Recently, on the Internet, especially a group of public intellectuals, have been advocating private ownership, as if private ownership is a good solution to all problems.
And the angle of attack is also very orthodox: various problems and drawbacks of public ownership.
More importantly, the public knowers deliberately misled a concept:
What is public ownership? Is public ownership property or means of production?
Public ownership of the means of production is a completely different concept from public ownership of property!
The Marxist "1884 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" first put forward the concept of communist public ownership The communist public ownership theory conceived by Marx was first formed in the "1884 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts", which was completed in April ~ August 1884, involving alienated labor, criticism of Hegel, communist theory and other important ideas, which Marx did not publish during his lifetime.
Marx proposed public ownership because in the past there was only private ownership, and Marx saw the disadvantages of private ownership.
To understand public ownership, we must first understand what the means of production are;
Means of production: means of production refers to the general term of the means of labor and the objects of labor used in the production process;
This definition is abstract, and the actual meaning of the means of production is broad and constantly changing. I can summarize it simply:
Those who control the means of production can sit on the ground and raise prices, and they can use them to exploit others;
For example, in the feudal era, the main wealth grew from the land, so the most important means of production was the land.
If you have enough land, you can hire people to cultivate it, you can collect rent, and you can raise the rent ratio to the limit – if you increase it, no one will want to farm.
For another example, if this reservoir is yours, and hundreds of thousands of acres of land downstream need to rely on the reservoir for water supply for irrigation, then this reservoir is considered a means of production, and you can increase the price of water supply to the necessary limit;
For another example, the one who claimed at the beginning that there was no difficult business in the world set up a platform after starting a business, and later became a rent collector, and he became the reason why it was difficult to do business in the world.
The so-called Internet economy, in a word, is to circle the field, collect rent, and charter companies in the modern sense, whether Taobao, Didi, or Meituan, all start by establishing a field, and then full of prices and harvesting - this is the true meaning of capitalism.
The means of production have the following characteristics:
First, the means of production can be either natural or built later.
For example, land, minerals, important roadways, can also be built by themselves, such as canals, large Internet platforms.
Second, it takes costs to master the means of production, and it also faces competition and risks;
Capitalism is built on elaborate laws and needs order, and once order is lost, the cost of maintaining it is high.
For example, if the whole society is in turmoil, the landlord needs to raise an army to protect himself, and the cost is very high.
Secondly, even large platforms are facing competition, and there are still means of production on the upper floor, and the more complex the social production, the more complex the situation in which the means of production exist.
For example, a chemical giant has a monopoly on the market and is very profitable, but its upper echelons also need water supply, electricity, gas, land, and communication networks······
Third, the person who controls the means of production is not necessarily an exploiter, he is active/passive and does not exploit;
Some landlords, or entrepreneurs, also control the important means of production on the platform, but for some reason they do not exploit the laborers.
For example, take the initiative to give workers higher wages and actively repay the society - this is called an entrepreneur, and the realm is much higher.
Why did Zong Qinghou have such a great influence after his death? Because although people do not believe in the possibility of common prosperity, they have high respect for entrepreneurs who have personally practiced common prosperity.
Passive return to society - this is the biggest focus of China's economic development, which is to reduce the degree of exploitation of the owners of the means of production through laws, taxes, anti-monopoly, and protection of the rights and interests of workers.
I haven't dared to mention the elimination of exploitation, just let the exploitation be lighter, and the life of the Chinese will be better.
After understanding what means of production are, let's talk about what is public ownership of means of production:
Then the basic key means of production should be publicly owned and in the hands of state-owned enterprises:
For example, core sectors such as land, steel, coal, electricity, water conservancy, communications, gas, transportation, banking, medical care, and education must be in the hands of the state.
The means at hand can be state-owned enterprises or even the government itself.
For example, steel, coal, electricity, and telecommunications are mastered in the form of state-owned enterprises.
Health care and education are under the direct control of the government, the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Education.
The lifeblood of the country's economic operation is in the hands of public ownership.
Is public ownership the best form?
No, public ownership is not the best form, they have a lot of problems, and the fundamental reason for choosing public ownership is that there is no other better way, so it can only be like this.
Because these sectors fall into the hands of private enterprises, the problem is even greater.
For example, China mainly relies on the public-owned medical system, and private hospitals have done little to do anything.
Even if it falls into the private enterprises, it will not even be able to promote reform, and the private enterprises will only work for the interests of shareholders.
Why is it that the railroads in the United States are old, and there are few new railroads and no high-speed railways? Because the railroads in the United States are completely privately owned, they can just make do with the money, how can they have the incentive to invest in new railroads?
Land in the United States is also in private hands, and land acquisition and construction are very difficult.
Although there are many drawbacks to public ownership, at least some progress can be made under the instructions of the state.
Here we need to correct a point of view: for basic state-owned enterprises, the less domestic profits are guaranteed to be invested in innovation, the more normal it is. The more profitable you are abroad, the better.
On the other hand, if state-owned enterprises have high profits in China, it means that the people have paid more money for basic materials, and won't life be even worse?
I am the most dissatisfied with the Chinese financial system because they make so much money from people – the interest rate on domestic mortgages is higher than the interest on the indemnity paid by the Eight-Nation Coalition to Galeries Lafayette!
Is there serious corruption in public state-owned enterprises?
Serious, corruption, inefficiency, overcrowding, chaotic management······· Innovation is also insufficient, but this is a management problem.
The scale of state-owned enterprises is huge.
Is there no corruption in private enterprises? The same is true, and when the scale reaches a certain level, corruption is even more serious, and there is no discipline inspection or supervision in private enterprises.
In recent years, the same has been true of the major Internet companies, which are full of corruption, low efficiency, superfluous personnel, and chaotic management, and have not shown any better than state-owned enterprises.
Why does the public know keep advocating private ownership?
Because China adheres to the public ownership system, foreign capital cannot be inserted into the core areas! China cannot be harvested.
In fact, in the past 30 years, there are only two biggest reasons why China has been able to develop rapidly:
First, the Chinese are too capable, from the temple to the government, they are dedicated to development and creating material wealth;
Second, Western capital cannot be harvested;
There is a text in the Chinese textbook, farewell, Situ Leiden.
After the defeat of the Kuomintang, US Ambassador Situ Leitian did not leave in a hurry, he wanted to stay and get in touch with New China.
Why? Because the Nationalist Government has signed a large number of agreements with the United States.
All the basic departments of the Nationalist Government are under the control of American capital – a comparison can be made with today's Ukraine.
All state-owned enterprises were sold to the West.
But he was disappointed that New China did not recognize the interests of the United States - which meant that all the previous investments of the United States in China were lost;
Therefore, the United States was embarrassed and angry, and blockaded New China for 30 years...
Today's intellectuals are shouting for private ownership, or they want to help the West harvest China, and they are willing to be compradors...
It's just that the Chinese people are not so easy to fool.