作者：卢超
编辑：李晶 校对：周敏 翻译：周敏
2023年初，陕西宜川检察院的官方微博发了一句让人脊背发凉的话：“如果弱小是一种错，那你就只能等着被践踏。要么被践踏，要么变强大。”
这句话虽然很快被删了，但它像是一不小心说漏了嘴，把那种隐秘的丛林法则摆到了台面上。它传达了一个极其危险的信号：在权力面前，如果你不够“强大”，你的权利被践踏就是理所当然。这哪里是法治，这分明是弱肉强食的原始法则。
一、被层层包装的“大局观”
在我们的生活中，经常能听到一个词，叫“顾全大局”。
当你的房子被违规强拆时，有人让你顾全城市发展的“大局”；当你的合法言论被莫名封禁时，有人让你顾全社会稳定的“大局”；当法律程序被随意跳过时，有人告诉你这是为了效率的“大局”。
在这种逻辑下，“法制”变成了一张可以随时折叠、随时修剪的纸。权力阶层之所以一直弱化法制的严肃性，是因为法制本质上是讲“死理”的。法律讲究的是流程、是权利、是证据。而“大局”则是一个弹性的口袋，什么都能往里装。只要祭出“大局”这个旗号，法律的约束就可以被绕开，权力的运行就能变得“无拘无束”。
说白了，弱化法制，本质上是为了维持一种“不容挑战的权力意志”。
二、公民眼里的“法”与权力眼里的“术”
对于普通公民来说，法制是救命稻草。 我们之所以需要法制，是因为我们大多数人终其一生都是平庸且弱小的。我们没有通天的关系，也没有挥霍不尽的财富，我们唯一的护身符就是那本写在纸上的法律。法制社会应该保证：哪怕你是一个最底层的送外卖的小哥，你在法律面前的尊严也应该和任何一个官员平等。
但对于权力运行者来说，法制往往被看作一种“管理术”。 在这种视角下，法律不是用来约束权力的，而是用来管理百姓的。当法律方便管理时，就拿出来用；当法律妨碍了权力的扩张或某种目标的实现时，就把它晾在一边。宜川检察院那句“要么变强大”，其实就是这种权力心态的真实写照——在他们眼里，规则是给弱者定的，而强者可以制定规则，甚至超越规则。
三、为什么我们不能只靠“变强大”？
如果一个社会真的像宜川检察院说的那样，只能靠“变强大”来获得安全感，那这个社会一定会崩溃。
因为“强大”是相对的。处长比科长强大，局长比处长强大。如果大家都崇尚丛林法则，那么谁都没有真正的安全感。今天你用权力践踏别人，明天更强大的权力就能践踏你。这种人制社会的恶性循环，只会带来无穷无尽的尔虞我诈和互害。
法制社会的作用，就是把这种“强弱对比”给抹平。它告诉所有人：你不必非得变成一个浑身长刺的强者才能生存。只要你守法，你就有权利活得舒坦。
四、写在最后：
人类文明之所以进步，就是因为我们学会了把权力关进笼子，把尊严还给个人。
中共提倡的“大局”，往往是一个没有具体面孔的宏大叙事；而公民需要的“法制”，则是每一个具体的人、每一桩具体的案子、每一份具体的权利都能得到保护。人类之所以需要法制社会，就是为了让我们在面对那个庞大的、冰冷的“大局”时，依然拥有说“不”的底气。我们不需要一个逼着我们变强大的丛林，我们需要一个能让弱者也能体面生活的文明世界。这就是为什么，法制必须高于任何所谓的“大局”。
Citizens Need a Rule-of-Law Society, While the CCP Wants You to “Take the Big Picture into Account”
Author: Lu Chao
Editor: Li Jing Proofreader: Zhou Min Translator:Zhou Min
In early 2023, the official Weibo account of the Yichuan Procuratorate in Shaanxi posted a sentence that made people’s spines tingle: “If being weak is a mistake, then you can only wait to be trampled. Either be trampled, or become powerful.”
Although this sentence was quickly deleted, it was like a slip of the tongue that accidentally laid the hidden law of the jungle out on the table. It conveyed an extremely dangerous signal: in the face of power, if you are not “strong” enough, it is only natural for your rights to be trampled. This is not the rule of law at all; this is clearly the primitive law of the jungle where the weak are meat for the strong.
I. The Layer-upon-Layer Packaged “Big Picture View”
In our lives, we often hear a phrase called “taking the big picture into account” (guquan daju).
When your house is illegally demolished, someone tells you to take the “big picture” of urban development into account; when your legal speech is inexplicably censored, someone tells you to take the “big picture” of social stability into account; when legal procedures are skipped at will, someone tells you this is for the “big picture” of efficiency.
Under this logic, the “rule of law” becomes a piece of paper that can be folded or trimmed at any time. The reason the power class has always weakened the seriousness of the rule of law is that the rule of law, in essence, insists on “unyielding logic.” Law emphasizes process, rights, and evidence. The “big picture,” however, is an elastic bag into which anything can be stuffed. As long as the banner of the “big picture” is raised, the constraints of the law can be bypassed, and the operation of power can become “unrestrained.”
To put it bluntly, weakening the rule of law is essentially for the purpose of maintaining an “unchallengeable will of power.”
II. “Law” in the Eyes of Citizens vs. “Tactics” in the Eyes of Power
For ordinary citizens, the rule of law is a life-saving straw. The reason we need the rule of law is that most of us are mediocre and weak throughout our lives. We do not have sky-high connections, nor do we have inexhaustible wealth; our only protective amulet is that law written on paper. A rule-of-law society should guarantee that even if you are a delivery boy at the lowest level, your dignity before the law should be equal to that of any official.
But for those who exercise power, the rule of law is often viewed as a “management tactic.” In this perspective, the law is not used to restrain power, but to manage the common people. When the law is convenient for management, it is brought out and used; when the law hinders the expansion of power or the achievement of a certain goal, it is brushed aside. That sentence from the Yichuan Procuratorate—”either become powerful”—is actually a true portrayal of this power mindset: in their eyes, rules are set for the weak, while the strong can make the rules, or even transcend them.
III. Why Can’t We Just Rely on “Becoming Powerful”?
If a society truly functions as the Yichuan Procuratorate suggested, where one can only gain a sense of security by “becoming powerful,” then this society will surely collapse.
Because “power” is relative. A section chief is more powerful than a sub-section chief; a bureau chief is more powerful than a section chief. If everyone advocates for the law of the jungle, then no one has true security. Today you use power to trample others, and tomorrow an even greater power can trample you. This vicious cycle of a “rule of man” society will only bring endless intrigue and mutual harm.
The function of a rule-of-law society is to flatten this “contrast between the strong and the weak.” It tells everyone: you don’t necessarily have to become a thorn-covered “strong person” to survive. As long as you obey the law, you have the right to live comfortably.
IV. Final Thoughts:
The reason human civilization progresses is that we have learned to shut power in a cage and return dignity to the individual.
The “big picture” promoted by the CCP is often a grand narrative without a specific face; while the “rule of law” needed by citizens ensures that every specific person, every specific case, and every specific right can be protected. The reason humanity needs a rule-of-law society is so that when we face that massive, cold “big picture,” we still have the confidence to say “no.” We do not need a jungle that forces us to become powerful; we need a civilized world where even the weak can live with dignity. This is why the rule of law must be higher than any so-called “big picture.”
