Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Lenin further stated: Any rights are the application of the same standard to different people, to people who are in fact different and unequal, so "equal rights" are inequality and unfair.

In short, both Marx and Lenin believed that "distribution according to work" was essentially a bourgeois right. This was especially true in capitalist society, where the bourgeoisie controlled the means of production, capital, and land. The claim of "distribution according to work" was, in reality, a deception aimed at the working people. This view persuaded working people to accept it, which would only allow them to earn a pittance through their labor, without questioning the bourgeoisie's excessive profits from the means of production, capital, and land.

In a socialist society, however, workers' varying abilities inevitably lead to different incomes, which in turn leads to some earning more and others less, creating a polarization between the rich and the poor. This is not true fairness, nor is it pure justice.

But Marx was not a utopian communist. Some early utopian communists dreamed of suddenly making everyone equal. This equality encompassed all aspects of politics and economics, so they sought to directly alter the distribution of wealth. Such experiments, without exception, failed.

Marx was different from these utopian communists. Although he said that "distribution according to work" was a bourgeois legal right, it was not a truly fair distribution method.

However, when analyzing the essential inequality of bourgeois legal rights, Marx specifically pointed out that this was inevitable in the first stage of communism (i.e., socialist society). Marx emphasized that rights can never transcend the economic structure of society and the cultural development of society constrained by that structure.

To put it bluntly, Marx clearly pointed out that productivity determines production relations and therefore distribution methods. Trying to implement "distribution according to need" for the sake of equality when productivity is still underdeveloped is unrealistic.

If productivity fails to reach the communist stage, then "distribution according to work" will be the main mode of social distribution. The bourgeois legal rights brought about by "distribution according to work" will always dominate.

The Chairman had thoroughly studied Marxist-Leninist doctrine, so he was very clear about this. He also understood that "distribution according to work" was the primary method of distribution during China's socialist development phase. However, the Chairman had always sought a way to dismantle the bourgeois legal system that "distribution according to work" brought about.

In particular, after returning from the Soviet Union in 1957, I spent the next two years closely following the country and analyzing Khrushchev's political and economic reforms there. The more I analyzed and observed the situation in the Soviet Union, the more I felt the urgency of "anti-revisionism."

But the point remains. Before productivity reaches communism, "to each according to his work" remains the most important distribution method. If this distribution method is abolished, production throughout society will fall into chaos.

The Chairman is clear about this. Therefore, the Chairman opposes both "absolute egalitarianism" and "bourgeois legal rights."

But the Chairman has not found a suitable solution over the years. The only thing we can do is to narrow the wage gap, make public the standards of everyone's benefits, and accept supervision from the whole society.

But this won't change overnight. After all, the wage gap between different levels is still very large. We need to constantly adjust wages and gradually narrow the wage gap.

Therefore, while the Chairman was pleased with the country's rapid economic development, he was also deeply concerned about "polarization." The people had become accustomed to the inequality brought about by "bourgeois legal rights" and considered it normal. When the people also came to believe that privilege was normal, it was a sign that "revisionism" had taken over the mainstream of society.

Wei Hongjun's statement now aroused the Chairman's interest.

"You mean, everyone gets the same pension after retirement?"

"It's not about absolute consistency, but relative consistency. Different provinces and cities have different economic development and living costs. So when it comes to pensions, we can set pension standards based on the local average wage, rather than having the same pension across the country."

The chairman nodded.

Although the Chairman supported equality, he opposed "absolute egalitarianism" and so-called absolute equality. When Marxism-Leninism criticized absolute fairness, it meant that the same standards applied to different situations appeared fair on the surface, but were actually unfair.

It's like decades later, when some online people kept calling for a unified national college entrance exam, with uniform rankings and admission for those with the highest scores. It might seem fair, with everyone being judged solely on their scores. But in reality, it ignores the inequality of educational resources across the country. The college entrance exam system needs reform, but it can't be one that, in the name of fairness, creates even greater inequality.

Pensions are a big issue, and Wei Hongjun has been thinking about it for a long time.

China is not a small city like Hong Kong or Singapore, nor is it a small country with a population of only a few million. In these places, you can achieve completely consistent pension amounts because they are not very large and there is not much difference between different places.

But China is different. China is a large country with hundreds of millions of people and nearly 1000 million square kilometers. A Chinese province in Europe would be a country, so there are huge differences even within the same province, not to mention the entire country.

There are coastal provinces with excellent ports and provinces with abundant arable land, but there are also provinces with harsh natural environments and very backward industry and agriculture. In the same province, for example, Guangdong has the rapidly developing Pearl River Delta region and the impoverished northeastern Guangdong region.

As China's economy develops and transportation improves, the cost of living will vary. Therefore, it's impossible to create absolutely equal pensions. While this might appear fair, it would actually create substantial inequality.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun chose to base his pensions on the average wages of various regions. While even this arrangement wouldn't guarantee complete equality, achieving relative equality was the best Wei Hongjun could do.

"While working, everyone receives different revolutionary divisions of labor due to their varying abilities and contributions. The state has rewarded them for their revolutionary contributions with different revolutionary divisions of labor, wages, and benefits. After retirement, everyone is just an ordinary retiree in a socialist country. We are all retired seniors under the state's responsibility. There's no such thing as 'distribution according to work,' nor are there different revolutionary divisions of labor. Therefore, everyone is equal when it comes to state pensions. Just because you had a high salary before retirement doesn't mean your pension will be higher."

Wei Hongjun's words really touched the Chairman's heart and hit the issue that the Chairman most wanted to solve.

The Chairman knew that the current distribution system in society could not be changed. Especially after the entire Party adopted Wei Hongjun's theory of the primary stage of socialism, the entire Party clearly recognized that "distribution according to work" was the primary distribution system in the primary stage of socialism. Even if we reached the advanced stage of socialism, as long as we did not enter a communist society, "distribution according to work" would remain unchanged.

In order to "fight revisionism," the Chairman discussed the issue of equality with many central leaders. However, he found that most of the central leaders were not very interested in the issues that concerned him.

Everyone agreed on limiting cadre privileges and further strengthening internal Party oversight. However, regarding the issue of "bourgeois legal rights," no one was interested or enthusiastic, or rather, opposed it. It just didn't express itself directly.

But "distribution according to work" is, after all, a bourgeois legal right, and it contains many inequalities. The Chairman wants to change it, but he hasn't found a way to start.

Unexpectedly, Wei Hongjun had found a new direction. The Chairman was delighted, perhaps even excited, because this was exactly what he had wanted to do but hadn't figured out. The more he observed Wei Hongjun, the more he felt that he understood his ideas and could put them into action.

After the Central Committee moved from Yan'an to Beijing, the revolution triumphed, and the country's industrial and agricultural development flourished. It could be said that everything was flourishing and full of joy and laughter, but the Chairman hadn't felt such a shared vision for a long time.

This feeling of like-mindedness was not felt from his old comrades who had worked together in the revolution for decades, but from Wei Hongjun, a cadre who was more than 20 years younger than him.

Since Wei Hongjun took over the Secretariat, he has been working hard to promote stricter internal party supervision, publicize the benefits of cadres at all levels, limit and supervise cadre privileges, and promote purity within the party. He has been working very hard to "fight revisionism."

But the Chairman hadn't anticipated Wei Hongjun's deeper thoughts on "anti-revisionism." While the idea of ​​unifying pensions couldn't completely resolve the issue of "bourgeois legal rights," it had in fact touched upon it.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao greatly admired Wei Hongjun's talent and actively supported him in many areas, allowing such a young and inexperienced cadre to rise to the position of member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Without Chairman Mao's affirmation and appreciation, no matter how powerful the North China system was, the central government would have been able to suppress Wei Hongjun.

Of course, Wei Hongjun lived up to the Chairman's expectations, achieving remarkable results in all areas. However, none of Wei Hongjun's outstanding achievements touched the Chairman's heart or satisfied him more than the pension issue he raised today. The Chairman truly felt that the Chinese revolution had a successor and that the red flag could continue to fly high.

The Chairman, who was very rare, held a cigarette in his hand but did not light it for a full ten minutes, because he was lost in thought while listening to Wei Hongjun's words.

Even after Wei Hongjun finished speaking, the Chairman was still thinking. After about seven or eight minutes, the Chairman lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and said, "How should we do it specifically?"

"A unified social security fund account will be established, managed by a dedicated department. This is not fiscal funds, but an independent, dedicated fund. Every salaried individual in the country will contribute a certain percentage of their monthly contributions into this account. When they retire, their pensions will be paid out of this account. Those with higher salaries will contribute more, while those with lower salaries will contribute less. But this is a characteristic of socialist 'common prosperity'."

"And to prevent workers from feeling their wages are being cut, the central government could, when adjusting national wages, allocate the increased portion of wages to the social security fund account. That way, people wouldn't feel their wages were cut, but the money would still go into the social security fund account."

Not only should the amount of pensions be standardized, but contributions should also be collected at a uniform rate. Those who earn more should pay more, and those who earn less should pay less.

"Some rural cooperatives, if they want to provide security for their members, can also pay money from the production cooperative's annual profits according to a prescribed proportion. This way, members of these rural cooperatives can also receive pensions when they reach a certain age."

"As an independent special fund, this part can participate in national construction investment. It is not only beneficial to national construction, but also allows funds to grow."

"Just like when the country builds a railway, this money can be used as an investment to participate in the railway construction and own shares in the railway. The annual profit share of the railway and the growth of the railway's own assets will increase the growth of this part of the funds."

"This money must be invested with caution. We cannot invest in high-risk projects that could lead to losses. This is the retirement fund of the entire nation. If there is a problem with the management of this part of the fund, it will be a major event that will shake the world."

Of the three pillars of New China's economic development—investment, foreign trade, and consumption—investment has always been the largest driver. This is determined by the nature of New China as a socialist country.

Especially at the current stage of China's economic development, it is even more dependent on state investment, because state investment is the largest consumption.

Social security funds cannot just sit there in accounts. They must participate in national investment, not only supporting national development but also allowing social security funds to expand along with national industrialization.

The Chairman's face grew increasingly serious as he listened to Wei Hongjun's plan for social security funding, as this was a major undertaking that would change the entire retirement system.

The Chairman spoke more and more slowly. The issue of pensions was something he had never considered before. The pension plan Wei Hongjun had described was very pleasing to the Chairman, and he needed to consider it more deeply.

The Chairman deeply supports the basic spirit of Wei Hongjun's pension because, in his view, this is the basic spirit of Marxism-Leninism and socialism.

Many central government officials confuse New Democracy with socialism. They often assume that the primary stage of socialism is New Democracy, and therefore approach socialist construction with a New Democratic perspective. They dismiss many issues of inequality as normal.

But how can this be the same? Although New Democracy has the word "new" in it, it is still a bourgeois revolution and is different from socialism.

Wei Hongjun was bold in economic policies, but in other areas, especially in politics, the policies he promoted were socialist policies.

The pension plan proposed by Wei Hongjun is the one that best aligns with the fundamental spirit of socialism and is what the Chairman has always pursued.

But the more this happened, the more the Chairman had to consider all aspects and not let such a good thing go wrong. So the Chairman thought for a while and said, "What about the retired leaders and workers?"

"Chairman, the 'Party Member and Cadre Retirement Plan' we formulated earlier cannot be overturned so quickly. Therefore, for the middle and senior leaders of the Party and the state who participated in the revolution in the early years, we should still retain certain retirement benefits."

Wei Hongjun hoped for complete agreement, but he knew this was unrealistic.

With so many senior Party and state leaders, how can you let them retire with a pension of less than 100 yuan? Retirement is already a huge gap for many cadres. If you don't give them some benefits in retirement benefits, there will inevitably be a huge backlash.

That would even directly affect the smooth retirement of leading Party and state officials. Therefore, Wei Hongjun also needed to compromise in this regard.

Middle and senior cadres of the Party and the government must still retain certain benefits so that they can retire peacefully.

"Chairman, we can follow two lines in the first phase. Senior Party and state officials who participated in the revolution during the revolutionary era and the newly established social security fund will each be managed separately. However, those officials who enjoy retirement benefits must have clear restrictions, such as years of participation in the revolution, rank, and so on. After 20 or 30 years, one side will gradually disappear, and only the social security fund will remain."

The chairman did not speak this time.

The Chairman also knew that this question was very difficult. After all, many veteran cadres had been in the revolution for many years, so why should they receive a pension like ordinary people after retirement?

This is a very real problem. Even the Chairman couldn't solve it, let alone Wei Hongjun. Therefore, a compromise with these veteran cadres was necessary.

Wei Hongjun continued: "Chairman, this is not all about the pension, this is part of the basic pension."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. Basic pensions are mandatory for all salaried workers. But some people can also find ways to receive pension insurance. Some people have extra money on hand and can choose to pay a portion of it themselves as pension insurance."

"Basic pensions and pension insurance are not the same account. Pension insurance is an insurance industry. Pension insurance pays out pension benefits after retirement based on the amount paid by individuals. This country does not mandate it."

China has experienced a century of war and plunder by the compradors of the great powers, and has also undergone socialist transformation. Is there any hidden wealth among the people?

Actually, there were. Apart from other things, local landlords had plenty of ways to hide money, especially gold and silver jewelry. However, with the development of New China's socialist economy, Wei Hongjun doesn't care whether former landlords hid money, and even if they did, he wouldn't confiscate their property. Because the rural cooperative economy was developing smoothly, the fact that one or two landlords hid money wasn't a big deal.

The Secretariat and the Rural Work Department now mainly emphasize the stability of rural policies and resolutely resist the "communist style" of grassroots governments.

Wei Hongjun had issued numerous documents within the Secretariat, dictating that anyone who engaged in local "communist practices" or arbitrarily nationalized means of subsistence would be expelled from the Party. Because the Ninth National Congress had adopted the thesis on the primary stage of socialism, Wei Hongjun could legitimately crack down on "communist practices" within the Secretariat.

This is true for local landlords. While there aren't many wealthy people in New China's cities, they do have a significant number. There are also some dual-income families, and if the family burden isn't heavy, they often have savings, which add up to a significant amount.

They generally don't use their savings easily, resulting in their savings becoming dead money, completely illiquid. We can't force them to spend money or deposit it in the bank, so we can only establish pension insurance in addition to their basic pension. In short, the goal is to expand their channels for spending money.

New China did have insurance companies. The People's Insurance Company of China was established one month after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1948. However, it didn't have much business, so the insurance industry in New China was relatively sluggish.

The establishment of pension insurance has two purposes: first, it can collect private funds and use them for national construction; second, it can develop China's insurance industry and also develop the individual pension insurance industry.

The Chairman had heard a lot of Wei Hongjun's new ideas today. So, he concluded, "When you return to Beijing, first discuss with Comrade Chen Tanqiu and Comrade Tan Zhenlin a framework for cadre leave and recuperation. Then, discuss the pension insurance issue with Comrade Zhou Bin. As for the basic pension issue, don't make it public yet. Let's resolve the previous issues first."

"Yes."

"Also, I'll find time to write a report on the relationship between macroeconomic regulation and industrial population. Aside from my trips to Shanghai and Zhejiang, all other trips will be canceled. I'll try to return to Beijing in two weeks."

1078 Electronics Industry

After the conversation between Chairman Mao and Wei Hongjun, Chairman Mao went to Shanghai and Zhejiang for inspection, while Wei Hongjun immediately returned to Beijing.

The Chairman shortened the inspection period to half a month, so before the Chairman returned to Beijing, Wei Hongjun had to deal with some things in advance and make certain preparations.

The first is the issue of cadres "leaving their jobs for rest and recuperation". Now not only in the party and government organs, but also in the military departments, there are cadres who occupy positions but do not handle their work due to health reasons. And there are quite a few of these cadres.

This is mainly because everyone always thinks that they are old revolutionaries, old party members, and old comrades who fought through life and death in the revolutionary era.

The purpose of conquering the world is to rule it. You can't deny him a position just because he's in poor health. Not having a position is like being exiled. So even if he's in poor health and can't handle daily work, he still retains his position.

There are also some cadres who are in poor health but still insist on working, and ultimately they are overdrawing their lives.

This is not a normal situation and must be resolved as soon as possible.

But this issue involves too many party members and cadres, so not only Wei Hongjun, but even the chairman cannot make a direct decision. If he were to be stripped of his position directly, who knows what kind of trouble would ensue.

Therefore, after returning to Beijing, the Chairman needed to communicate with many central leaders and gain their support before implementation could take place. Wei Hongjun's job was to lay out a rough framework in advance so that the Chairman could convince everyone.

Therefore, the framework for "leave and recuperation" cannot be too extreme and must take into account the interests of all parties. There must be certain compromises to gain acceptance within the party.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun, Chen Tanqiu, and Tan Zhenlin discussed the issue of "leave and recuperation" separately because this issue cannot be spread.

After several discussions, Chen Tanqiu came up with a rough plan.

To persuade those veteran cadres in poor health to take a break, and primarily to reduce resistance, the first step in implementing the "leave and recuperate" policy should be to be gentle. We shouldn't force all cadres in poor health to leave their posts. This would likely provoke opposition from many within the Party.

Furthermore, "leave of absence" can be divided into two categories. One is a health problem, but it's not a life-threatening one. It simply requires a period of recuperation, and once you've recovered, you can still work. This can be considered a short-term leave of absence.

Another type is someone whose physical condition is completely incapable of working, like Li Kenong, who is completely unable to handle anything. For this type of person, there is no way to recover, and it can be said that there is basically no possibility of returning to work.