——浅谈政治制度是经济制度的基因
作者：鲁慧文
编辑：李之洋 责任编辑：罗志飞 校对：熊辩
2025年中国国庆黄金周到今天就结束了，这大概是自从有了“黄金周”这种说法以来，第一次反差如此强烈的国庆节——出行人次是近年来新高，经济收益却创下新低。从全年经济高峰期的“黄金周”直接跌入谷底，来得十分突然，没有任何征兆。无论是商家、国家、媒体，还是整个旅游行业，都被打得措手不及，毫无应对之力。
全国各大旅游城市依照惯例在黄金周上调酒店房价，这也是历年的常规操作。景区也提前做好准备，整个旅游行业都计划趁此机会“开门迎客”，狠狠挣一笔，把上半年经济低迷的损失趁热弥补回来。然而，大家都扑了个空。今年的游客像是商量好了一样——“趁机涨价的酒店？那就让它空着吧。”于是满街都是帐篷，一眼望去像加沙难民营，连成一片。景区门票超过20元的就不进去了，在大门口打卡拍照就算完事；饭店也不去了，要么泡面，要么点个便宜外卖。总之，大家像是达成了共识：绝对不掏钱。而在这种“不约而同”的行为背后，我看到了一丝希望——那就是，越来越多的人清醒过来了。
这种“躺平式”或者“对抗式”旅行模式，今后也将更多体现在普通民众日常生活的方方面面。这背后，反映的是政治制度与经济制度之间深层次的逻辑关系。虽然许多普通人未必能清晰地表达出来，但人是有感知的生物。如今在中国社会，哪怕是最普通的老百姓，也已经感觉到经济不会再上行了——大白话说，就是“没有希望了”。
这种“没有希望”的悲观情绪，正蔓延到社会的每一个角落。人们开始抛售房产（北京十几万元一平米的房子近期甚至有一折出售的），开始不结婚（越来越多的年轻人说“就到我这一代吧”），不生孩子，不卷孩子，不追求上大学（拿到录取通知书却选择不去读的人数比往年更多），不去电影院（今年黄金周电影院异常冷清）。越来越多的人觉得拼多多都贵了，越来越多的人被列入失信名单，一种深沉的绝望笼罩着整个社会。一个信仰来生的民族，如今却苦笑着说：“下辈子我不来了。”
有学者表示，中国经济目前已经回到了1999年的水平，而这还远未到谷底。这无疑是个悲伤的消息。但中国经济的衰退，是无法阻挡、也无法逆转的。这艘建立在全民廉价劳动力基础上的经济巨轮，就像当年的泰坦尼克号——人们只能在惊恐中亲眼看着它坠入深海。
中国经济走到今天的地步，表面上看，是习近平领导无能，中国与美国经济脱钩、外企撤出、青年失业等多重因素造成的（这些当然是助推器），但更深层的原因在于政治制度的“基因”决定了结果。它并非一个错误的经济方案，也不是某个班子方向不对，而是从制度的基因上就注定了短寿。政治制度，是经济制度的基因。
当今世界主要存在两种政治制度：一种是民主制度（目前世界主要发达国家普遍采用），另一种是集权制度，也就是人们常说的独裁或中央集权制。政治制度的核心，其实就是社会资源如何分配的机制。民主国家的政治制度保障财产私有，强调公平分配社会经济成果，建立在民主、人权与相对公平的基础上运作。而独裁国家则是压榨型制度，每一层都尽可能吸走下层的经济收益，层层盘剥，最终使全民经济成果集中到最上层，也就是人们常说的“2%的人拿走98%的财富，98%的人分享剩下的2%”。上层只给下层留下一点“续命钱”，确保他们活着继续为上层创造更多经济价值。
这种制度自古如此。古代有“普天之下，莫非王土”，全国土地、经济、粮食、珠宝，皆归统治者所有。这种中央集权制度自秦朝延续至今。结合现代高科技，中共更是集历代之大成，通过人口红利、极低的劳动报酬和极长的工时，使中国成为全球第二大经济体。然而，中共的分配制度又将最大量的经济收益聚敛于自身，只留下一点生存口粮给底层劳工延续生命。再辅以宏大叙事，让世界看到一个“繁荣的中国”，也让几代人相信“中国会越来越好”。于是人们吃苦耐劳，发明了“996”“007”，拼命读书、拼命工作，相信“爱拼才会赢”“明天会更好”。
然而，当这种压榨型集权制度发展到极致，必然更加变本加厉。疫情之后，中国底层经济被彻底抽空，甚至连维持生存的口粮也被夺走。人们终于意识到——原来不是越努力越幸运。原来那些上层社会的人可以不上班领工资，公务员坐牢也有工资，烟草局退休职工月退休金高达一万九，是普通人工资的数倍；原来自己交的社保是养别人的父母；原来大学毕业要去送外卖；原来“那茜”200分就能特招进名校；原来国有单位是家族世袭……越来越多的事实让老百姓明白，自己只是牛马，社会的财富与自己无关。
于是人们不再看新闻联播，不再相信国家通报，看清自己的生命、财产、工作都可随时被剥夺，看到法律的虚无，看到正义的失声——他们失望了，然后绝望了。
是的，这不是一两次经济政策失误的结果。底层的命运早已刻在中共集权的政治制度里。统治者攫取社会最多的财富，盛世时给底层留一口气；乱世或衰退时，连口粮也不留。这就是这种制度的本质。别忘了，在所谓“自然灾害时期”，全国饿死四千多万人，而毛泽东每日仍有红烧肉。
人们必须明白：想要活命，想要生存权，必须废除这种压榨型政治制度，推翻中共专制体制，推翻中央集权，让人民重新掌握生路。
2025 Sees China’s Poorest “Golden Week” in Recent Years
— On How the Political System Is the Genetic Code of the Economic System
Author: LU Huiwen Editor: LI Zhiyang Executive Editor: LUO Zhifei Proofreader: XIONG Bian Translator: LIU Fang
The 2025 National Day “Golden Week” in China has just ended, and this is perhaps the first time since the term “Golden Week” was coined that the contrast has been so stark—record-high travel numbers, yet record-low economic returns. What should have been the annual economic peak suddenly plunged into the trough, without any warning. Businesses, the state, the media, and the entire tourism industry were caught completely off guard, unable to respond.
As usual, hotels across major tourist cities raised prices during the Golden Week—standard practice for years. Scenic spots also prepared in advance, expecting to “open their doors wide” and earn big, making up for the economic slump earlier in the year. Yet everyone miscalculated. This year’s tourists seemed to have silently agreed: “Hotels raising prices? Then let them stay empty.” Streets were full of tents—stretching like refugee camps in Gaza. Tickets costing over 20 yuan? No one went in—just taking photos at the gate was enough. Restaurants were deserted—people either ate instant noodles or ordered cheap takeout. It’s as if everyone reached an unspoken agreement: spend nothing. And behind this “collective refusal” lies a glimmer of hope: more and more people are waking up.
This kind of “lying-flat” or “resistive” travel will increasingly reflect itself in every aspect of ordinary life. Behind it lies the deep logic connecting the political system and the economic system. Many may not be able to articulate it clearly, but people can feel it. Even the most ordinary Chinese citizens now sense that the economy will not rise again—in plain terms, “there is no hope.”
That sense of hopelessness is spreading across every corner of society. People are selling off their properties (in Beijing, apartments once selling for hundreds of thousands of yuan per square meter are now going for 10% of that). They are not getting married (“It ends with my generation,” many young people say). They are not having children. They are not forcing their kids to compete. Some who receive university admission letters choose not to enroll. Cinemas are empty this holiday season. More people think even Pinduoduo is expensive. More people are on credit blacklists. A deep despair covers the nation. A people who once believed in the afterlife now wryly say: “I’m not coming back in my next life.”
Scholars have noted that China’s economy has now fallen back to the level of 1999—and this is still not the bottom. It is a sad reality. But China’s economic decline is both irreversible and inevitable. The economic giant built on cheap labor is like the Titanic—people can only watch in horror as it sinks into the abyss.
On the surface, China’s current collapse appears to be caused by Xi Jinping’s incompetence, the decoupling from the U.S., the withdrawal of foreign companies, and massive youth unemployment (which all played a part), but the deeper cause lies in the genetic code of the political system. It is not merely a failed economic plan or a misguided administration—it is that the system itself was born to die young. The political system is the genetic code of the economic system.
Today’s world has two main political systems: Democracy (used by most developed countries), and Authoritarianism (centralized dictatorship). At its core, a political system determines how resources are distributed. Democratic systems protect private property, emphasize fair distribution of economic gains, and operate on democracy, human rights, and relative fairness. Authoritarian systems, on the other hand, are extractive: each level of power drains wealth from the level below it—layer upon layer of exploitation—until most of the national wealth accumulates at the top. As the saying goes: “2% of people own 98% of the wealth, while 98% of people share the remaining 2%.” The top leaves the bottom only enough “survival money” to keep them alive and productive.
This has always been the nature of such regimes. In ancient China, “All under heaven belongs to the emperor”—land, wealth, grain, and jewels all belonged to the ruler. This centralized authoritarianism has continued since the Qin dynasty. In modern times, with advanced technology, the CCP has perfected this ancient model. Through its vast population, ultra-low wages, and extremely long working hours, it turned China into the world’s second-largest economy. Yet the Party’s distribution mechanism concentrated nearly all wealth in its own hands, leaving workers only subsistence crumbs to stay alive. With grand propaganda, it made the world see a “prosperous China” and made generations believe “China is rising.” So people worked tirelessly—believing “hard work brings fortune” and “tomorrow will be better.”
But when an extractive authoritarian system reaches its limit, it becomes even more ruthless. After COVID, China’s grassroots economy was drained dry—even basic survival rations were taken away. People finally realized: hard work doesn’t lead to luck. They saw that elites could get paid without working, that jailed officials still received salaries, that tobacco bureau retirees get 19,000 yuan monthly pensions (several times a normal worker’s pay); they realized their social security contributions were feeding others’ parents; that university graduates now deliver takeout; that “Na Qian” could enter elite universities with 200 points; that state-owned enterprises are inherited like family property. More and more people have awakened to the truth: They are just oxen and horses. The nation’s wealth has nothing to do with them.
People stopped watching state news, stopped believing official statements. They saw their life, property, and jobs could be seized anytime. They saw laws as empty words, justice as voiceless. They lost faith—then they lost hope.
Indeed, this is not the result of a few bad economic policies. The fate of the working class has long been encoded in the CCP’s centralized political system. The rulers seize the nation’s wealth, leaving crumbs in good times; in decline, they take even those crumbs away. That is the nature of the system. Never forget: during the so-called “natural disaster years,” over 40 million starved, while Mao still had his daily portion of braised pork.
People must understand: To survive—to live as human beings—they must abolish this exploitative political structure, overthrow the CCP’s authoritarian regime, and dismantle centralization, so that the people can once again take hold of their own means of living.
