The enlightenment of Marx's concept of justice to promote common prosperity

Author: Zhao Huaizhi

The Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stressed that we should unswervingly take the road of common prosperity for all the people. Common prosperity is Marx's basic vision of socialist society, an important feature of Chinese-style modernization, an important embodiment of our party's fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, and also a major strategic deployment of the party and the state at present. From the perspective of justice, common prosperity is essentially the basic requirement of socialist justice. To promote the process of common prosperity in contemporary China, we should pay attention to finding practical enlightenment from Marx's concept of justice.

Before Marx, people's thinking about justice implied a key premise, that is, material scarcity. Marx believed that in the environment of material scarcity, the problem of justice could not be fundamentally solved. He believes that the full flow of collective wealth is the basic premise for the fundamental solution of the problem of justice. That is to say, in Marx's view, the development of the productive forces plays a decisive role in solving the problem of justice. He pointed out that in the case of extreme poverty, the struggle for necessities must be restarted, and all the obsolete and dirty things must be revived. Of course, this does not mean that a great material abundance will necessarily lead to the realization of justice, but without the premise of great material abundance, the solution of the problem of justice cannot be complete. In this sense, the solution of material deprivation is a necessary condition for the realization of justice. This is Marx's concept of production justice.

Marx's concept of production justice is fundamentally different from the traditional Western concept of justice. The traditional Western view of justice focuses on the way in which it "gets what it deserves", while Marx's view of productive justice focuses on where the object of "getting" comes from. That is to say, in the face of the dilemma of the traditional Western concept of justice, Marx is based on the economic foundation level as the root of the dilemma. This is a typical historical materialist way of thinking. According to the principle of historical materialism, the solution to the problem of material scarcity must not rely on a few illusory concepts created by theoreticians, but can only seek the development of the productive forces.

Although Marx emphasized the decisive position of production in solving the problem of justice, Marx also conditionally recognized the important role of distribution in promoting the realization of justice. The complete Marxist concept of justice has both production and distribution perspectives. This concept of justice is of great value for promoting common prosperity.

First, firmly grasp the basic material premise of the continuous enrichment and development of social material living conditions. Without the continuous enrichment and development of social material living conditions, the promotion of common prosperity is like building a house on the beach, the foundation is unstable, and it will eventually shake the mountains and be difficult to sustain. Practice has proved that respecting the laws of the market economy is an effective way to promote the continuous enrichment of the material living conditions of society. This requires us, in the process of promoting the great cause of common prosperity, to adhere to the thinking of historical materialism, and not to disregard the basic laws of the market economy and engage in a movement-style equalization of the rich and the poor in the name of the lofty value goal of promoting common prosperity. Always pay attention to the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources, and continuously consolidate the material foundation of common prosperity with the help of market mechanisms.

Second, adhere to and improve the basic economic system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Marx's concept of production justice held that material wealth plays a fundamental decisive role in solving the problem of justice, and emphasizes collective material wealth. This requires vigorously giving play to the important role of the public ownership economy in promoting common prosperity. Specifically, it is to make state-owned enterprises bigger and stronger, so that the cornerstone of achieving common prosperity is more stable. While adhering to the status of the main body of public ownership, we must also adhere to the common development of the economy under various ownership systems, encourage hard work to get rich, legally operate to get rich, and actively advocate that the first get rich drive the later get rich.

Third, uphold the fundamental value position of putting the interests of the people first. Common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism and an important feature of Chinese-style modernization. This requires unswervingly advancing the great process of common prosperity, and we cannot use relative material scarcity as an excuse to allow the division between the rich and the poor to develop naturally. Always uphold the people's position, unswervingly implement the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core on common prosperity, continue to promote the rationalization and scientific level of distribution methods, and take more pragmatic measures to let the people have more sense of gain, happiness and security.

Fourth, adhere to the basic working method of seeking truth from facts, adapting measures to local conditions, and taking steps in an orderly manner. The realization of common prosperity cannot be achieved overnight, it is a long-term process, which requires long-term efforts and gradual progress. The perfection of the material living conditions of society, which is the basic prerequisite for common prosperity, cannot be achieved in the short term. The realization of common prosperity, therefore, requires a long-term natural historical process. This requires us to have a full estimate of the long-term, arduous, and complex nature of promoting common prosperity, and we must not disregard the actual situation of our own regions and departments for the sake of temporary political achievements, but should seek truth from facts, adapt measures to local conditions, and promote common prosperity step by step.

Fifth, establish a dialectical thinking method that dynamically changes the standard of affluence from low to high. The standard of common prosperity will continue to rise with the increasing enrichment and perfection of the material living conditions of society. This determines that at this stage, to promote common prosperity, we must do our best and do what we can. Fully understand the contradiction between the people's growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, and base the process of promoting common prosperity on the basis of economic development and financial sustainability, and we must not be ambitious, set too high goals, make promises that cannot be fulfilled, and prevent falling into the trap of "welfarism".

In essence, Marx's concept of justice enlightens us that to promote the process of common prosperity, we must not only adhere to the historical materialist thinking and grasp the fundamental premise of development, but also uphold the people's position, and cannot regard the differentiation of the rich and the poor that arises under the condition of relative material scarcity as an eternal existence, but should take more pragmatic and effective measures to continuously improve the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, and promote the unity of the law and purpose of the great process of common prosperity. (Zhao Huaizhi)

Source: Learning Times