Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1657-W1198

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1657-W1198

Release Date: April 15, 2024

发布日：2024年4月15日

Topic: What Kind of Democracy Is More Suitable for China (Part 6) -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：什么样的民主更适合中国（六） -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

Note: Please use "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)" encoding to view the Chinese parts of this release. If this mail does not display properly in your email program, please send your request for special delivery to us or visit:

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What Kind of Democracy Is More Suitable for China (Part 6)

-- Wei Jingsheng

Democracy, like any social system, must be based on economic foundations. Marxism has been popular for more than a century, and its main content is still economic theory. Karl Marx advocated communism, and for this purpose he carefully studied the market economy system since ancient times and conducted a relatively thorough analysis of the pros and cons.

These analyses conflicted with his communist ideals: either you find an alternative to the market economy that is both humane and able to operate normally; or you can correct and supplement this flawed system so that it can satisfy the needs of human life. It was from here that the communist movement split.

Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and others took over the ideal and embarked on the path of abolition of private property for planned production and distribution. The necessary conditions for this path are to suppress individual wishes and freedoms, create extremely unfair distribution, and reduce people's enthusiasm for production. At the expense of freedom and basic human rights, what is gained is inefficiency. This is of the same type as ancient feudal serfdom.

The need to suppress human rights has resulted in huge human tragedies. Due to inefficient production, people gradually fell into poverty. External contrast and internal pressure forced this system to declare that it is a failed experiment. All countries that have implemented a Leninist system are facing radical changes. These changes are the culmination of the past one hundred years of experimentation.

Other political parties that accepted Marx's economic theory but took another path implemented modifications and supplements to the market economy system. They not only accepted the democratic political system and integrated into it, but also modified and supplemented the unsatisfactory market system to make it more suitable for human survival. After all, the economic system that has been eliminated and screened out by mankind for more than ten thousands of years has its own characteristics that are difficult to replace. It is not possible to come up with a reasonable replacement relying on one's own mind.

This revisionist approach has relied on collective bargaining, social welfare and other means to make up for the inhumane parts of the market economic system over the past century, and has given full play to its characteristics of meeting with human nature and having relatively higher production efficiency. In the century of institutional competition, it proved its vitality. It has been successfully developed in developed countries in Europe and the United States for more than a hundred years and has achieved satisfactory results.

Since more than a hundred years ago, human society has developed in two directions in theory and practice. One is a planned economy and one-party dictatorship that lacks humanity and lacks democracy; the other is a revising market economy under a democratic system that is in line with humanity. One is serfdom, which constantly creates disasters; the other is a modern system where people live a free and prosperous life. What kind of system does China need? For the Chinese people who have suffered for decades, they can only choose a democratic market economy system like that of Western developed countries.

Who will take the lead in revising the inhumane parts of a market economy? Leninists say it is to be led by the party of the proletariat. If a system that is not controlled by oneself is not linked to one's own social contribution, people will have no motivation to contribute. The democratic system is led by the government chosen by the people themselves and cooperates with the market economy. Your income is linked to your contribution, and you have the motivation to work hard and contribute.

Therefore, a revised market economy cannot be dominated by a group of political parties claiming to be of any class. In that case, they will first look after their own interests and those of their own parties. Democratically elected political parties must choose how to revise things in the interests of their voters. Therefore, the market economy system that protects the interests of the people can only be guaranteed by the democratic political system elected by the people. This has been the success of democratic socialism for one hundred years.

There is no party of proletarians. The ruling group is the upper echelon responsible for managing the overall life of the country. There is no primary stage of communism. Communism has already failed theoretically since Karl Marx. Democratic revision of socialism is the best social system that China can choose in the future.

(This English version is translated by Ciping HUANG, without any compensation. Wei Jingsheng and the Wei Jingsheng Foundation appreciate her decades of contribution, especially for allowing the use and distribution of her translations of these commentaries.)

Original link of this commentary:

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-04152024100349.html

To hear Mr. Wei Jingsheng's related commentary, please visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2024/WeiJS240414onDemocraticSocialism6.mp3

Related screenshot of Wei Jingsheng’s commentary on RFA website:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-2/WeiJSonDemocraticSocialismF240415RFApage.jpg

(Written on April 3, 2024 and recorded on April 14, 2024. Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia on April 15, 2024.)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1657-W1198

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1657-W1198

Release Date: April 15, 2024

发布日：2024年4月15日

Topic: What Kind of Democracy Is More Suitable for China (Part 6) -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：什么样的民主更适合中国（六） -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问：

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2024/report2024-4/WeiJS240415onDemocraticSocialism6A1657-W1198.htm

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什么样的民主更适合中国（六）

-- 魏京生

民主和任何社会体系一样，都必须建立在经济基础之上。马克思主义流行了一个多世纪，它的主要内容仍然是经济理论。马克思主张共产主义，并为此仔细研究了自古以来的市场经济体系，并对正反两方面进行了比较透彻的分析。

这些分析和他的共产主义理想产生了矛盾：或者你找出一个不要市场经济的替代品，而且可以即符合人性又能够正常运营；或者你对这个有缺陷的体制修正补充，使其满足人类生活的需要。共产主义运动就在这儿分裂了。

列宁、斯大林等人接过了理想，走上了废除私有财产按计划生产和分配的道路。这条道路的必要条件就是压制个人愿望和自由，分配极不公平，并且降低了人们生产的积极性。在牺牲了自由和基本人权的情况下，得到的却是低效率。这和古代的封建农奴制属于同一个类型。

由于压制人权的需要，造成了巨大的人间惨剧。由于低效率的生产，人们逐渐陷入贫困。外部的对比和内部的压力，迫使这个制度宣布它是一种失败的实验。所有实行列宁主义制度的国家，都面临着彻底的改变。这是过去一百年实验的最终结果。

另一些接受了马克思经济学理论，却走上了另一条道路的政党，实行的是对市场经济体系的修正和补充。他们既接受民主的政治体制并融入其中，又对不令人满意的市场制度进行修正和补充，使它更适合人类的生存。毕竟人类上万年来淘汰和筛选出来的经济体制，有其难以替代的特点，不是靠个人的头脑就可以想出一个合理的替代品。

这种修正主义的方法，百年来依靠集体谈判，社会福利等等手段弥补了市场经济体制不符合人性的部分，发挥了它符合人性并且有较高生产效率的特点，在制度竞赛的一百年里证明了它的生命力。在欧美发达国家里成功地发展了一百多年，取得了令人满意的效果。

从一百多年前开始，人类社会在理论和实践上向两个方向发展。一个是缺乏人性的，没有民主的计划经济和一党专政；一个是在符合人性的民主制度下修修补补的市场经济。一个是不断制造灾难的农奴制；一个是人民生活自由富裕的现代化制度。中国需要哪一种制度？对深受几十年苦难的中国人来说，只能选择像西方发达国家那样的，民主的市场经济制度。

对市场经济的不合人性的部分修修补补，由谁来主导呢？列宁主义者说由无产阶级的政党来主导。不由自己主导的制度和自己的社会贡献不挂钩，人们也就没有了努力贡献的动力。而民主制度则是由人们自己选择的政府来主导，配合市场经济。你的收入和你的贡献挂钩，你也就有了努力贡献的动力。

所以修修补补的市场经济，不能由一帮号称什么阶级的政党来主导，那他们会首先照顾自己和自己政党的利益。必须由民主选举出来的政党，按照选民的利益来选择如何修修补补。所以保障人民利益的市场经济体制，只能是以民选的民主政治体制来保障。这就是一百年来民主社会主义的成功之处。

没有什么无产阶级的政党。统治集团就是统治集团，是负责管理国家全面生活的上层。没有什么共产主义的初级阶段，共产主义在马克思那儿就已经从理论上失败了。民主的修修补补的社会主义，是中国将来可以选择的最好的社会制度。

(本评论的英文版本由黄慈萍翻译。魏京生和魏京生基金会感谢她数十年来相关的无偿贡献，特别是使用和发布此译文的许可。)

评论的原始链接：

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-04152024100349.html