long-term democratic practice, western countries have formed a democratic system based on parliamentary system, electoral system and political party system. As far as China is concerned, there are essential differences between China and western countries in terms of nationality. At the same time, China has a vast territory, a long history and many ethnic groups, which have very different realistic conditions from western countries. Therefore, although western countries are more experienced than us in the choice and establishment of a democratic system, we cannot blindly learn, let alone easily? Cloning? We must base ourselves on our own reality. No matter theoretical analysis or practical investigation, the democratic system in Socialism with Chinese characteristics that we have established and developed at present is a system that conforms to China's national conditions, can realize the essence of democracy and has its own advantages.
Third, the superiority of Socialism with Chinese characteristics's democratic system.
How to judge the superiority of a country's democratic system? The author believes that in addition to conforming to the national conditions, we should also examine it from the following aspects: First, in essence, democracy is to ensure that society is managed according to the will of the majority. Therefore, whether the representative organs elected in various ways can make decisions on behalf of the will of the majority has become an important criterion for judging the degree of democracy. Secondly, whether the decision-making of representative organs can be effectively supervised under the democratic system determines whether the effect brought by the democratic system is substantive or formal. Thirdly, whether social development can maintain a long-term orderly and stable state under the democratic system is also an indispensable condition for examining the effectiveness of the democratic system. From the above aspects, Socialism with Chinese characteristics's democratic system, based on the people's democratic dictatorship and centered on the people's congress system, the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system led by the production party, the system of regional ethnic autonomy and the system of grassroots mass autonomy, has the following four advantages:
(a) Ensure the comprehensiveness of the interests represented.
Western countries' understanding of democracy, universal suffrage is an important symbol of democracy, and only representative organs elected by universal suffrage can reflect the will of the majority and ensure the comprehensiveness of representative interests. However, this is not the case. On the one hand, the interests of some groups, such as female representatives, are easily filtered out by the election rules, regardless of whether the election system adopts majority representation or proportional representation; On the other hand, the highest authority in western countries still represents the interests of some elite groups to a great extent. To realize national democratic management in a big country with a population of1300 million, we must adopt a way different from universal suffrage in the west. China chose the people's congress system, and the establishment of this system has met the dual goals of conforming to the national conditions and safeguarding the comprehensive interests of the deputies. Deputies to people's congresses at all levels in China are allocated places according to the proportion of regions and personnel, and are elected through indirect elections, direct elections and differential elections respectively. The Electoral Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the provisions of the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at various levels enable people with different backgrounds and interests to participate in the decision-making of state affairs, which truly embodies socialist democracy? The people are the masters of the country? The essence of.
(B) to ensure the effectiveness of supervision
One of the main characteristics of modern democracy is representative system, and the supervision of representative organs is also an important part of democratic system. The representative organs in western countries usually adopt the way of mutual supervision. The legislative power of parliament, the executive power of the government and the judicial power of the judiciary are often separated or partially related, which enables relatively independent institutions to produce mutual restraint of power. There is no higher power supervision institution above the three. This system has theoretical advantages, but in practice, the efficiency of power supervision is not high, which is easy to cause power containment and prevarication. Compared with western countries, China's people's congress system has the characteristics of non-separation of the three powers. In China's institutional structure, the people's congress is the highest source of power after executive power, legislative power and judicial power. Every institution is responsible for and supervised by the people's congress, and the people's congress itself, as the highest authority to supervise other institutions, is also supervised by every participant. Every power subject is a concrete, clear and accountable power. Compared with the mutual supervision and individual supervision of western power struggle institutions, China's people's congress system has better ensured the effectiveness of supervision over state management power.
Ensure political stability.
The people's congress system has realized that1300 million people are the masters of their own affairs, which embodies and safeguards the will and interests of most people, thus maintaining the stability of the whole social order. The system of regional ethnic autonomy and the system of grass-roots mass autonomy have also solved the problems in the process of social operation fastest, directly and effectively, and also made the factors that endanger social stability disappear in the bud. In addition to the above two aspects, there is also an important democratic system that plays a very important role in maintaining social stability and political stability in China, that is, the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system led by the * * * production party. The greatest advantage of this democratic system is that the relationship between China Party and other parties is leadership and cooperation, governance and participation in politics.
Under the leadership of the China Producer Party, all democratic parties participate in state power, participate in the consultation of state policies and leaders, participate in the management of state affairs, and contribute wisdom and energy to national construction, thus integrating political forces in all aspects of society into positive forces acting towards the same goal.
(d) Ensure the efficiency of governance.
The parliamentary system and the separation of powers in the west only emphasize democracy, so they lack the necessary concentration. There are often phenomena of mutual restraint, prevarication and coercion within parliament, between parliament and administrative departments and between judicial departments. Even the normal parliamentary legislative process has become lengthy due to contradictions and disputes between different parties, and many good bills have come to nothing in complex parliamentary debates. However, the democratic centralism in China's democratic political construction combines the requirements of democracy and efficiency. Whether in the formation stage or the implementation stage of the resolution, democracy based on centralization and under centralized guidance is implemented, and decision-making is democratic, procedural and scientific. It can not only ensure the full development of socialist democracy, give full play to the people's wisdom, reflect the people's feelings, gather public opinion, and safeguard and realize the rights and interests of the people as masters of the country; It can also concentrate the opinions of all parties, coordinate different interests, coordinate various needs and make correct decisions. Therefore, democratic centralism is an effective way to ensure the unity of democracy and efficiency. ?
abstract
China's democratic system, which was established and developed in the long-term revolution and construction, is different from that of western countries. It conforms to China's current national conditions and needs, has outstanding advantages in theory, and has largely realized the spirit, ideas and principles of democracy in practice. Undeniably, there are still some problems in China's democratic system, which need to be improved and perfected. However, the author thinks that these problems are caused by the operation of the democratic system, so we can't deny the superiority of the democratic system in Socialism with Chinese characteristics.