Efficiency. Fairness. Harmony -- On Internal Conflicts of the People and a Harmonious Socialist Society in the New Era

Author: Wang Weiguang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed the major strategic task of building a harmonious socialist society. It is precisely because of contradictions that harmony is needed, and it is precisely because of the need for harmony that contradictions must be resolved. To understand harmony, one must first understand contradictions; the prerequisite for building a harmonious society is resolving contradictions. Marxist dialectics tells us that contradictions are everywhere and at all times; contradictions are the universal law and fundamental principle of the existence of things, and the internal source and driving force of the development of all things. We must adopt the perspective of unity and struggle, i.e., the perspective of contradictions, to view and handle internal contradictions among the people. Contradictions do not exist in terms of whether they exist or not, nor do they exist in terms of being good or bad. There is no distinction between whether there are contradictions or not, nor between good or bad contradictions. If contradictions are not resolved, it is bad; if contradictions are resolved, it is good. Old contradictions are resolved, and new ones arise—things advance by constantly resolving contradictions. What is meant by a harmonious society is not denying contradictions, but emphasizing that society should seek harmony and progress through the resolution of contradictions. The key to building a harmonious socialist society lies in effectively coordinating the interests of all parties and resolving internal contradictions among the people.