The change and change of the good life in the new era

Source: Guangming Daily

A better life is a happy life that mankind pursues for generations and everyone aspires to, and it is also a value goal that the Communist Party of China unites and leads the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country to persistently pursue. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: "The people's yearning for a better life is our goal. The Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the major thesis that "the main contradiction in our society has been transformed into a contradiction between the people's growing need for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate development", the people have created a better life standing at a new historical starting point, and the beautiful life in the new era has become a new way of life that people pursue. A better life in the new era is the co-evolution of productive forces, human needs and survival time and space, and is an important proposition of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, which contains the dialectical relationship between "change" and "unchanged". Scientifically grasping this relationship helps us to better create a better life.

The change of a better life in the new era

For individuals in reality, the "beauty" and "good" in the practice of life point to a value judgment that is directly related to the content and degree of satisfaction pursued by people's material and spiritual life. This intrinsic characteristic of a better life lays the foundation for us to accurately grasp the "change" of a better life in the new era.

The most fundamental difference between man, as a kind of self-made existence, and natural beings, is that man can be aware of his own existence and constantly self-knowledge and self-transcendence of his own state of existence. Marxism believes that man is the motive and purpose of historical development, that "real man" is not static, but a dynamic, practical, and historical existence, and that man's needs are the essential stipulations of man. "The first need that has been met itself, the activity that has been fulfilled and the tools that have been acquired to satisfy it give rise to new needs, and the emergence of this new need is the first historical activity." "Man distinguishes himself from all other animals by the infinity and breadth of his needs." General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "People are essentially cultural people, not 'materialized' people; they are dynamic and comprehensive people, not rigid, 'one-dimensional' people." This nature of man determines that people will not be satisfied with the ready-made reality of their own lives, and also determines that the level of demand and constituent elements of a better life in the new era must be constantly changing.

The need for a better life will continue to change with the rapid development of social productivity, which is determined by its essence. Marx pointed out: "This development of the productive forces ... It is also a practical premise that is absolutely necessary, because without such development there will only be the universalization of poverty, extreme poverty. Since the reform and opening up, China's economy and society have developed rapidly, and the productive forces as "the most active and revolutionary factor for promoting social progress" have been significantly improved, and the comprehensive national strength, social development level, and people's quality of life have achieved a historic leap forward. With the overall improvement of the level of social productivity and the rapid development of social production capacity, the level of human needs and the way to meet them have changed rapidly, and the specific scope, coverage content, and degree of demand pursued for a better life have also undergone deep changes. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The people's lives have improved significantly, the yearning for a better life has become stronger, and the needs of the people have shown the characteristics of diversification, multi-level and multi-faceted, looking forward to better education, more stable work, more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, higher level of medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, more beautiful environment, and richer spiritual and cultural life." From this important exposition of General Secretary Xi Jinping, it can be seen that the level of demand for a better life in the new era not only includes the need for survival, but also covers social needs, psychological needs and developmental needs, reflecting obvious changes and transition characteristics.

The good life of the new era remains unchanged

"Leading the people to create a better life is the unswerving goal of our party." This is a solemn promise made by General Secretary Xi Jinping on behalf of all Chinese communists. The Communist Party of China is a political party that has unswervingly struggled for a better life for the people, and since its founding, its original intention of persisting in seeking happiness for the people has never changed. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Once the Communist Party of China was born, it established it as its original mission to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. "To keep the original intention is to keep firmly in mind the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, to adhere to the original intention with firm ideals and convictions, to keep in mind that the people's yearning for a better life is our goal of struggle, to never forget that our party comes from the people and is rooted in the people, and can never be separated from the masses, despise the masses, or ignore the sufferings of the masses." From Shikumen to Tiananmen, from Xingye Road to Fuxing Road, in the past hundred years in the practice of our party's struggle to realize the people's yearning for a better life, the people-centered pursuit of values has never changed, and the belief in creating a better life by relying on diligent hands and honest labor has never changed.

The pursuit of people-centered values has been consistent. The concern for man himself is the fundamental premise of Marxism, and the people's nature is the most distinctive character of Marxism. "Fighting for the cause of human liberation all your life" and realizing the free and all-round development of man are the theoretical themes and goals of struggle that run through Marxism. Always adhering to the people-centered development thinking is one of the basic experiences of our party over the past hundred years based on the social and historical subject status of the masses of the people and the long-term practice of revolution, construction and reform, and is the organic unity of the Marxist world outlook and methodology. Since its founding, our party has adhered to the mass concept of history and taken the people-centered pursuit of values as its goal of struggle. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the foundation of the Communist Party of China is in the people, the blood is in the people, and the strength is in the people", emphasizing that "we must conform to the people's yearning for a better life and adhere to the people-centered development thinking". The times are changing, but our party has always adhered to the people-centered and wholeheartedly strive for the realization of the people's beautiful life.

The belief that labor creates a better life has never changed. Labor is one of the central concepts in Marxist philosophy. Marxism believes that labor is a "free conscious activity", that human history is born through labor, that labor creates history and that labor creates man itself, is an important way to realize the free and all-round development of man and a fundamental force for promoting the progress of human society. Labor is both a means and an end, labor creation is the basic way for social and historical subjects to achieve a better life, people can not only obtain the material basis for survival through labor, enhance personal ability, show their own existence value, but also promote social progress, so as to consolidate the foundation of a better life. The pursuit of a better life in the new era can only be transformed into reality in the creation of labor. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Labor is the essential activity of human beings, and the glory of labor and the creation of greatness are important interpretations of the law of progress of human civilization. He emphasized, "Labor is the source of wealth and the source of happiness." The beautiful dreams of the world can only be realized through honest labor" "To create a better life for all the people, the task is heavy and the road is long, and each of us needs to continue to pay hard work and hard work."

A better life in the new era is the unity of change and change. Based on the unchanged, our party has not forgotten its original intention, kept its mission firmly in mind, and always used the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics to inspire morale and forge ahead in a pioneering spirit. Grasping the change, our party has led the people of the whole country to continuously create a better life and realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in leading the people of the whole country to focus on resolving the "contradiction between the people's growing need for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate development."

(Authors: Luo Biqiong and Tang Songlin, both are special researchers of Hunan University Base of Hunan Provincial Research Center for Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics)