中国的独特机会中国的独特机会:直接进入生态文明

The Great Opportunity for China: Move from a Pre-modern Rural Society Directly to an Ecological Civilization

中国正在进行的农业决策和关于农村发展的决定,是将影响成千上万中国人命运的决策,也是影响世界未来走向的决策。中国对现代化的建设应该加入生态文明的内容。我们人类今天所处的境况是生态危机的脚步在一步步逼近。农业的工业化表达了现代人对自然的疏远,它对社会的推动方向恰恰与生态文明相反。对于尚未实现现代化的地方,生态文明的理想需要不同的战略和路径。美国已经毁灭了乡村文明,因此失去了从前现代农业社会直接进入生态文明的机会。直接进入生态文明的发展抉择带给中国一个千载难逢的伟大机会,这个机会是中国独有的领导世界的机会。重复西方的错误,将现代化模式强加给农村走工业化农业之路是走不通的。中国应该抓住直接进入生态文明这一千载难逢的伟大历史机遇。

The decisions China is making with respect to agriculture and rural development are cru-cial. China's commitment to becoming an ecological civilization should override its commitment to rapidmodernization. The modernization of agriculture, practiced all over the world and recommended by the ex-perts, is, quite literally, the choice of death. The ecological catastrophe is approaching. The industrializationof agriculture expresses modern alienation from nature and moves society just the opposite direction fromecological civilization. But wherever the move to the modern is not complete, the ideal of ecological civiliza-tion calls for a different strategy. It would be a terrible mistake to try to destroy what is left of Confucian in-fluence in order to complete the modernization process before moving toward an ecological civilization. Re-newal and strengthening classical Chinese thought is far more promising. We Americans have lost thechance to move from a pre-modern rural society directly to an ecological civilization. China's chance to de-velop what is still a largely traditional society directly into an ecological civilization gives it a great opportu-nity, one that is unique to China, to lead the world. To seize this opportunity will be the choice of life. Toimpose on rural China the patterns of modernity would be the choice of death. Please choose life and seizethis great unique opportunity.