论中国社会基本问题

On the Fundamental Issue in China's Transitional Society

生活世界有三个维度——"物质生活"、"社会生活"和"精神生活"。能够长期延续的生活,在这三个维度上积累,形成传统。生活世界外生的或内生的变动,也依这三个维度分解为物质的、社会的和精神的变动。与传统相冲突的变动,只要足够强烈就可使传统持续演变。转型期社会的特征,是变动与传统的持续冲突。近代以来中国社会结构最显著的变动,可表述为适合市场经济的"小世界"网络结构的扩展过程。与这一过程相伴随的,是机会、财富和权力在人群当中的"幂律"分布,从而引发普遍的正义诉求——表现为大众对"公平"的迫切需求,这是中国社会基本问题的初级形式。在精神生活的不发达阶段,大众在社会生活维度上的正义诉求不能转化为精神生活维度上的自我满足。在"物质生活—社会生活"平面之内满足正义诉求的基本途径,是政治体制改革。改革的基本方向是消除或缓解权力的幂律分布,从而要求生活世界的网络结构从效率主导的演变为情感主导的。物质生活的效率原则与情感生活的心性原则之间的冲突,是中国社会基本问题的高级形式。

There are three dimensions of a life-world, namely, the material life, the social life, and the spiritual life. As life can be maintained in long time, it accumulates along the aforementioned three dimensions its tradition. Any change to the life-world, internal or external, therefore can be projected into the three dimensions, as a material change, a social change, or a spiritual change. Evolution of the tradition may be caused by a strong enough change conflicting with tradition. A transitional society is characterized by sustained conflicts between changes and the tradition. A significant change in China＇s social structure during the past two centuries can be expressed as the constant expansion of the ＂small-world＂ network structure which is compatible with the market economy. This change has been accompanied by a ＂power-law＂ pattern of distribution of opportunities, wealth, and power among the population, and thus broadly triggered the issue of justice--first of all as an urgent demand for fairness. This is the primary form of the fundamental issue in Chins. Because of the under-development of spiritual life, the pressing demand for fairness can only be met by reforms within the material-social life-world, namely political reforms. The basic direction of the urgent reform will be to stop or alleviate the power-law distribution of powers, But this requires a radical change of the network structure of the life-world from efficiency dominated to sentiments dominated. The demand for a change from efficiency principle to the principle of the heart-feeling, is the higher-level form of the fundamental issue in China.