On How Human Liberation Generates a Powerful Driving Force for Modernization

An obvious historical fact is that since humanity entered the threshold of modernity, human liberation has gradually become an irresistible historical trend in human society. So-called human liberation refers primarily to the gradual enhancement of human practical and cognitive abilities, along with the formation and development of science, technology, and modern productive forces, and their continuous realization of historic leaps. As a result, people gradually shake off the various economic, social, and natural fetters and bonds imposed on them by traditional societies of the past; their subjective initiative is greatly strengthened, their passive spontaneity correspondingly weakened, and people increasingly come to survive and develop in a manner that conforms to their own nature, that is, to the principle of being human. As Marx pointed out: “Any liberation is the return of the human world and of human relationships to man himself.” [1]1 Karl Marx, “On the Jewish Question,” in Marx/Engels Collected Works, vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 168. For modernization, human liberation has fundamental significance. Xi Jinping pointed out: “The ultimate goal of modernization is the free and comprehensive development of the individual.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, speech at the opening ceremony of the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, March 15, 2023. Moreover, human liberation is also of great significance for generating the driving force of modernization, to the extent that without human liberation, the driving force of modernization cannot even be discussed. In addition, it must also be noted that, objectively speaking, there is a certain possibility of human liberation getting out of control, such as the excessive expansion of human needs, the loss of control over capital, the materialization of human beings, and the destruction of the ecological environment. These problems will in turn cause many negative effects on modernization. To ensure that the modernization process advances sustainably and healthily, these problems must be effectively prevented and resolved.

一个显而易见的历史事实是，自人类迈入现代的门槛以来，人的解放便逐渐成为人类社会一种不可阻挡的历史潮流。所谓人的解放，主要是指随着科学技术和现代生产力的逐渐形成和发展，人的实践能力和认知能力逐渐提高，并不断实现历史性的飞跃。由此，人逐渐摆脱以往传统社会在经济、社会、自然等方面对于人的种种禁锢和束缚，人的主观能动性大幅度增强，被动自发性相应地明显减弱，人越来越能够以符合其本性亦即人的原则的方式来生存和发展。正如马克思所指出的那样：“任何解放都是使人的世界即各种关系回归于人自身。”对于现代化建设来说，人的解放具有根本性的意义。习近平指出：“现代化的最终目标是实现人自由而全面的发展。”不仅如此，人的解放还对于催生现代化动力具有重大意义，以致于离开了人的解放，现代化动力就无从谈起。另外，还需要注意的是，客观上看，人的解放也存在一定的失控的可能性，如人的需要的过度化、资本的失控、人的物质化、生态环境的破坏等问题的出现，而这些问题又会给现代化建设造成诸多负面影响。为了确保现代化进程持续而健康地推进，对于这些问题必须予以有效防范和解决。

I. The Autonomy of Members of Society Constitutes the Solid Foundation of the Driving Force for Modernization

一、社会成员的自主性构成现代化动力的坚实基础

Society is an organic whole composed of countless individual members of society; the main force of social development is all members of society. At the most fundamental level, that is, at the level of the material composition of society, the state of the basic behavioral orientation of members of society determines, to a certain extent, the total size of the basic potential contained in that society, and has a broad and far-reaching foundational impact on a society’s driving force for development.

社会是由无数个具体的社会成员共同构成的一个有机整体，社会发展的主体力量是所有社会成员。从最为基础的层面上讲，也就是从社会的质料构成层面上讲，社会成员基本行为取向状况如何，在一定程度上决定着这个社会所蕴含的基本潜能总量的大小，对于一个社会的发展动力具有广泛而深远的基础性影响。

In traditional society, the whole society exhibited a hierarchical structure. Under these conditions, the relationships between people showed a characteristic of dependency, that is, for the majority of members of society, their basic behavioral orientation had no independence, autonomy, or equality; all their actions and thoughts were dependent on or subordinate to others, mainly manifested in a lack of basic human dignity, the lack of basic guarantees for the right to life and property, and severe exploitation and oppression in daily production and life. Under normal circumstances, this widespread lack of independence, autonomy, and equality made it impossible for the majority of members of society to have enthusiasm for production and intellectual creation. Correspondingly, social and economic development could only proceed very slowly, with little evolutionary progress. With the advancement of the modernization process and the formation of the tide of human liberation, important values such as freedom and equality gradually became universally recognized by the vast majority of members of society. Xi Jinping pointed out that “fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom” are “common values of all humanity.” [3]3 Xi Jinping, speech at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, December 1, 2017. Based on these gradually formed advanced concepts, members of society will inevitably eliminate the previous dependent behavioral orientation and gradually form an autonomous behavioral orientation. This autonomous behavioral orientation of members of society has the following main characteristics.

在传统社会当中，整个社会呈现出一种等级制的结构。在这种条件下，人与人之间的关系呈现出一种依附性的特征，即就大多数社会成员而言，其基本行为取向没有独立性、自主性、平等性可言，其一切行为及思想皆依附或隶属于他人，主要表现为缺少起码的人的尊严，生命权和财产权得不到应有的基本保障，日常生产生活遭受严重的剥削和压迫。在一般情形下，这种独立性、自主性、平等性的普遍缺失，使得大多数社会成员不可能具有生产及思想创造的热情。相应地，社会经济的发展只能是呈现出十分缓慢前行、进化度很小的情状。而随着现代化进程的推进，随着人的解放潮流的形成，自由、平等等重要价值理念逐渐为绝大多数社会成员所普遍认同。习近平指出，“公平、正义、民主、自由”是“全人类共同价值”。基于逐渐形成的先进理念，社会成员必然会消除以往依附性的行为取向，而逐渐形成一种自主性的行为取向。社会成员的这种自主性行为取向具有这样几个主要特征。

First, independence. In modern society, every member of society is their own master, an independent decision-making natural “legal person,” has the right to decide, within the scope permitted by law, what they want to do according to their own will, and must bear the corresponding responsibility for the consequences of their actions. In other words, “my affairs are decided by me,” “my affairs are my responsibility.” Moreover, every member of society also has the responsibility to participate in necessary social activities, to undertake certain social obligations, and to realize the unity of individual rights and social obligations. Marx pointed out: “No one can demand rights and civil rights for himself without also demanding them for everyone who does his duty. There are no rights without duties, no duties without rights.” [4]4 Karl Marx, “Critique of the Gotha Programme,” in Marx/Engels Selected Works, vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1970), p. 19. In addition, the autonomy of members of society is also manifested in an achieved (acquired) behavioral orientation. In traditional society, members of society generally recognized an ascribed behavioral orientation, that is, whether a member of society could achieve upward social mobility mainly depended on whether they had innate advantages in family, race, gender, etc., rather than on acquired effort and ability. In contrast, in modern society, “roles oriented toward achievement are roles that emphasize the performance of the actor.” [5]5 Talcott Parsons, The Social System (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1951), p. 64. What members of society generally recognize is obtaining the living conditions they desire through their own efforts, skills, and actual work performance.

第一，独立性。在现代社会当中，每一个社会成员都是其自身的主人，都是独立决策的自然“法人”，都有权在法律允许的范围内根据自己的意愿来决定自己意欲做的事情，也都应当为自己的行为后果承担相应的责任。换言之，就是“我的事情我做主”，“我的事情我担责”。不仅如此，每一个社会成员还有责任参与必需的社会活动，承担一定的社会义务，实现个人权利和社会义务的统一。马克思指出：“一个人有责任不仅为自己本人，而且为每一个履行自己义务的人要求人权和公民权。没有无义务的权利，也没有无权利的义务。”此外，社会成员的自主性还表现为自致性（后致性）的行为取向。在传统社会当中，社会成员普遍认同的是一种先赋性的行为取向，即社会成员能否实现向上的社会流动，主要取决于其是否具有家庭、种族、性别等方面的先天优势，而不是后天的努力及能力。与之不同的是，在现代社会当中，“以成就为取向的角色是强调当事人表现的角色”。社会成员所普遍认同的，是通过自身的努力、技能以及实际的工作业绩，来获得自己意欲得到的生活处境。

Second, their own interest demands. Regardless of the era, the issue of interests is extremely important for members of society. As Marx pointed out: “Everything people fight for is related to their interests.” [6]6 Karl Marx, “Debates on the Law on Thefts of Wood,” in Marx/Engels Collected Works, vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 225. However, specifically, there are still certain differences in the degree to which members of society in traditional and modern societies value their own interests. Compared with traditional society, members of modern society place greater importance on their own practical interests. First, overall, members of modern society value their own real life more. In medieval European society, the color of religious life was extremely strong. The church, in the name of God, dominated people’s spiritual life and a large part of daily life. At that time, members of society valued most the heavenly life in the other world, hoping through a lifetime of hard labor, strict observance of religious rules, and an ascetic lifestyle to atone for their innate original sin and obtain a ticket to enter heaven. Moreover, some members of society, out of heartfelt piety, would donate more money to the church on top of the tithe, hoping to atone for their original sin sooner. These undoubtedly aggravated the suffering of people’s real life. In contrast, although people in traditional Chinese society placed more emphasis on secular life, the extremely backward productive forces, the social orientation of “rectifying the righteousness without seeking profit,” [7]7 A classical Confucian maxim from Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE), emphasizing moral righteousness over material profit. and the deeply ingrained frugal consciousness in people’s minds meant that the life expectations of most members of society at that time could only be limited to guaranteeing the basic bottom line of life, that is, maintaining simple population production and reproduction, at most hoping for a slight improvement in basic life on this basis. With the advancement of the modernization process and the process of human liberation, the pursuit of members of society to improve their own real life has increasingly gained legitimate grounds, leading to an increasingly heavy overall demand for practical interests. Second, the interest demands of individual members of society will increase. In traditional society, people’s production and life were mostly carried out with the manor or clan or family as the basic unit. For each individual member of society, because they lacked autonomy in production, their specific interest demands needed to be indirectly reflected through the entire manor or clan or family. Although a large number of members of society worked hard, their labor was often in a habitual, instinctive state, that is, all production and life activities were arranged by the manor lord or the head of the clan or family. Under such circumstances, the immediate interest demands of each member of society were relatively not very direct or prominent. In comparison, modern society has obvious differences. In modern society, with the expansion of production scale and the refinement of the social division of labor, the function of the family has undergone great changes. The production function of most families has weakened or even disappeared, and has been transferred to socialized production departments; the size of the family has also changed from large to small. Most members of society must independently undertake production, management, or other labor responsibilities in factories or institutions outside the family, thereby obtaining the necessary income to maintain their own and their family’s survival and development. In other words, the burden of economic activity falls specifically on each individual member of society. As a result, the interest demands of individual members of society will inevitably become more direct and prominent.

第二，自身的利益诉求。无论是在哪个时代，利益问题对于社会成员来说都是极为重要的问题。正如马克思所指出的那样：“人们为之奋斗的一切，都同他们的利益有关。”不过，具体来看，传统社会和现代社会当中的社会成员对于自身利益的看重程度还是有一定差别的。比之传统社会，现代社会的成员更加重视自身的现实利益问题。一是整体而言，现代社会成员更为看重自身的现实生活。在欧洲中世纪社会，宗教生活的色彩极为浓厚。教会以上帝的名义左右着人们的精神生活和大量的日常生活。当时的社会成员最为看重的是彼岸世界的天国生活，希冀通过自身一生的艰苦劳作、恪守教规，以禁欲主义的生活方式来赎清自身与生俱来的原罪，而获得进入天国的入场券。不仅如此，有些社会成员出于发自内心的虔诚，在十一税的基础上，还要为教会捐助更多的钱财，以期早日赎清自身的原罪。这些无疑加重了人们现实生活的苦难。相比之下，虽然中国传统社会中的人们更加重视世俗化的生活，但是极为落后的生产力、“正其谊不谋其利”的社会导向以及人们头脑中根深蒂固的节俭意识，使得当时大多数社会成员的生活期许只能限于基本生活底线的保障，即维系简单的人口生产和再生产，最多是希望在此基础之上，对基本生活略有改善而已。而随着现代化进程、人的解放进程的推进，社会成员关于改善自身现实生活的追求越来越具有了正当性依据，从而导致其整体的现实利益诉求越来越重。二是单个社会成员的切身利益诉求会加重。在传统社会当中，人们的生产生活多是以庄园或家族、家庭为基本单元来进行的。具体到每一个社会成员来说，由于其缺少生产上的自主性，因而其具体的利益诉求就需要通过整个庄园或家族、家庭而间接地反映出来。大量社会成员虽然艰苦劳作，但其劳作常常处在一种习以为常的本能化情状，即一切生产生活活动均听由庄园主或家族、家庭主事人予以安排。在这样的情形下，每一个社会成员切身的利益诉求相对来说还不是十分直接和凸显。与之相比，现代社会则有明显的差别。在现代社会当中，随着生产规模的扩大以及社会分工的细化，家庭的功能发生了很大的变化，大多数家庭的生产功能已经减弱甚至已然消失，并转而交至社会化的生产部门，家庭的规模也随之由大变小；大多数社会成员必须在家庭之外的工厂或机构中独立地承担起生产、经营或其他劳动的职责，以此获取必要的收入来维系自己及家人的生存和发展。换言之，经济活动的重担具体落实到每一个社会成员那里。由此，单个社会成员的利益诉求也必然会表现得更加直接和凸显。

Third, rationalization. In modern society, the actual economic and social conditions make rational cognition and judgment a reality for social members. On the one hand, under the conditions of a market economy, rational cost accounting becomes a skill that every social member must master; otherwise, it is difficult to survive and develop in a fiercely competitive environment. On the other hand, the development of modern productive forces has an irreplaceable and significant practical impact on the formation of rational behavioral patterns among social members. Under the conditions of modern large-scale industry, "machinery, together with the technical knowledge (especially mathematical knowledge) required for its use, contains rational and universally applicable norms, thereby constraining those who use it and often impelling individual and social attitudes to approximate increasingly to mechanical norms." [8]8 The original Chinese text cites a passage from the sociologist Max Weber, though the exact source is not specified in the paragraph. The rational cognition and judgment of social members include at least the following important elements. First, assessing the ratio between costs and benefits. Only through a certain degree of rational analysis can people reduce their production costs, transaction costs, and living costs, thereby achieving the relative maximization of the benefits of their own economic activities, or at least ensuring that their production input costs are lower than the income obtained. Second, valuing win-win cooperation. Humans are social animals; no social member can do without normal social interaction and social cooperation. Moreover, as the modernization process advances, the social division of labor becomes increasingly complex, and the degree of specialization and professionalization in society grows ever higher. Under such circumstances, the production activities of any social member become increasingly inseparable from cooperation with others. In the long run, once social cooperation is damaged, all parties will suffer. Third, paying attention to the prevention of social risks. Modern society is one where risks increasingly accumulate and intensify. Faced with various social risks, every social member should possess a sense of urgency and rational actions to resist corresponding risks, such as making necessary savings, participating in various indispensable social insurance schemes, and so on.

第三，理性化。在现代社会，现实的经济社会状况使得社会成员的理性化认知和判断成为一种现实。一方面，在市场经济条件下，理性的成本核算成为每一个社会成员都必须掌握的技能，否则便难以在激烈的竞争环境当中生存和发展。另一方面，现代生产力的发展对于社会成员理性化行为方式的形成有着不可替代的重要现实影响。在现代大工业条件下，“机器以及使用机器的技术知识（特别是数学知识）包含着理性的和普遍适用的规范，从而约束了使用它们的人，往往促使个人态度和社会态度大致上越来越接近于机械的规范”。社会成员的理性化认知和判断至少包括如下一些重要内容。其一，判断成本与收益之间的比例关系。人们只有通过一定的理性分析，方能降低自身的生产成本、交易成本和生活成本，从而实现自身经济活动效益的相对最大化，至少必须使自己的生产投入费用低于收益所得。其二，重视合作共赢。人是社会性的动物，任何一个社会成员都离不开正常的社会交往和社会合作。况且，随着现代化进程的推进，社会分工越来越复杂，社会的专业化和职业化程度越来越高。在这样的情形下，任何一个社会成员的生产活动都越来越离不开与他人的合作。长远看，社会合作一旦受到损害，那么将一损俱损。其三，重视社会风险的防范。现代社会是一个风险愈益积累、愈益加大的社会。面对种种社会风险，任何一个社会成员都应当具有忧患意识和相应的抵御风险的理性举动，如进行必要的储蓄，参加各种各样必不可少的社会保险，等等。

Fourth, competitiveness. An important institutional arrangement of modern society is the market economy system. The market economy system is compatible with the development of modern productive forces and can effectively promote their development. As Xi Jinping pointed out: "Both theory and practice prove that market allocation of resources is the most efficient form." [9]9 Xi Jinping, "Explanatory Notes on the 'Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform'" (November 9, 2013). Furthermore, the market economy system is also an important economic institution that matches the independence, concern for self-interest, and rational behavioral patterns of social members. It carries out differentiated primary distribution according to each individual's specific contribution; those who contribute relatively more to production efficiency receive relatively higher returns. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Combine distribution according to work with distribution according to factors of production. This must fully embody distribution according to work—more pay for more work, less pay for less work, and no pay for no work. At the same time, whether it is labor, capital, land, or knowledge, technology, or management, all should receive corresponding returns according to their respective contributions." [10]10 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the 28th Collective Study Session of the Political Bureau of the 18th Central Committee" (November 23, 2015). Such an institutional arrangement inevitably organically integrates the vital interests of every social member with his or her specific efforts, thereby effectively stimulating his or her production enthusiasm and creativity, and allowing his or her potential to be fully released. In a certain sense, an important reason why the momentum for modernization can be generated on a large scale lies precisely here.

第四，竞争性。现代社会的一项重要制度安排就是市场经济体制。市场经济体制同现代生产力发展相适应，能够很好地促进现代生产力的发展。正如习近平所指出的：“理论和实践都证明，市场配置资源是最有效率的形式。”再者，市场经济体制也是一种能够与社会成员的独立性、重视自身利益以及理性化行为方式相匹配的重要经济制度。它按照每个人的具体贡献来进行有差别的初次分配，谁对生产效率的贡献相对较大，谁就获得相对较高的收益。习近平指出：“把按劳分配和按生产要素分配结合起来。这就要充分体现按劳分配，多劳多得、少劳少得、不劳不得。同时，无论是劳动、资本、土地，还是知识、技术、管理，都应该按各自贡献获得相应回报。”这样的制度安排必然将每一个社会成员的切身利益同他的具体付出有机地结合在一起，由此便能有效地激发出他的生产积极性和创造性，使其潜能得以充分释放。从一定意义上讲，现代化动力之所以能够大面积生成，一个重要的原因就在于此。

From the above, it can be seen that with the advancement of the modernization process, human liberation has become a historical trend. It will gradually give rise to modern values such as freedom and equality among social members and promote their universalization, turning them into matters for the broad masses of the people. The popularization of modern values such as freedom and equality will further give rise to and promote the universalization of autonomous behavioral orientations among social members. The gradual universalization of autonomous behavioral orientations among social members means the universal formation of their independence, thereby making every social member an independent unit of the source of modernization momentum. It also means the universal intensification of social members' demands for their own vital interests, thereby providing a broad social foundation for the enhancement of modernization momentum. At the same time, it means the universal formation of rational behavioral patterns and competitive consciousness among social members, thereby making possible the formation and efficient release of modernization momentum. All these factors, at the universal material level of social members, provide countless independent growth points for modernization momentum, laying a large-scale, solid, and deep foundation of kinetic energy. In a certain sense, compared with traditional society, the fundamental reason why modernization momentum can be continuously activated lies precisely here.

由上可见，随着现代化进程的推进，人的解放成为一种历史潮流。它将逐渐催生社会成员的自由、平等等现代价值观并推动其普遍化，使之成为广大人民的事情。而自由、平等等现代价值观的普及又会进一步催生并推动社会成员自主性行为取向的普遍化。社会成员自主性行为取向的逐渐普遍化，意味着社会成员独立性的普遍形成，进而使得每一个社会成员都会成为现代化动力来源的独立单元。这也意味着社会成员切身利益诉求的普遍加重，进而使得现代化动力的增强具有了广泛的社会基础，同时意味着社会成员理性化行为方式以及竞争意识的普遍形成，进而使得现代化动力的形成和高效率释放成为可能。凡此种种，从社会成员这样一个普遍的质料层面上，为现代化动力提供了无数个独立的生长点，奠定了大面积的、坚实的、深厚的动能基础。从一定意义上讲，比之传统社会，现代化动力之所以能够得以持续激活，其基础性的原因就在于此。

II. The Vast Space for Activity of Social Members Continuously Enhances Modernization Momentum

二、社会成员的巨大活动空间持续增强现代化动力

The extent of the space for survival and development of social members largely determines the degree to which their potential can be developed, and thereby affects the strength of the modernization momentum of the country in which they live. In other words, the strength of a country's modernization momentum depends, to a certain extent, on the size of the space for survival and development that the country provides for its social members. This is because the space for survival and development possessed by social members is related to the way in which they can aggregate and allocate resources and engage in production and creative activities, and to how already liberated social members can continuously enhance the momentum of modernization.

社会成员生存和发展空间如何，在很大程度上决定着其潜能开发程度的大小，进而影响到其所在国家现代化发展动力的强弱。换言之，一个国家现代化发展的动力有多大，在一定程度上取决于这个国家为其社会成员提供的生存和发展空间有多大。这是因为，社会成员所拥有的生存和发展空间，关系到其能够以怎样的方式聚合和配置资源并进行生产创造活动，关系到已经获得解放的社会成员何以持续增强现代化的动力。

Under the conditions of traditional society, because the spatial scale of people's production activities was extremely narrow, it was impossible to effectively accommodate a large number of production factors, or to achieve extensive and effective resource allocation. This meant that people's production lacked useful reference and comparison, and thus efficient production could not be achieved. At the same time, because there was no, or at least to a large extent no, competition among people, nor the external pressure generated by competition, it was impossible to effectively stimulate the creative vitality of the entire society. All these factors meant that people in traditional society were in a state of obvious constraint and confinement, their potential was difficult to develop effectively, and thus traditional society clearly lacked forward momentum, making it difficult to achieve major leaps or breakthroughs. Compared with traditional society, modernization, based on modern large-scale industry and the modern market economy, has broken through the limitations of narrow spaces and self-sufficient states, enabling people to gradually achieve great liberation. This is prominently manifested in the large-scale and substantial expansion of the space for survival and development of social members, the maximum aggregation and effective allocation of production factors, and the consequent acquisition of powerful momentum for modernization. As *The Communist Manifesto* pointed out: "The place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, with which we are familiar, has been taken by an intercommunication and interdependence of nations in every direction. And as in material, so also in intellectual production." [11]11 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Communist Manifesto* (1848).

在传统社会条件下，由于人们从事生产的空间规模十分狭小，因而无法有效地容纳大量的生产要素，或者说无法实现广泛、有效的资源配置，这就使人们的生产缺少有益的参照借鉴，进而无法实现高效率的生产。同时，也由于人与人之间不存在，至少在很大程度上不存在竞争性以及由竞争性所产生的外在压力，因而无法有效地激发整个社会的创造活力。凡此种种，使得传统社会中的人们处在一种明显的被束缚、被禁锢的状态当中，其潜能难以得到有效开发，进而使得传统社会明显缺乏前行动力，难以出现大的飞跃性突破。比之传统社会，以现代大工业以及现代市场经济为基础的现代化，破除了狭小空间和自给自足状态的限制，使人们逐渐获得巨大的解放。这突出地表现为社会成员生存和发展空间的大面积、大幅度扩展，生产要素得到最大限度的聚集和有效配置，现代化由此获得强劲的动力。正如《共产党宣言》所指出的那样：“过去那种地方的和民族的自给自足和闭关自守状态，被各民族的各方面的互相往来和各方面的互相依赖所代替了。物质的生产是如此，精神的生产也是如此。”

First, large-scale and high-magnitude social mobility helps strengthen the driving force for modernization. Under modern large-scale industry and the market economy, members of society have achieved unprecedented large-scale and high-magnitude social mobility. Marx pointed out that modern industry “constantly revolutionizes the division of labor within society, and incessantly throws masses of capital and of workers from one branch of production to another. Thus, the nature of large-scale industry determines the change of labor, the movement of functions, and the all-round mobility of the worker.” [12]12 Karl Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1, ch. 15, section 9. The English translation follows the standard Moore-Aveling edition. Faced with this situation, the natural economy based on manors or clans and families as its basic units was utterly incapable of competing; the production function and the livelihood function of the family gradually separated, with a large proportion of the production function shifting to socialized large-scale production. Correspondingly, the occupational ties of members of society gradually replaced former geographical and blood ties. Large numbers of members of society moved from the countryside to the cities, from the primary sector to the secondary and tertiary sectors, from economically underdeveloped regions to economically developed regions, and some members of society even joined the process of economic globalization in various ways. On the one hand, this enables the effective concentration and allocation of factors of production within a broad space for activity. The effective concentration and allocation of factors of production depends on the breadth of the space for resource selection. If production resources are concentrated and allocated only within a narrow space, then, due to the limited room for choice, many truly high-quality resources cannot be absorbed, and production efficiency is unlikely to be high. Conversely, if factors of production are selected within a broad space, then, because there are many candidates, the probability of fully attracting high-quality resources and forming the optimal combination increases. Furthermore, if factors of production achieve optimal allocation—that is, a combination that maximizes cost-effectiveness—then it becomes highly probable that production efficiency will increase. On the other hand, this enables a country’s modernization drive to form comparative advantages in certain respects. From a global perspective, the growth points of modernization with the lowest costs, the most nourishment, and relatively short growth cycles are not necessarily concentrated in a single country but are often scattered across many countries. For a specific country, if its land area is not very large, its endowment of natural resources is not advantageous, and it is also in a relatively closed state, then it is difficult for its modernization drive to form its own comparative advantages. To avoid these objective disadvantages, if that country can open its doors, while adhering to national autonomy, implement relatively full opening up, enable its own factors of production to flow relatively fully on a global scale, and, by leveraging its own advantages in some respect—such as a high-level talent pool or locational advantages—combine them with the relevant factors of production of other countries that need these advantages, then it will be relatively easy to form growth points for modern industries with certain comparative advantages.

第一，大面积、大幅度的社会流动有助于增强现代化动力。在现代大工业和市场经济条件下，社会成员实现了前所未有的大面积、大幅度的社会流动。马克思指出，现代工业“不断地使社会内部的分工发生革命，不断地把大量资本和大批工人从一个生产部门投到另一个生产部门。因此，大工业的本性决定了劳动的变换、职能的更动和工人的全面流动性”。面对这种情况，以往以庄园或家族、家庭为基本单元的自然经济毫无竞争能力，家庭的生产功能和生活功能逐渐分离，其中大比例的生产功能移至社会化的大生产当中。与之相适应的是，社会成员的业缘关系逐渐取代了以往的地缘关系和血缘关系，大量社会成员从农村转移到城市，从第一产业部门转移到第二产业和第三产业部门，从经济不发达的区域转移到经济发达的区域，一些社会成员甚至以各种各样的方式加入到经济的全球化进程当中。这一方面使生产要素得以在广阔的活动空间当中实现有效聚集和配置。生产要素的有效聚集和配置，有赖于资源选择空间的广阔性。如果只是在一个狭小的空间当中去聚集和配置生产资源，那么由于选择余地的狭小，很多真正优质的资源无法被吸收进来，生产效率很难是高效的。相反，如果在广阔的空间当中来选择生产要素，那么由于备选者众多，将优质资源充分吸引进来并形成最优搭配的概率就会增大。进一步看，如果生产要素实现了最优配置亦即性价比最大化的搭配，也就意味着生产效率的提高成为了一件大概率的事情。另一方面，这能够使某个国家的现代化建设在某些方面形成比较优势。从世界范围看，成本最低、养料最多以及生长周期相对较短的现代化生长点并不见得都集中于某一个国家当中，而往往分散在多个国家当中。对于一个具体的国家来说，如果其国土面积不是很大，自然资源拥有量不占优势，而且又处在较为封闭的状态，那么其现代化建设就很难形成自身的比较优势。为避免这些客观上的不利因素，如果该国能够打开国门，在坚持民族自主性的条件下，实行较为充分的对外开放，使自身的生产要素在世界范围内进行较为充分的流动，并借助自身在某个方面的优势，如高水准的人才队伍或是区位上的优势，同对于这些优势有着需要的其他国家的相关生产要素结合在一起，那么相对来说就容易形成具有某种比较优势的现代产业生长点。

Second, the expansion of the space for activity of members of society fills the whole society with creative vitality. First, numerous opportunities are available for choice. For members of society, regarding the occupational activities they engage in, there is also the question of whether they can choose according to their own will. If the room for occupational choice is very narrow, then the production initiative and creativity of members of society will both decline. Conversely, if “the more unimpeded social mobility is, and the higher the rate of social mobility, the more it can mobilize the initiative of all social strata, especially the middle and lower strata, filling them with hope, and enabling them, through the rule of acquired attributes—that is, through their own subsequent hard work and struggle—to realize upward mobility to a higher social status.” [13]13 Wu Zhongmin, *Shehuixue lilun* [Sociological Theory], Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2021, p. 256. Seen in this light, a larger space for activity helps large numbers of members of society find occupations that are more suitable and better able to stimulate their own potential. Second, numerous people and things are available for exchange. In modern society, because people’s space for activity is broad, and the degree of heterogeneity of the people and objects they encounter is relatively high, they can obtain a large number of valuable reference points, thereby gaining a wealth of experience and lessons to draw upon and learn from, enabling them to pursue goals with models and to guard against mistakes with warnings. In this way, given time, members of society can gradually engage in synthetic re-creation, thereby promoting the generation of something new that is different both from their own past and from what others have created. The phenomenon of a substantial increase in the creative capacity of members of society in modern society can be corroborated from the perspective of the rapid increase in the number of patent applications. From 2000 to 2020, the number of resident patent applications worldwide surged from 874,800 to 2,304,400, an increase of 163%; the number of non-resident patent applications surged from 502,700 to 972,300, an increase of 93%. Among these, the number of resident patent applications in China surged from 25,346 to 1,344,817, an astonishing increase of 5,200%; the number of non-resident patent applications surged from 26,560 to 152,342, an increase of 474%. Undoubtedly, these creative invention patents have a huge generative significance for the driving force of modernization.

第二，社会成员活动空间的增大使整个社会充满创造活力。其一，众多的机会可供选择。就社会成员对于自己所从事的职业活动来说，也存在一个能否按照自己的意愿来进行选择的问题。如果职业选择的余地很小，那么社会成员的生产积极性和创造性均会降低。而如果“社会流动越畅通，社会流动率越高，就越能调动社会各个阶层尤其是中低层社会成员的积极性，使他们充满希望，通过后致性规则也即通过个人后天的努力奋斗，实现上升流动到更高层次的社会地位的愿望”。这样看来，较大的活动空间有助于大量社会成员找到更加合意的、更能激发自身潜力的职业。其二，众多的人和事可供交流。在现代社会当中，由于人们活动空间的广阔性，加之所接触的人和物的异质程度较高，因而可以获得大量有价值的参照物，从而有了大量的经验和教训可供汲取和借鉴，能够做到追则有目标、戒则有教训。如是，假以时日，社会成员就能够逐渐进行化合性的再创造，从而促进某种既不同于个人以往，也不同于他人创造的新事物的生成。现代社会当中社会成员创造能力大幅度提高的现象，可以从专利申请数量的迅速增加这样一个侧面得到印证。2000至2020年，世界居民专利申请数量从874800件剧增至2304400件，增幅为163%；非居民专利申请数量从502700件剧增至972300件，增幅为93%。其中，中国居民专利申请数量从25346件增至1344817件，增幅为惊人的5200%；非居民专利申请数量从26560件增至152342件，增幅为474%。无疑，这些创造性的发明专利对于现代化动力有着巨大的催生意义。

Third, the expansion of the space for social production and life helps enhance the capacity for social cooperation. Social cooperation is a necessary condition for members of society to survive and develop. Under modern society and the market economy, although members of society are competitive, they are also inseparable from mutual cooperation. Marx pointed out that members of society “can produce only by cooperating in a certain way and mutually exchanging their activities.” [14]14 Karl Marx, “Wage Labour and Capital,” in *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 9, p. 211. Compared with traditional society, social cooperation in modern society exhibits at least two characteristics: First, the complexity of social cooperation increasingly intensifies. As the social division of labor becomes more refined, social cooperation also presents an increasingly complex situation, but at the same time the degree of social integration becomes higher and higher—that is, any party to social cooperation becomes increasingly unable to carry out production and life independently of the other cooperating parties. Second, members of society have relatively greater room for choice in mutual cooperation. Although social cooperation must follow the rule of optimal allocation of factors of production in the market economy, it cannot be denied that, within the framework of following this rule, there is still some room for choice. In this regard, due to the breadth of the space for production and life and the unimpeded channels of various social flows, members of society can, to a certain extent, freely choose with whom to cooperate and in what manner to cooperate, according to their own will. Consequently, members of society can bring a certain degree of initiative and proactivity to their mutual social cooperation, thereby raising the quality and efficiency of social cooperation to an unprecedented level. High-quality social cooperation in modern society enables the whole society to acquire a new, higher-level human capacity that transcends the simple sum of countless individual abilities, gradually raises the degree of people’s free and all-round development, and thereby greatly strengthens the driving force for modernization. As Marx pointed out, “The social activity of different individuals, restricted by the division of labor, produces a social force, namely, multiplied productive forces.” [15]15 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The German Ideology*, in *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 5, p. 53.

第三，社会生产生活空间的扩大有助于社会合作能力的提升。社会合作是社会成员得以生存和发展的必要条件。在现代社会和市场经济条件下，社会成员之间虽然具有竞争性，但也离不开相互合作。马克思指出，社会成员“只有以一定的方式共同活动和互相交换其活动，才能进行生产”。比之传统社会，现代社会当中的社会合作至少呈现出两个特征：一是社会合作的复杂性愈益增强。当社会分工愈加细化，社会合作也呈现出一种愈益复杂化的情形，但同时社会整合的程度也越来越高，即社会合作的任何一方愈益离不开其他合作方而独立地进行生产生活。二是社会成员对于相互间合作的选择余地相对较大。虽然社会合作必须遵循市场经济当中生产要素配置的最优化规则来进行，但不能否认的是，在遵循这个规则的前提下，仍然存在一定的选择余地。就此而言，由于生产生活空间的广阔性以及各种社会流动渠道的畅通，社会成员可以在一定程度上按照自己的意愿，自由选择同谁合作，以及以什么样的方式进行合作。由此，社会成员在相互间的社会合作中便能够带有一定的积极主动性，从而使社会合作的质量和效率得到前所未有的提高。现代社会当中的高质量社会合作，使得整个社会获得了一种超越无数个人能力简单相加总和的、全新的、更高层面的人的能力，使得人的自由而全面发展的程度逐渐提高，进而极大地增强了现代化动力。正如马克思指出的那样，“受分工制约的不同个人的共同活动产生了一种社会力量，即成倍增长的生产力”。

III. The Growing Demands of Members of Society Drive the Upgrading of the Driving Force for Modernization

三、社会成员日益增长的需求促成现代化动力的升级换代

The supply of social production and the needs of social members are highly correlated, in a relationship of mutual promotion and mutual constraint. There is no doubt that human needs are a major issue concerning the survival and development of all social members, and satisfying human needs is the fundamental purpose of all development, including modernization. On the one hand, fundamentally speaking, the field, level, and pattern of social members’ needs are determined by specific era conditions such as the productive forces and relations of production. On the other hand, in a certain sense, the concrete needs of social members formed under specific era conditions also relate to their relatively stable general motivations—that is, what people’s concrete needs are relates to what their concrete goals of struggle are, and further relates to what the endogenous impetus for social development is. As Marx pointed out: “Consumption creates the need for new production, that is, it creates the conceptual, inward motive for production, which is the prerequisite for production. Consumption creates the impetus for production; it also creates the object which, in production, acts as the determining purpose.” [16]16 Karl Marx, *A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy*, Introduction. See *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 28, p. 31. It can be seen that, under given conditions of productive forces and relations of production, human needs have a foundational significance as impetus for the development of the entire society.

社会生产的供给与社会成员的需求两者高度相关，是一种既相互促进、又相互制约的关系。毋庸置疑，人的需求是一个事关所有社会成员生存和发展的大问题，满足人的需求是一切发展包括现代化建设的根本性目的。一方面，从根本上讲，社会成员的需求领域、需求层级以及需求样式，是由特定的生产力和生产关系等时代条件所决定的。另一方面，从一定意义上讲，在某种特定时代条件下形成的社会成员的具体需求也关系到其较为稳定的普遍动机，即人的具体需求是怎样的关系到人的具体奋斗目标是怎样的，并进一步关系到社会发展的内生动力是怎样的。正如马克思所指出的：“消费创造出新的生产的需要，也就是创造出生产的观念上的内在动机，后者是生产的前提。消费创造出生产的动力；它也创造出在生产中作为决定目的的东西而发生作用的对象。”可以看到，在既定的生产力和生产关系条件下，人的需求对于整个社会的发展有着基础性的动力意义。

In traditional society, the level of social productive forces was extremely low, and the pace of development was very slow, causing the quantity and level of needs of the vast majority of social members to be extremely low, even limiting people’s imagination of a better life. It must be said that this was an important reason for the long-term slow progress of traditional society. In modern society, on the basis of a substantial development of productive forces, the actual satisfaction of social members’ needs—whether in terms of quantity or level—has been greatly enhanced, achieving a huge leap, with broad and far-reaching impacts. First, the baseline of social members’ basic needs has been substantially raised. Along with the development of modern productive forces, the corresponding great increase in material wealth, and the gradual establishment and improvement of the social security system, people’s level of needs has been continuously rising, and overall has clearly exceeded the standard of meeting their basic survival needs. In this regard, this is at least clearly reflected in two specific indicators: first, the proportion of the absolute poor population has been continuously declining; second, the Engel coefficient generally shows an increasingly lower trend. [17]17 The Engel coefficient measures the proportion of household income spent on food; a lower coefficient generally indicates higher living standards. Second, the needs of social members increasingly exhibit diversification, enrichment, and upgrading. There are roughly two main reasons for this. One is the increase in per capita GDP. This provides the most important material foundation for the diversification, enrichment, and upgrading of people’s needs. The other is the increase in leisure time. With the development of modern productive forces and science and technology, people are increasingly liberated from the heavy manual labor of the past, possessing more and more leisure time they can control themselves. And the increase in leisure time is also a necessary prerequisite for people’s free and comprehensive development. Marx pointed out, “Saving labor time is equal to increasing free time, that is, increasing the time for the full development of the individual.” [18]18 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*, Notebook VII. See *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, vol. 29, p. 94. It can be said that the general increase in social members’ leisure time can directly promote the diversification, enrichment, and upgrading of people’s needs. Under these new era conditions, we must “focus on meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life… continuously improving the quality and taste of people’s lives,” [19]19 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China,” July 1, 2021. which is of great significance for smoothly advancing the process of Chinese-path modernization.

在传统社会，社会生产力水平十分低下，而且发展速度很慢，致使绝大多数社会成员的需求数量和需求层次十分低下，甚至限制了人们对于美好生活的想象力。不能不说，这是传统社会长时期缓慢前行的一个重要原因。而在现代社会，在生产力大幅度发展的基础上，社会成员的实际需求，无论是从数量上看，还是从层级上看，其满足状况都得到了极大的提升，实现了巨大的飞跃，其影响广泛而深远。第一，社会成员基本需求底线大幅度提升。伴随着现代生产力的发展、相应的物质财富的极大增加以及社会保障体系的逐渐建立和完善，人们的需求层次在不断提高，从总体上看已经明显超出满足其基本生存需要的水准。就此而言，至少明显地反映在两个具体的指标上：一是绝对贫困人口比例不断下降，二是恩格尔系数普遍呈现越来越低的情形。第二，社会成员的需求愈益呈现出多样化、丰富化以及升级换代的情状。之所以会这样，主要原因大致有两个。一是人均GDP的提高。这就为人的需求的多样化、丰富化以及升级换代提供了最为重要的物质基础。二是闲暇时间的增多。随着现代生产力和科学技术的发展，人们愈益从以往繁重的体力劳动当中解放出来，拥有了越来越多的、自己能够支配的闲暇时间。而闲暇时间的增多也是人的自由而全面发展的一个必要前提。马克思指出，“节约劳动时间等于增加自由时间，即增加使个人得到充分发展的时间”。可以说，社会成员闲暇时间的普遍增加，能够直接促进人的需求的多样化、丰富化以及升级换代。在上述新的时代条件下，我们“要着眼于满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要……不断提高人民生活品质、生活品位”，这对于顺利推进中国式现代化进程具有重要意义。

As discussed earlier, in general terms, the specific state of social members’ needs is highly correlated with the creative vitality of social production, and the two promote each other. Economic activities must first meet people’s needs, and the specific state of people’s needs can also directly influence the goals and corresponding direction of economic production. At the same time, social members with strong needs will also pay attention to continuously improving their own work abilities, so as to be competent to participate in economic activities and obtain corresponding income to purchase the products they need. From this perspective, human needs have the most direct impact on the impetus for modernization, or rather, human needs are an indispensable direct impetus for modernization, capable of effectively driving the development of the modern economy. Furthermore, the gradual flourishing and continuous upgrading of social members’ needs can also drive the upgrading of the impetus for modernization. Human needs follow a law of evolution from low to high. In different stages of modernization, human needs are divided into different types or levels, thereby generating different driving forces for modernization. The development of human needs from low to high can promote the upgrading of the impetus for modernization from low to high. In traditional society, people’s desires for needs were relatively extremely low, generally remaining at the level of basic food needs, which could be satisfied solely by household-based agricultural production; hence, the primary sector held an overwhelming predominance in the entire national economic structure. In the early stage of modernization, to meet social members’ consumption demand for a huge quantity of basic industrial products, it was necessary to maintain and expand the capacity to produce these basic industrial products, which drove the upgrading of the industrial structure, with the secondary sector gradually becoming the main economic sector. In the middle stage of modernization, with the growing demand for various services, the structure of economic sectors correspondingly upgraded, specifically manifested in the increasing proportion of the tertiary sector, mainly comprising the service industry. Because human needs are so important, we must “adhere to a people-centered development philosophy. Safeguard the people’s fundamental interests, enhance the people’s well-being, and continuously realize that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people, so that the achievements of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly.” [20]20 Xi Jinping, “Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” October

前面讲到，就一般情形而言，社会成员需求的具体状况与社会生产的创造活力的关联度较高，两者相互促进。经济活动首先要满足人们的需求，而人们需求的具体状况也能直接影响经济生产的目标以及相应的投向。同时，有着强烈需求的社会成员也会注意不断提升自身的工作能力，以便能够称职地参与经济活动，并取得相应的收入，用以购买自己所需求的产品。这样看来，人的需求对于现代化动力的影响最为直接，或者说人的需求是现代化的一种必不可少的直接动力，能够有效地推动现代经济的发展。进一步讲，社会成员需求的逐渐旺盛和不断的升级换代，同样也能够推动现代化动力的升级换代。人的需求遵循由低到高的演化规律。在现代化的不同阶段，人的需求分为不同的类型或层次，从而对现代化生成不同的推动力量。人的需求的由低到高的发展，能够促进现代化动力由低到高的升级换代。在传统社会，人的需求欲望相对来说十分低下，总体上停留在以基本食品需求为主的层次，仅仅依靠一家一户的农业生产便可得到满足，因而第一产业在当时整个国民经济结构当中占有压倒优势。到了现代化的早期，为了满足社会成员对巨量的基本工业品的消费需求，就要维系和扩大生产这些基本工业品的能力，这就推动了产业结构升级换代，第二产业逐渐成为主要的经济部门。到了现代化的中期，随着人们对于各种服务的需求日益增长，经济部门结构也相应升级换代，这具体表现为以服务业为主要内容的第三产业占比越来越大。正因为人的需求如此重要，所以我们必须“坚持以人民为中心的发展思想。维护人民根本利益，增进民生福祉，不断实现发展为了人民、发展依靠人民、发展成果由人民共享，让现代化建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民”。

IV. The Rational Boundary of Human Emancipation

四、人的解放的合理边界

From the above analysis, it is not difficult for us to form the view that human emancipation is of indispensable and major significance for the continuous generation and enhancement of the impetus for modernization. However, it must also be recognized that, under the conditions of modern society and the market economy, influenced by multiple factors such as people’s own cognitive level, short-term interests, herd mentality, instinctual impulses, and the uneven advancement of human emancipation, human emancipation does not have positive effects in all circumstances. In a certain sense, although human emancipation has great historical progressive significance in effectively breaking down old era fetters such as the previous feudal hierarchy, sometimes, under certain conditions, it can create certain phenomena of alienation, generating new negative effects on the impetus for modernization. As such, this harms both the fundamental purpose of modernization and the long-term continuous generation of the impetus for modernization. In view of this, when understanding and promoting human emancipation, we should establish a rational boundary for human emancipation, in order to prevent or correct corresponding harmful phenomena, ensure that human emancipation always has a correct direction, and thus enable the impetus for modernization to be continuously and healthily generated and enhanced.

由上述分析，我们不难形成如是看法，即人的解放对于现代化动力的持续生成和增强具有不可或缺的重大意义。但同时也需要看到，在现代社会和市场经济条件下，受人本身的认知水准、短期利益、从众心理、本能冲动以及人的解放的不平衡推进等多种因素的影响，人的解放并非在任何情形下都具有正面的积极效应。从一定意义上讲，人的解放虽然有着有效破除以往封建等级制等旧的时代桎梏的巨大历史进步意义，但有时在某些条件下，却会造成某些异化现象，对现代化动力形成某些新的负面效应。如是，既有损于现代化的根本目的，也不利于现代化动力长远的持续生成。有鉴于此，我们在认识和推进人的解放时，应当确立起人的解放的合理边界，以此防止或矫正相应的有害现象，确保人的解放始终能够有一个正确的方向，从而使现代化的动力能够持续、健康地生成和增强。

First, one must not depart from the stage of development of modern productive forces. An important manifestation of human emancipation is the sustained and healthy satisfaction of people’s normal needs on the material foundation provided by the continuous development of modern productive forces. Only in this way can a person become a human being in the modern sense — that is, acquire the due dignity of a human being and gradually realize the free and all-round development of the individual. Under normal circumstances, however, people’s needs and the corresponding expectations tend to expand without limit. Marx pointed out that “man is distinguished from all other animals by the unlimited and extensive nature of his needs.” [21] An obvious common-sense fact is that the welfare needs of members of society and the corresponding expansion of their expectations often significantly exceed the normal rate of economic growth. Once the welfare needs of members of society and the corresponding expectations depart from the specific stage of development of modern productive forces, they become water without a source, a tree without roots, difficult to satisfy and realize, and moreover produce a series of negative effects. For this reason, when we discuss the issue of human emancipation, we must never detach it from the stage of development of modern productive forces; we must take the material foundation provided by modern productive forces at a specific level of development as the rational boundary for advancing human emancipation. As Xi Jinping pointed out: “Income increases must be based on increases in labor productivity, and improvements in welfare levels must be based on the sustainable growth of the economy and fiscal capacity.” [22]

第一，不能脱离现代生产力的发展阶段。人的解放的一个重要表现，就是在现代生产力不断发展的物质基础之上，持续、健康地满足人的正常需求。唯有如此，方能使一个人成为现代意义上的人，即获得应有的人的尊严并逐渐实现人的自由而全面的发展。然而，在通常情况下，人的需求及相应期望值具有无止境扩张的趋势。马克思指出，“人以其需要的无限性和广泛性区别于其他一切动物”。一个显而易见的常识是，社会成员的福利需求以及相应的期望值的扩张速度经常会明显超过正常的经济增长速度。而社会成员的福利需求以及相应期望值一旦脱离了现代生产力发展的特定阶段，便会成为一种无源之水、无本之木而难以得到满足和实现，而且还会造成一系列的负面效应。正因为如此，我们在谈论人的解放问题时，切不可脱离现代生产力的发展阶段，必须以特定发展水平的现代生产力所提供的物质基础作为推进人的解放的合理边界。正如习近平指出的那样：“收入提高必须建立在劳动生产率提高的基础上，福利水平提高必须建立在经济和财力可持续增长的基础上。”

Second, the savage growth of capital must be prevented. The history of modernization has fully proven that human emancipation and the driving force for modernization it generates are inseparable from the market economy. In a market economy, however, capital, owing to its indispensability and scarcity, possesses powerful influence and discursive power. Under certain conditions, this powerful influence and discursive power endow capital with a kind of self-starting mechanism. It is in this sense that “realizing the unlimited appreciation of capital and pursuing the maximization of material wealth is capital’s ‘natural mission.’” [23] If capital is allowed to grow savagely without restraint, it will inevitably usher in a world where the strong prey on the weak. Here, severe disparity between rich and poor will become the norm, human emancipation will be deformed and distorted, the fundamental goal of modernization — the free and all-round development of the individual — will become impossible to achieve, and the construction of modernization will thereby lose its original meaning. Specifically, in advancing and expanding Chinese-path modernization, it is necessary both to give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and to prevent the savage growth of capital. Xi Jinping pointed out: “This requires regulating the behavior of capital, steering it toward benefits and away from harm, neither allowing ‘capital sharks’ to act arbitrarily nor depriving capital of its function as a factor of production. This is a major political and economic issue that cannot be evaded.” [24]

第二，必须防止资本的野蛮生长。现代化的历史已经充分证明，人的解放以及由此形成的现代化动力离不开市场经济。然而，在市场经济中，资本由于其自身的不可或缺性和稀缺性而具有强大的影响力和话语权。在某种条件下，这种强大的影响力和话语权使得资本具有了某种自启动机制。正是从这个意义上讲，“实现资本无限增值，追逐物质财富的最大化是资本‘天然的使命’”。如果任由资本野蛮生长而不加约束，则必然迎来一个弱肉强食的世界。在这里，严重的贫富差距将成为常态，人的解放也会变形走样，人的自由而全面发展这一现代化的根本目标将不可能实现，现代化建设也由此失去原本的意义。具体到推进和拓展中国式现代化，就既要充分发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用，又要防止资本野蛮生长。习近平指出：“这就要求规范资本行为，趋利避害，既不让‘资本大鳄’恣意妄为，又要发挥资本作为生产要素的功能。这是一个不容回避的重大政治和经济问题。”

Third, one should prevent the phenomenon of people’s materialistic needs dominating society. Although material needs are the most fundamental needs for every member of society, the needs of members of society should not be limited to the material sphere alone. Viewed from different domains, the needs of members of society include both material needs and spiritual-cultural needs. Furthermore, people’s needs undergo a gradual process of development; there is a process from merely emphasizing material needs to simultaneously emphasizing both material and spiritual-cultural needs. With the development of modern productive forces, the total volume of material wealth grows ever larger; coupled with the gradual establishment and improvement of the social welfare system, the basic material needs of members of society become relatively easier to satisfy. Under such circumstances, people’s material needs gradually exhibit a certain tendency toward diminishing marginal utility; correspondingly, people’s spiritual-cultural needs exhibit a certain tendency toward increasing marginal utility. The material and spiritual-cultural needs of members of society are bound to show a trend of coordinated advancement. However, in some countries, under conditions of substantial development of modern productive forces and a substantial increase in the total volume of material wealth, a phenomenon has emerged to varying degrees in which materialistic needs are excessively emphasized while spiritual-cultural needs are relatively neglected. In these countries, various manufacturers, in order to sell their products, use advertising and other seductive means to engage in exaggerated, false, and almost all-pervasive over-promotion of their products. This causes material needs to produce an effect of “entering the mind and penetrating the heart” among large numbers of members of society, leading to non-rational behaviors such as valueless consumption, over-consumption on credit, and conspicuous consumption, as well as unhealthy mentalities such as despising the poor and currying favor with the rich, and seeking something for nothing, which emerge repeatedly or intensify continuously. In this way, many members of society exhibit an excessive, even overwhelming, materialistic need, which thereby squeezes out the space for non-material needs such as spiritual culture. In view of this, when promoting human emancipation, we should establish the basic principle of advancing both material civilization and cultural-ethical progress simultaneously. Only in this way can we ensure the correct direction of the free and all-round development of the individual, and thereby guarantee the healthy and sustainable generation and enhancement of the driving force for modernization. As Xi Jinping pointed out when discussing the issue of Chinese-path modernization: “Chinese-path modernization is a modernization in which material civilization and cultural-ethical progress are coordinated. Material abundance and spiritual enrichment are the fundamental requirements of socialist modernization. Material poverty is not socialism, nor is spiritual impoverishment. We constantly strengthen the material foundation of modernization and consolidate the material conditions for the people’s happy life, while at the same time vigorously developing advanced socialist culture, strengthening education in ideals and convictions, inheriting Chinese civilization, and promoting the all-round enrichment of things and the all-round development of the individual.” [25]

第三，应当防止人的物欲化需求左右社会的现象。虽然物质需求对于每一个社会成员来说都是最为基础性的需求，但是社会成员的需求不应仅仅限于物质方面。从不同的领域看，社会成员的需求既包括物质方面的需求，也包括精神文化方面的需求。再者，人的需求有一个逐渐发展的过程，存在一个从单纯重视物质上的需求到同时重视物质和精神文化两个方面需求的过程。随着现代生产力的发展，物质财富总量越来越大，加之社会福利体系的逐渐建立和完善，社会成员在基本物质生活方面的需求相对来说容易得到满足。在这样的情形下，人们对于物质方面的需求会逐渐呈现出某种边际递减的情状，与此相对应，人们对于精神文化方面的需求则会呈现出某种边际递增的情状，社会成员物质和精神文化两个方面的需求势必呈现出协调推进的趋势。但是，一些国家在现代生产力获得大幅度发展、物质财富总量获得大幅度增加的情形下，却程度不同地出现了某种过度看重物欲化需求却相对轻视精神文化需求的现象。在这些国家，各个厂家为了自己产品的销售，使用广告等诱惑性手段，对于自己的产品进行夸大的、虚假的、几乎是无孔不入的过度推介。这就使物质需求在大量社会成员那里产生出“入脑入心”的效果，使得无价值消费、透支性消费、炫耀性消费等非理性行为以及嫌贫爱富、不劳而获等不健康心理层出不穷或持续加重。如是，不少社会成员呈现出某种过度的甚至是压倒一切的物欲化需求，并由此挤压了精神文化等非物质需求的空间。有鉴于此，我们在促进人的解放时，应当确立起物质文明和精神文明两者同步推进的基本原则。唯有如此，方能确保人的自由而全面发展的正确方向，进而保证现代化动力的健康、可持续的生成和增强。正如习近平在论及中国式现代化问题时指出的那样：“中国式现代化是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化。物质富足、精神富有是社会主义现代化的根本要求。物质贫困不是社会主义，精神贫乏也不是社会主义。我们不断厚植现代化的物质基础，不断夯实人民幸福生活的物质条件，同时大力发展社会主义先进文化，加强理想信念教育，传承中华文明，促进物的全面丰富和人的全面发展。”

Fourth, damage to the ecological environment must be prevented. Human beings live in nature every moment; the ecological environment is the foundational condition on which people rely for survival and development and from which they cannot be separated for even an instant. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Human

第四，防止对生态环境的破坏。人每时每刻都生活在大自然当中，生态环境是人赖以生存和发展的、须臾不可离开的基础性条件。习近平指出：“人与自然是生命共同体。生态环境没有替代品，用之不觉，失之难存。”在现代化的早期，人们基于生产能力的巨大提高，有时骄傲自大，在某种程度上形成了替大自然作主的意识，试图按照自己的意愿去改天换地，让大自然顺从自己，因而对大自然进行无止境的任意索取，并沉醉于征服大自然、主宰大自然的喜悦当中。此外，由于资本具有无止境扩张和增殖的本性，完全不顾及公共利益而试图将自己的意志任意扩展至人类能够抵达的每一个角落，结果导致有时人的解放同生态环境呈现出某种对峙状态，使所有人赖以生存和发展的生态环境遭受严重破坏。如若任由这种情形发展下去，那么世界所有国家人民的基本生存都将面临危机，每一个国家的现代化进程也都相应中断。如今，人们愈益意识到，维护好每一个人都须臾离不开的生态环境，是人的解放的合理边界。人的解放与生态环境保护是并行不悖的，以顺应大自然规律、强调人与自然和谐共生为主要特征的生态文明建设，无疑是社会主义现代化建设的一个重要组成部分。正如习近平所指出的那样：“环境就是民生，青山就是美丽，蓝天也是幸福。发展经济是为了民生，保护生态环境同样也是为了民生。既要创造更多的物质财富和精神财富以满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要，也要提供更多优质生态产品以满足人民日益增长的优美生态环境需要。”

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心