Will Humans Be Exploited?#
Throughout history, people have been envisioning an ideal society. From the Great Harmony Society to communist society, from utopia to others. Perhaps it is a small goal, such as a moderately prosperous society, a democratic society, a rule of law society, a welfare state... or perhaps it is a reflection on ancient societies, a yearning for the so-called Yao, Shun, and Yu era in Greek and Confucian societies.
On the other hand, there is another kind of society where exploitation, oppression, and oppression are common phenomena. It may be that certain slaves in a slave society are whipped to build pyramids, or that the emperor in a feudal society conscripts peasants to build the Great Wall, or that workers in a capitalist society work in factories. In this kind of society, people lose their freedom and dignity and become objects ruled by the rulers.
It is obvious that oppression has always existed and exploitation is everywhere. However, utopia is still utopia, and the so-called ideal society still exists only in ideals. Just like a zero-point essay I remember, I am willing to live in the news. In the article "Transcending the Misconceptions of Marxism," I lamented:
It is easy to point out the mistakes of others, but it is arbitrary to replace private ownership with public ownership. However, how to solve the problem of human exploitation, whether to solve the problem of human exploitation, whether humans will be exploited, when humans will no longer exploit animals, when humans will be exploited by animals... These are the most confusing and even frightening questions.
If there are three theories, the theory of oppression, the theory of utopia, and the theory of compromise, then I might choose the theory of compromise.
Because oppression is certain. When humans form groups, oppression has already occurred. Just like groups, humans have brains, limbs, mouths, and anuses, muscles and excess fat... If this group wants to grow, it will inevitably differentiate and form new organs. Brain cells and sperm are both part of the human body, but they do different things. Although I don't understand biology, if we measure by the duration of existence, the difference in the survival time of various cells is significant. In human society, there are differences in abilities, opportunities, division of labor, access to resources, and social status. In essence, people are unequal to each other.
Article 33, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China stipulates that all citizens of the People's Republic of China are equal before the law.
Although the constitution cannot be directly used as a basis for judgment, please note that the constitution only states that everyone is equal before "the law," which does not mean that people are equal to each other. The so-called equality in the constitution only applies to equal application of the law.
Once a person enters a group, it is like a speck of dust captured by a galaxy. In the face of absolute power disparity, it is no longer a mantis trying to stop a car, but a tiny grain in the vast ocean. Because of this, being exploited is the norm and inevitability in a group.
Limitations of Human Exploitation#
Some people believe that building pyramids is a very delicate job that slaves cannot do, and it requires free people to complete.
But the reason why humans are humans, even though they are lowly individuals in a group, is that there is a possibility of identity exchange between individuals. In human society, there are countless pigs and sheep, and although people eat meat, most of them have never even heard the last gasp of a pig before it dies, but pigs can never become humans. As long as there is the possibility of substitution between people of different classes, then this civilization can be reshuffled and rebuilt. But if a group of people in one class becomes pigs, or people in another class become dragons, then this civilization will definitely die, and a new civilization will be born. As for the people who were once called humans, they have become pigs. And this civilization is no longer called human civilization, but dragon civilization. Just as although there may be more kangaroos than humans in Australia, kangaroos are still objects of humans.
Since people can be substituted for each other, it does not necessarily mean that common people cannot govern the country. However, the differences in intelligence, education, and social status between individuals may become obstacles to their upward mobility, but in general, including their children, the possibilities are infinite. All people are still within the physical and physiological category of humans. In this sense, Rawls' veil of ignorance can be cast, and a mechanism for achieving justice can be discovered.
Therefore, to achieve this goal, I assume that all parties are behind a veil of ignorance. They do not know how various options will affect their own particular circumstances, and they have to evaluate principles based only on general considerations.
Therefore, we assume that the parties do not know certain specific facts. First, no one knows their position in society, their class background, or the extent of their natural abilities and talents. They do not know their conception of the good or the particularities of their rational life plans, or even their psychological characteristics: whether they have an aversion to risk, an optimistic or pessimistic temperament. Secondly, I assume that the parties do not know the economic or political conditions of this society, or the level of civilization and culture it can achieve. - John Rawls, "A Theory of Justice" Veil of Ignorance
Breaking the Deadlock of Group Exploitation#
The Eternal Deadlock of Exploitation#
It is precisely because of the physical similarity between people and the resulting substitutability that there is the complaint of "Why should there be kings, nobles, and generals?" Therefore, when exploitation reaches its peak, the collapse of the empire naturally follows. The rise and fall of the world, the suffering of the people. The people advocate loyalty to the monarch and the country, and support the stability of the state. However, the rulers are like addicted junkies, and various interest groups are like excess fat that cannot be removed, making it difficult to support and maintain stability. Castration can indeed bring decades of peace and prosperity, but the pain is not something that any ruler can bear.
This is the eternal disadvantage of a centralized society. Just as stated in "The Central Empire's Financial Code":
In a centralized society, fiscal expansion is inevitable. Even if a small fiscal and small government can be achieved in the early stages of a dynasty, with the expansion of the number of bureaucrats and the expansion of government functions, the demand for fiscal revenue will become larger and larger, eventually overwhelming the private economy.
Attempts to Break Exploitation#
In view of this, in order to solve the problem, there are two ways. One is to limit desires, alleviate exploitation, and transform the relationship between the ruling class and ordinary individuals in the group. The other is to not limit desires, intensify exploitation, transform ordinary individuals, and create a social foundation that tolerates exploitation.
As mentioned earlier, it is precisely because of the substitutability of individuals that revolutions can succeed, and thus fairness and justice can exist. It is precisely because everyone has unlimited possibilities, especially the possibilities that the group cares about, that it is necessary to build utopia and achieve fairness and justice. A more stable society with relatively less exploitation becomes the greatest interest of the entire group under the veil of ignorance.
In order to maintain the long-term rule of the ruling class, this kind of exploitation must be within certain limits and maintain the stability of the group order in the long run. This is not only the requirement of the ruling class, but also the requirement of the group. Being ruled means accepting the order of the group, regardless of who creates the order, this order is needed to achieve functional differentiation.
Autocracy and Democracy#
In essence, democracy is a system that confirms the democratic fact through legal procedures, constructs a democratic system, and allows the will of the majority to control political power. However, the control of political power by the will of the people does not mean that the will of the people controls society. The will of the people is just a path to resolve revolutionary disputes at a low cost. The reason why the right to resist is stipulated in the constitution of the United States is that even if the right to resist is not stipulated, the people will still resist when they need to. Stipulating the right to resist can make revolution a means to resolve disputes, without completely destroying the order and unable to end.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. - Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
Because people are substitutable, exploitation is inevitable. In order to achieve long-term exploitation, rule, or the survival of the group, there must be a boundary between the rulers and the ruled, or in other words, there must be a boundary of power.
The fact of democracy needs the rule of law to protect it, and the rule of law that controls power needs the fact of democracy to support it. Only in such a society can self-destruction and cyclical pain be avoided. It can be said that autocracy and democracy, or human rule and rule of law.
At the same time, in order to develop the fact of democracy, more emphasis is placed on the development of individuals within the group, giving individuals a certain degree of freedom to develop their own diversity, thereby contributing to the democratic system. Therefore, people in democratic societies appear as individuals because democratic societies need people, not people as objects or tools.
In summary, democracy is a stable development model of a group that controls power and arbitrary desires through a series of institutions. However, the resources and opportunities required to maintain the fact of democracy are enormous. The efficiency of governance may decline, and the error rate of decision-making may decrease.
However, in order to maintain its ruling model, an autocratic society must, on the one hand, transform the degree of exploitation that individuals can bear, and on the other hand, continuously eliminate the inherent flaws of the ruling class-like excess fat. Therefore, "maintaining the purity of the revolutionary ranks" and "turning the blade inward" are not empty words, but a necessity to maintain rule. On the one hand, killing and reshuffling does not have much meaning, it is just following the rules.
As for transforming the degree of exploitation that individuals can bear, in the article "Human Nature and Politics," I believe that the Legalist view of human nature is a view that transforms human nature. That is, shaping an individual more suitable for exploitation from the perspective of human nature. The specific methods of transformation are as stated in "The Book of Lord Shang".
However, transforming human nature is only one aspect. In the "Limitations of Human Exploitation," I mentioned that the reason why people form groups instead of being objects of the group is the substitutability of individuals within the group. If a certain autocratic rule can be long-lasting, it must start with the "substitutability of individuals." This is the source of revolution. Pigs and sheep have been ruled for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, why haven't they succeeded in rebelling? Because pigs and sheep are different species, and the power disparity between pigs and sheep and humans is huge. If you want to maintain long-term rule, you need to start from the physical and physiological level to make the ruled become another kind of pig or to make the rulers become a more powerful creature.
Therefore, hierarchical rule, household registration system, artisan registration, military registration, family planning, and other systems are so important. If a part of the population has no possibility of substituting another part of the population, can a new species be created through biotechnology? Can reproductive isolation be established to prohibit intermarriage?
The influence of the Indian caste system is profound. In addition to the four hierarchical classes, there is also a fifth class of untouchables. India, as the world's largest democracy, has enshrined the caste system in its constitution to protect the "untouchables." It can be seen that autocratic systems can change the national character of a nation.
In today's era of advanced biotechnology, it may not be impossible to create a new caste system using biotechnology. Of course, everything comes back to the essence of the relationship between individuals and groups-substitutability.
Conclusion#
Faced with the relationship between individuals and groups, it is true that some people pursue democracy, but the pleasure and stimulation brought by autocratic society to the upper class are undeniable. Because compared with democratic society, the rulers can enjoy services that money can buy in democratic society, and they can also enjoy services that money cannot buy in democratic society.
Democracy and autocracy are not a question of strength or weakness, nor can they be accurately measured as strong or weak. Democracy relies on the unlimited potential brought by the development of individuals, while autocracy relies on the obedience and effectiveness brought by the degree of exploitation of the ruled. Comparing the power of these two as a measure of the superiority of a system is meaningless. If autocracy can achieve a new caste system, it may not be impossible to last long. Democracy, although it values individuals, may not survive.