作者：祝正明
（一） 专制政体的形成
翻开人类的整个发展史，可以说就是一部人类之间的压迫与反压迫、剥削与反剥削的斗争史。每个人都有想为所欲为、凌驾于他人之上的欲望，在人类社会进化的各个阶段，就像在自然界的其它动物群体一样，一直存在着弱肉强食现象，其惨烈不亚于任何物种间的生存竞争。
原始部落内个体体力的较量，产生了部落首领。部落之间的实力竞争，产生了地方领主。领主之间的武装冲突，产生了国王。国王之间征战的结果，产生了皇帝。最终，一个控制地域广泛的国体成立。皇帝统领文武百官，皇亲国戚，将国家划割成若干区域，再分别册封给信得过的大臣和皇室贵族们去镇守；这些大臣皇族再将自己的辖区划分成更小的领地，册封给更小的自己的臣属去统领；官僚依次衍生，权力依次分散，直至将统治势力延伸到村镇、家户；最终形成了封建专制社会典型的权力金字塔结构，在这个金字塔的最下面，是千千万万的平民百姓，最上面，则是君主皇帝一人。
在封建专制社会，政府获得统治权力的手段是暴力，政府维持统治的根本手段仍然是暴力。
封建专制社会是在人类原始部落社会的生产力发展到一定程度后，自然发展演变而成的一种社会制度。当地区间差异较大，原始部落较多，发展不平衡时，对文化的传播、商贸的繁荣、边远落后地区的进步、推动生产力的发展，也曾起到一定的积极作用。 封建专制统治模式是一种维持性的统治模式，长于保守，短于创新。当人们以一种一成不变的方式生活时，统治者尚有充分的经验和精力去应付各类社会问题。当社会进入革新年代，涌现大量前所未闻的新生事物时，由君王一人决定一切的统治模式立即就会表现出其拙劣性，即便君王非常精明能干，廉洁奉公，也会出现既无经验、也无精力时间去应付的状况，由武断决策造成的失误便会屡见不鲜，由怠慢延误造成的损失也会不计其数，呆板的体制将明显制约、阻碍社会的发展。 科学技术大发现和产业革命的出现，将人类社会带进了一个崭新的工业科技时代，人类对自然界的认识和驾驭能力有了突飞猛进的发展，社会结构和生活方式日趋复杂化，专制社会已无能力适应这种发展的需要，对社会的进步起到严重的阻碍作用。我们有必要仔细分析一下这种社会结构的特征和弊病，以使我们能更好地认识它、摆脱它。
（二）专制政体的弊端
专制制度在组织结构上有自我稳定的机制，能够起到基本的维持社会治安的作用，因此，它能够长期存在。 专制政体从社会形态上看有以下五种主要弊端：1. 独断专行 最高统治者个人大权独揽，在国家事务中决定一切、支配一切。社会没有法制，统治者个人的意志就是法律，如果颁布一些法律条文，也完全是以约束百姓，服务于统治者为目的。各级官吏能够自己随意解释法律、执行法律，一个国家有多少个官吏，就有多少种法律。百姓的利益在受到官吏侵害时，束手无策，无处求助，唯一的办法是向上级官僚申诉，但他们只会被打发到一个并无任何实权的接待处，接待官员要么傲气十足，象对待精神病人一样毫不耐烦，要么视受害者为无理纠缠，将他们的材料转交给原来滥用职权制造冤案的官员，于是含冤者受到变本加厉的迫害。
国家没有民选性质的独立立法机关，如果有立法机关，也是依统治者的意志而建立，依附于统治者而存在，统治者可以根据自己的意志随意安排立法机构的组成人员。只有那些能通过组织部门的认真筛选和长期考察、政治上绝对可靠，能自觉地与他们在思想上保持一致的人才有可能进入立法机关。立法机关无异于统治者的举手机器和橡皮图章，不能起到制约统治者的作用，统治者可以随意制订、修改法律。司法机关没有独立地位，同立法机关一样，人员组成由统治者指定，依照统治者的意志行事。
集权统治者掌握着社会的一切权力，掌握着百姓生命的生杀大权，在这样的社会，获取权位是人们获得特权和自由的唯一出路，官场是所有想施展个人能力者的唯一竞技场，想获得更多的权力、财产、自由和个人幸福，唯一的选择就是争取更高的权位，而能否如愿，只取决于是否能获得上司的个人好感，与百姓是否认同毫无关系。因此，这样的社会，是各种野心家、阴谋家和卑鄙小人的天堂，他们竭尽全力地去博取统治者的欢心，奉迎独裁者的嗜好、阿谀贵族们的愚蠢，并忍受其侮辱，他们清楚，以牺牲自己的尊严代价，是唯一有效而廉价地保住和晋升自己职位的手段。独裁者对那些心甘情愿或被迫做奴才的人则司空见惯，长期生活在赞美、笑脸之中，使得他刚愎自用，生活糜烂，他会发现自己的一切都已被他人事先考虑到，尽管他管理着千万人的事情，其实他对这些事情并不了解，因而时常将自己的职权交给下属去行使，使得低级官吏也能够狐假虎威地招摇过市，在平民百姓前面挽回他们的人格，赚取他们溜须拍马的最佳回报。
统治者容不得任何不同意见，任何异议都会使他们感到非常刺耳，不管其内容是否合理，首先就会被认为是对自己的不尊重，是目无领导的表现。在这样的体制下，最大的忌讳，就是顶撞上级，哪怕只有一次，也有可能被永远打入冷宫。因此，那些真正有才干，坚持原则，直言不讳的人，只会遭到傲慢轻蔑的对待，是属于那些最没有资格被任用的人，这样的人要么让位给更会奉迎的政客，要么就是放弃自己的做人的原则。诚实正直，不是一种公认的优点，反而被认为是一种多余的、愚蠢的品性。 是否顺从，是权贵们衡量下属功过的主要标准，品德再差，再无能的人，只要能表示顺从，再有那么一点小聪明，知道能如何取得权贵们的欢心，就能得到提拔，即便是极不称职，照样能终身为官，因此，走运的往往是一些阴谋家或者是骗子。这些人在掌权之后，其无能和专横的本性很快就会暴露无遗，对上是奴隶，对下成了奴隶主，从上往下看，是向日葵似的朵朵笑脸，而从下往上看，却是官吏们丑陋的颈项。 统治者当然也明白下属种种努力的目的是什么，因此，他也时常冷落那些想谋求职位的人，以考验他们是否真的忠诚，有时故意使某些职位保持空缺，使他们长期处于希望和期待之中，以便自己能有效地控制和驯服他们。他知道，当他全部满足了他们的要求，不能再提供新的好处时，他们极有可能把他抛在一边，投靠新的主人。 独裁者对自己的下属没有信任感，他们不相信任何人，他们时常发现自己最信任的人也在对自己撒谎，从而认为一切人都动机不良，心术不正，他们不理解自由一词的含义，一遇到异议就会惊惶失措，时刻提防有人对自己的权位构成威胁。他们畏惧任何形式的民间组织，草木皆兵，随时准备将其掐灭在萌芽之中。他们残酷地对待持不同政见者，将这些人视为最危险的敌人，对其进行肉体折磨、判罚劳教、流放甚至死刑。他们将百姓视为无知愚昧的暴民，保持高度警惕，随时准备动用武装部队，镇压任何规模的集会行动。对被拘捕者，则施以惨无人道的酷刑。 对外，独裁者穷兵黩武，时常由于个人之间的争吵而开战，将国家拖入战争，驱使千千万万的百姓在战场上互相厮杀，将国家巨额资金用于研制杀人武器，而战争的起因，有时仅仅是统治者为了逞强争面子。他们知道，煽动排外情绪，甚至发动战争，是转移国民对国内政治腐败的视线，增强社会凝聚力，加强其个人权力的有效手段，并能方便地给自己戴上民族英雄的桂冠。 在这样的政体下，各级官吏被独裁者的权威所慑服，当独裁者作出错误的决策时，尽管会有许多人发现其错误，却无能力指出矫正，最为荒唐的是，独裁者在酒醉和精神失常的情况下作出的决定，仍然会被当作圣旨得到贯彻执行。 但是，尽管独裁者对百姓充满戒备感，对百姓的疾苦无动于衷，对百姓的呼声毫不关心，他们还不会忘记需要向公众表现自己的温和，在他们心血来潮时，也会跑到穷乡僻壤，在绝对安全的前提下和朴素的村民坐在一起，矫揉造作地摆好架式，让大批随从记者拍摄合影，以显示自己贴近百姓。2. 世袭等级 在这种制度下，人们被统治者按出身划分成各种等级，等级规定人们的生活地点和所能从事的职业，级别是终身的，非作出极大的努力或贡献，经上层统治者同意，任何人也不得改变，有时，甚至死后的埋葬地点也按身份划分了等级。等级具有世袭
性，下等人出身就是下等人，他们的子孙仍然保持与他们同样的身份，下等人通常没有受过文化教育，或只接受过最基本的一点文化教育，上等人则天生就属于统治阶级，他们出生在统治阶级的家庭里，接受最完备的教育，他们自己也将成为统治阶级的成员。社会最上层的是皇庭贵族，他们终身任职，并把权位传给自己的后代。最下层则是没有任何权利的平民百姓。在这两者之间，存在着一系列不同的等级。每一等级在接受上一等级统治支配的同时，有更多的下一等级的人可供其支配，这使得各级官僚都能感到自己比上不足，比下有余，各有一定的满足感，各有自己的既得利益，他们在维持自己的既得利益的同时，无形中就自动促进了整个社会状态的稳定。 在这种体制中，许多人之所以拥有权力纯粹是由于他们与原先的统治者有血缘关系，实际上，他们并不比被他们统治的人更聪明，更能干。严格的等级制度无情地把每个人固定在一定的位置上，这样做虽容易管理，却是对人才的一种惊人浪费。在这种制度里，出身高贵的庸才往往能得到很好的职位和待遇，而出身低下的人寻求发展，却会受到种种阻碍和限制，他们为了解决温饱而不得不终日操劳，时常为了一些小得可怜的目的而耗尽毕生精力。即便是一个天才，他在事业上获得成功的机会，也比一个出身高贵的庸才要少得多。3．分赃制度 在国家出现初期，如果有一批没有地盘，靠拦路抢劫为生的强盗们的力量发展到一定程度，夺得一块地盘时，他们就会向当地百姓以收取保护费的形式来代替拦路抢劫，并给自己戴上保护者的面具，成为地方势力的一员。地方势力互相争夺地盘时，实际上就是争夺对百姓的控制权，这种控制并不依赖于当地百姓是否同意而存在，只取决于其是否有足够的武力。国家的出现减少了地方势力间频繁的武力冲突，但并没有改变这种统治的性质。 专制政府在经济上对百姓进行肆意掠夺，他们能随意制订税法，强迫百姓缴纳各种高额苛捐杂税，垄断经营高营利行业，动用国库资金营造各种豪华设施供自己享用。在出现财政赤字时，任意印发货币。没有人敢检查他们的财务，更没有人敢给他们的会计建立审查制度，国库就是他们自己的金库，老百姓是他们取之不尽、用之不竭的财源。在他们的内部，各级官僚之间，则按比例进行分赃，合理享用从百姓身上搜刮来的钱财。他们也决不会忘记分出一部分财政收入，供养一支庞大的军队，冠以保卫国家的名义，实则悉心将其私有化，使其只忠于自己，随时用于扑灭来自百姓的反抗。 即便统治阶级中的个别人刚上台时对百姓还有同情心，但是经过这种官场的长期熏染，也会变得昏庸无道，对百姓的疾苦听而不闻、视而不见。因为百姓的拥护并不能提升他们的职位，百姓的唾弃也不会减少他们的报酬，他们与百姓的关系是一种支配与服从的关系，他们没有必要在百姓身上花费过多的精力。决定其职位与前途的，完全是上司对他是否信任。 由于没有常备的监督约束机制，上司的放任自流，使得贪污在各级政府官僚中的普遍存在，官僚们并不会满足于“合理的”利益分配，他们往往巧立名目，向百姓收取各种额外费用，中饱私囊，或者在贿赂面前，为了个人微不足道的好处，损害广大百姓的利益。上司则睁一只眼，闭一只眼，允许下级利用权势捞取好处，以作为对下级进贡的回报。4. 愚民政策
社会的文化教育和传播媒体由政府统一掌管，没有言论自由和新闻出版自由，没有政府的许可，任何出版物也无法出版发行，而愚民政策的实施结果，有时也会愚弄统治者自己。 对于统治集团内部的丑陋现象，统治者封锁消息，不让百姓知道，对于因官员的不负责任或腐败无能造成决策失误，导致百姓或社会财产遭受重大损失时，则捏造事实编造情节，制造假象愚弄百姓；他们内部争权夺利、尔虞我诈，在公众面前则故意表现得相处融融、亲密无间；他们压制不同的思想观念，禁止对其统治模式的不合理之处进行批评；他们高傲自大、排斥外来文化，不接纳其它民族文化的优点；他们脱离国际社会的主流，成为国际大家庭之外的孤家寡人；在国内，他们脱离大众，被政府权威的雾霭所保护，使百姓不了解政治内幕和政策来源。他们以学识渊博的训诫者自居，满口说教民众的大道理，将社会的任何发展均渲染为自己的伟大政绩，对少数愿意为其鼓噪的文人，则施以小恩小惠，以萝卜加大棒的原始方式统治着整个社会。 蒙蔽视听，把人的头脑搞糊涂是任何成功的统治者的一种武器。在没有任何其它信息来源的情况下，愚民政策能成功地向平民百姓列举社会现状的无数优越性和必然性。将社会的一切发展归功在统治者身上，使老百姓表现出带有钦佩心情的服从。对于他们的决策错误和社会上出现的各种问题，他们也总能找到各种大大小小的借口，让他们控制的媒体作出对自己有利的解释。 就这样，他们用一张经过精心规划、编织的很密的网，罩住整个社会，形成一个独立的意识形态，人们只能在这种意识形态的范围内，以政府许可的、一致的方式去思考问题，最有创造精神和最有坚定意志的人也不能冲破这张网，成为社会革新的带头人。 对于那些势单力薄的反对者，在他们的见解尚未见诸报端，个人的能力尚未崭露头角，统治者就会立即给他们当头一棒，将他们置于死地，在残酷的打击下，社会无法产生任何有价值的政见。 久而久之，百姓为各种假象所蒙骗，对各种社会现象产生误解，既不了解自己的社会，也不了解外部世界的真实情况，使得整个社会的民众精神颓废，意志涣散。 一个社会千千万万的民众，被少数统治者用纯粹的恐怖手段所压服，是人类社会最令人厌恶、最让人失望的景象。
在这种封建专制统治下，普通百姓对政府官员的行为不可能有任何发言权，更不用说运用自己的智慧和意志去指导和改变政府的行为，他们只能听命于政府，甚至是眼睁睁地任由政府侵犯自己的权益。任何人，如果关心国家的政治问题，却不可能对其发挥任何影响，反而会有相当的的危险性，使自己无法维持基本的生活，就会对政治问题、对公共事务漠不关心，对政府官员的贪污腐化视而不见，对社会道德的败坏无动于衷，甚至对本街道的规划、卫生、治安也毫无兴趣，认为那都是政府的事。最终，民众只关心自己的生活，将精力放在如何将自己居住的一个狭窄的空间布置的更好，如何在一个拥挤的社会为自己多争取一点微不足道的利益上。他们没有反抗精神，甚至连产生不满的能力都丧失殆尽，对所有的社会问题麻木不仁，没有社会责任感，生活在社会的最底层，变成一群胆小而只会干活的驯服牛羊，任人宰割、奴役，而政府官员则成了他们的牧人。 在这样的社会中，老百姓往往都相信天命。认为自己的处境、遭遇、祸福都是命中注定的，能否做成某件事情，完全取决于自己的运气，认为帝王将相、官僚贵族们天生就是统治者，他们以极其朴素的感情对统治者所返还的并大肆渲染的微不足道的补助感激流涕。而统治者也不会忘记把自己的政权冠以人民的美名，以人民的名义掌权，使其极富欺骗性。 政府实施愚民政策的结果会形成一个统治怪圈：专制政府控制社会的传播媒介制造愚民政策，愚民政策造就了一大批听天由命的百姓，听天由命的百姓继而托持着一个控制一切的专制政府，如图4.1所示，周而复始，恶性循环。政治学上有句话，叫做“有什么样的人民，就有什么样的政府”这句话有道理，理由很简单，因为政府应该是建立在人民的同意之上的。但是，在一个尚未开化的强权专制社会，这句话反过来也成立：“有什么样的政府，就会有什么样的人民。”
专制统治者一手拿着强权镇压的大棒，一手拿着愚民政策的麻醉剂，就能对付任何意志坚强的反抗。只要愚民政策能够充分发挥作用，专制统治就能够长期维持下去。5.固步自封 官僚贵族们习惯于循规蹈矩地按照祖上遗留下来的方式进行统治，因为他们的祖先这样做就过得很好，他们对自己的地位很满足。只有当社会的发展要素或生产力发生变化时，官僚贵族才会显示出自己的无能，他们根本没有能力及时调整自己的组织结构去适应新的形势。统治者都是由老统治者在自己熟悉的几个可靠的近亲中挑选产生，知识观念与老统治者雷同，离不开既得利益集团的范畴。这种领导人的选任方法无法保证继任者能拥有良好的领导素质、知识与才能，也无法保证其能获得政府中其它元老、高官的敬佩与支持，因此，除了第一代领导人之外，继任者都不得不让贵族元老们分享一部分权力。政府中很难会产生强有力的人物，有能力进行政府重组改革，使其适应生产力的发展。 当社会一成不变时，他们尚有一定的能力进行管理，但当社会形态发生变化时，政府便会显得无所适从，内部管理混乱，颁布的政策互相矛盾。内部政治权力斗争的结果，时常是年长的，在官场上富有经验的一批人占据上风，这些人因循守旧，最终使政府变成落后保守、反对变动的反动大本营。 这种社会，当统治者的权力绝对稳固的时候，还比较温和大度，当他们的权力虚弱时，或掌权者变得老态龙钟后，就会变得顽固不化。当统治阶级的生活方式变成一种习惯而固定下来时，他们对变革的偏见和反对就会变得根深蒂固，对他们的生活方式做任何改变都会变得非常危险，甚至遭到歇斯底里的报复，这种社会对待变革的反应，就像一个看见医生就咆哮的精神病病人，不能忍受任何人把手放在他的缺陷上，研究他的疾病，想办法把他的病治好。 在这种统治模式下，由于占统治地位的庞大的既得利益集团的阻碍作用，社会的发展与进步只能呈间歇式，是低效率的。每次变革，只能通过暴力和政变方式更换昏庸无道的政治领导人才能得到实施，从而引发社会动荡，伴随着流血甚至是连年的内部战争，造成整个社会巨大的人、财、物损失。要么，就是整个社会付出漫长的时间代价，等待最高统治者的自然死亡，寄期望于能有一个开明、理智的新领导人上台。然而，可悲的是，在最好的医疗保健条件下，统治者往往长寿，而新的统治者除了年龄之外，思维模式与老的统治者如出一辙。使得那些对社会制度与美好生活抱有幻想的人们，在等待中，不知不觉地度过了自己的青年、中年，迎来了自己的暮年。 专制制度也并非全都无能愚昧，有时专制政府也有文明开化的，当社会在一个开明睿智的领导人统治之下时，社会也会被管理得井然有序，它能创建一些伟大的人力工程，组织起强大的军队，抵御外来入侵，甚至征服周边国家，建起庞大的帝国，尽管这种强大往往并不会比一代人的寿命更持久。 专制统治对于统治者来说，是一种最方便、最自然、最舒服的统治方式。统治者可以为所欲为，充分享受做人的乐趣。即便国家很穷，统治者仍然能享有富国的富人们才能享有的生活方式：享用到最先进的医疗设备、最高级的交通工具、最名贵的食品和用具、最豪华的宫殿。如果说，想为所欲为是人的天性，那么，就人的天性而言，没有一个统治者不愿意以这种方式进行统治，因此，尽管专制政体是一种不公平，不人道、弊端明显的政治模式，仍具有强大的生命力。在人类历史上，曾经有不少先例，民主政体在民众没有充分警觉的情况下，不知不觉地演变成了专制政体。
编辑：黄吉洲 校对：冯仍 翻译：戈冰
Politics and Democracy—Chapter IV: Characteristics of the Autocratic Regime
Author: Zhu Zhengming
(I) The Formation of the Autocratic Regime
If we turn the pages of the entire history of human development, we can say it is a history of struggle between oppression and anti-oppression, exploitation and anti-exploitation among human beings. Everyone possesses the desire to act willfully and to place oneself above others. In each stage of human social evolution, just like in other animal groups within nature, the phenomenon of the weak falling prey to the strong has always existed, and its cruelty is no less than that of the survival competition between any other species.
The contest of individual physical strength within primitive tribes produced tribal chiefs. The competition of strength among tribes produced regional lords. Armed conflicts among lords produced kings. The outcome of wars among kings produced emperors. Ultimately, a state system controlling an expansive territory was established. The emperor led both civil and military officials, as well as royal relatives and imperial kinsmen, dividing the nation into a number of regions, and then separately enfeoffing them to trusted ministers and royal aristocrats to guard and defend. These ministers and royal clansmen then subdivided their own jurisdictions into smaller fiefs, enfeoffing them to their own minor subordinates to rule. Bureaucrats proliferated in succession, and power was decentralized in turn, until the ruling power extended to villages, towns, families, and households. Ultimately, the typical power pyramid structure of a feudal autocratic society was formed. At the very bottom of this pyramid are thousands upon thousands of common citizens, and at the very top is the monarch, the emperor alone.
In a feudal autocratic society, the means by which the government obtains ruling power is violence, and the fundamental means by which the government maintains its rule remains violence. A feudal autocratic society is a social system that naturally developed and evolved after the productivity of human primitive tribal society advanced to a certain degree. When regional differences were quite significant, primitive tribes were numerous, and development was uneven, it once played a certain positive role in the dissemination of culture, the prosperity of commerce and trade, the progress of remote and backward areas, and the promotion of the development of productive forces. The feudal autocratic ruling model is a maintenance-oriented ruling model, strong in conservatism but weak in innovation. When people live in an unyielding, unchanging manner, the rulers still possess sufficient experience and energy to cope with various social problems. When society enters an era of reform and innovation, and a large number of unprecedented, newborn things emerge, the ruling model where everything is decided by the monarch alone immediately reveals its clumsiness. Even if the monarch is exceptionally shrewd, capable, clean, and devoted to public service, a situation will still arise where he has neither the experience nor the energy and time to cope. Consequently, errors caused by arbitrary decision-making will become common occurrences, and losses caused by negligence and delay will be too numerous to count, as the rigid system will visibly constrain and hinder the development of society.
The great discoveries in science and technology and the emergence of the industrial revolution brought human society into a brand-new era of industrial science and technology. Human understanding and capability to master nature experienced rapid and vigorous development, and social structures and lifestyles became increasingly complex. Autocratic society was no longer capable of adapting to the needs of this development, playing a severe role in obstructing social progress. It is necessary for us to carefully analyze the characteristics and maladies of this social structure, so that we can better understand it and break free from it.
(II) The Disadvantages of the Autocratic Regime
The autocratic system possesses a self-stabilizing mechanism within its organizational structure, capable of playing a basic role in maintaining social public order; therefore, it has been able to exist for a long time. From the perspective of social morphology, the autocratic regime exhibits the following five major disadvantages:
1. Arbitrary and Dictatorial Rule
The supreme ruler monopolizes all major power individually, deciding everything and dominating everything in state affairs. Society lacks the rule of law, and the individual will of the ruler is the law. Even if some legal clauses are promulgated, they are completely aimed at constraining the common people and serving the ruler. Officials at all levels can arbitrarily interpret and execute the law at their own discretion; however many officials a country has, that is how many kinds of laws exist. When the interests of the common people are infringed upon by officials, they are left helpless and have nowhere to turn for help. The sole recourse is to appeal to higher-level bureaucrats, but they will only be dismissed and sent to a reception office that possesses no real power whatsoever. The reception officials are either brimming with arrogance, showing complete impatience as if dealing with a psychiatric patient, or view the victims as making unreasonable disturbances, forwarding their materials back to the very officials who originally abused their power to create the unjust case, whereupon the victimized suffer even more intensified persecution.
The country lacks an independent legislative body of an elected nature. If a legislative body does exist, it is established according to the will of the ruler and exists in dependency upon the ruler, who can arbitrarily arrange the personnel composing the legislative institution based on his own will. Only those who can pass the careful screening and long-term inspection of the organization department, who are absolutely reliable politically, and who can consciously maintain ideological consistency with them, have the possibility of entering the legislative body. The legislative body is no different from a hand-raising machine and rubber stamp for the ruler, failing to play a role in restraining the ruler, who can formulate and amend laws at will. The judicial organs lack independent status; much like the legislative bodies, their personnel composition is designated by the ruler, and they act in accordance with the ruler’s will.
The centralized ruler holds all power within society, possessing the ultimate power of life and death over the lives of the common people. In such a society, acquiring official power and status is the sole way out for people to obtain privileges and freedom, and the officialdom is the only arena for all those who wish to display their personal capabilities. To obtain more power, property, freedom, and personal happiness, the only choice is to strive for a higher official position. Whether one can achieve this desire depends entirely on whether one can secure the personal favor of their superior, having absolutely nothing to do with whether the common people approve or not. Therefore, such a society is a paradise for all kinds of careerists, conspirators, and despicable individuals. They exert all their strength to win the favor of the ruler, catering to the hobbies of the dictator, flattering the foolishness of the aristocrats, and enduring their insults. They understand clearly that sacrificing their own dignity is the only effective and cheap means to preserve and promote their own positions. The dictator grows accustomed to those who willingly or under compulsion act as lackeys; living long among praises and smiling faces renders him obstinate and self-opinionated, leading a dissipated life. He will find that everything of his has already been considered in advance by others. Even though he manages the affairs of millions of people, in truth he does not understand these matters, and thus frequently hands over his official authority to subordinates to exercise. This enables low-level officials to also flaunt their powerful connections and bully others as they swagger through the streets, reclaiming their dignity in front of the common people and earning the optimal return for their obsequious brown-nosing.
The rulers cannot tolerate any differing opinions. Any dissent will sound extremely grating to them; regardless of whether its content is reasonable, it will first and foremost be deemed a lack of respect for themselves and a manifestation of disregarding the leadership. Under such a system, the greatest taboo is to contradict a superior; even if it happens only once, one might be permanently consigned to limbo. Consequently, those who truly possess talent, adhere to principles, and speak bluntly will only receive arrogant and contemptuous treatment, belonging to the category of those who are least qualified to be appointed. Such people must either yield their positions to politicians who are better at fawning, or abandon their own principles of conduct. Honesty and integrity are not recognized as virtues; instead, they are regarded as redundant and foolish character traits.
Whether one is submissive or not serves as the primary standard by which the powerful and wealthy measure the merits and faults of their subordinates. No matter how poor their moral character or how incompetent a person is, as long as they can show submission—and perhaps possess a touch of petty cleverness, knowing how to win the favor of the powerful and wealthy—they can receive promotions. Even if they are utterly incompetent, they can still remain officials for life. Therefore, those who are lucky are often conspirators or swindlers. After gaining power, the incompetent and tyrannical nature of these people is quickly exposed to its fullest. To those above, they are slaves; to those below, they become slave owners. Looking from top to bottom, one sees blossoming, sunflower-like smiling faces; yet looking from bottom to top, one sees only the ugly necks of the officials.
The ruler, of course, also understands what the purpose behind his subordinates’ various efforts is. Therefore, he also frequently gives the cold shoulder to those seeking positions to test whether they are truly loyal, sometimes intentionally leaving certain positions vacant to keep them in a state of hope and anticipation for a long time, so that he can effectively control and tame them. He knows that when he has completely satisfied all their demands and can no longer provide new benefits, they are highly likely to cast him aside and seek refuge with a new master.
The dictator has no sense of trust in his subordinates; they do not trust anyone. They frequently find that even those they trust the most are lying to them, thereby believing that everyone has bad motives and improper intentions. They do not understand the meaning of the word freedom; upon encountering any dissent, they panic and lose their bearings, constantly remaining on guard against anyone posing a threat to their own official power and status. They fear any form of non-governmental organization, seeing every bush and tree as an enemy soldier, and stand ready at any moment to pinch them out in their infancy.
They treat dissidents brutally, viewing these individuals as the most dangerous enemies, subjecting them to physical torture, sentencing them to labor re-education, banishment, or even death. They regard the common people as ignorant and foolish mobs, maintaining a high level of vigilance, and stand ready at any moment to deploy the armed forces to suppress assembly operations of any scale. For those detained and arrested, they inflict cruel and inhumane torture.
Externally, the dictator is militarily aggressive and wages wars of aggression. They frequently go to war over personal squabbles, dragging the country into warfare, driving thousands upon thousands of common citizens to slaughter one another on the battlefield, and spending enormous amounts of state funds on researching and manufacturing killing weapons. The cause of war, at times, is merely for the ruler to flaunt his strength and fight for face. They know that inciting xenophobic sentiments, or even launching a war, is an effective means to divert the citizens’ attention away from domestic political corruption, enhance social cohesion, and strengthen their personal power, while conveniently crowning themselves with the laurels of a national hero.
Under such a regime, officials at all levels are awed and subdued by the dictator’s authority. When the dictator makes an erroneous decision, even though many people will detect its mistake, they lack the capability to point it out and correct it. Most absurd of all, decisions made by the dictator under conditions of drunkenness and mental derangement will still be implemented and executed as if they were imperial edicts.
However, despite the fact that the dictator is filled with a sense of wariness toward the common people, remains indifferent to the hardships of the common people, and is utterly unconcerned with the voice of the common people, they still do not forget the need to display their gentleness to the public. On a whim, they will also travel to remote, impoverished areas and, under the prerequisite of absolute security, sit together with simple villagers, affectedly striking a pose to let a large retinue of accompanying journalists take group photos, so as to show that they are close to the common people.
2. Hereditary Stratification
Under this system, people are divided into various classes and ranks by the rulers based on their family background. These ranks prescribe people’s place of living and the occupations they can engage in. The rank is lifelong; without making tremendous efforts or contributions and receiving the consent of the upper-level rulers, no one is permitted to change it. Sometimes, even the burial location after death is stratified according to status.
Ranks and classes possess a hereditary nature; those of the lower orders are born as lower-class people, and their descendants continue to maintain the exact same identity as them. Lower-class people typically have received no formal cultural education, or have only received a bit of the most basic cultural education. Upper-class people, on the other hand, naturally belong to the ruling class; they are born into families of the ruling class, receive the most complete education, and they themselves will also become members of the ruling class. At the absolute apex of society are the imperial court aristocrats, who hold office for life and transmit their official positions and power to their own posterities. At the absolute bottom are the common citizens who possess no rights whatsoever. Between these two, there exists a series of different ranks and strata. While each rank accepts the rule and domination of the rank above it, it has a larger population of the rank below available for it to dominate. This makes bureaucrats at all levels feel that though they fall short of those above, they surpass those below, with each possessing a certain sense of satisfaction and their own vested interests. While maintaining their own vested interests, they intangibly and automatically promote the stability of the entire social state.
In this system, the reason why many people possess power is purely due to their blood relationships with the original rulers; in reality, they are neither wiser nor more capable than the people they rule. The rigid hierarchical system ruthlessly fixes every individual into a set position; although doing so makes management easy, it constitutes an astonishing waste of human talent. In this system, mediocrities of noble birth often secure excellent positions and treatment, whereas people of low birth seeking development encounter all kinds of obstacles and restrictions. In order to solve the basic problem of food and clothing, they have no choice but to toil all day long, frequently exhausting their lifelong energy for the sake of some pitifully small objectives. Even for a genius, his chances of achieving success in his career are far fewer than those of a mediocrity of noble birth.
3. The Spoils System
In the early stage of the emergence of states, if the power of a band of robbers who had no territory and lived on highway robbery developed to a certain degree and captured a piece of territory, they would substitute highway robbery by collecting protection fees from the local citizens, while putting on the mask of a protector to become a member of the local forces. When local forces fought each other for territory, they were in fact fighting for the right of control over the common people. This control did not depend on whether the local citizens agreed or not to exist; it depended solely on whether they possessed sufficient military force. The emergence of the state reduced the frequent armed conflicts among local forces, but it did not alter the nature of this rule.
An autocratic government carries out wanton plunder against the common people economically. They can formulate tax laws at will, forcing the citizens to pay all kinds of high and exorbitant taxes and levies, monopolizing the operation of highly profitable industries, and deploying state treasury funds to construct various luxurious facilities for their own enjoyment. When a fiscal deficit occurs, they arbitrarily print and issue currency. No one dares to audit their finances, let alone dares to establish an oversight system for their accountants. The state treasury is their own private vault, and the common people are their inexhaustible and endless source of wealth. Domestically, among the bureaucrats at all levels, the spoils are divided proportionally, rationally enjoying the money and wealth extorted from the common people. They will also by no means forget to allocate a portion of the financial revenue to maintain a massive army. Citing the name of defending the country, in reality they painstakingly privatize it so that it remains loyal only to themselves, ready at any moment to be used to extinguish resistance coming from the common people.
Even if isolated individuals within the ruling class still possess compassion for the common people when they first come to power, after long-term immersion in such an officialdom, they will also become muddle-headed and tyrannical, turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to the hardships of the common people. Because the support of the common people cannot elevate their official positions, and the spurning of the common people will not reduce their remuneration. Their relationship with the common people is one of domination and obedience; they have no need to expend excessive energy on the common people. What decides their positions and futures is entirely whether the superior trusts them.
Due to the lack of a permanent mechanism for supervision and constraint, the laissez-faire attitude of superiors allows corruption to exist ubiquitously among government bureaucrats at all levels. Bureaucrats will not be satisfied with a “rational” distribution of benefits; they frequently invent all sorts of pretexts to collect various extra fees from the common people to line their own pockets, or, when faced with bribes, sacrifice the interests of the broad masses of common people for the sake of their own negligible personal benefits. Superiors turn a blind eye, permitting subordinates to use their power and influence to reap benefits as a return for the subordinates’ tributes.
4. Obscurantist Policy
The cultural education and communication media of society are uniformly controlled by the government. There is no freedom of speech or freedom of the press and publication; without the permission of the government, no publication can be published or distributed. The outcome of implementing this obscurantist policy, at times, also fools the rulers themselves.
Regarding the ugly phenomena within the ruling clique, the rulers block information to prevent the common people from knowing. When policy errors caused by the irresponsibility or corruption and incompetence of officials result in heavy losses to the common people or to social property, they fabricate facts, concoct storylines, and create false impressions to fool the common people. While they internally scramble for power and profit, cheating and outwitting one another, they deliberately present an appearance of getting along harmoniously and sharing close intimacy before the public. They suppress different ideological concepts, forbidding criticism of the unreasonable aspects of their ruling model. They are haughty and conceited, rejecting foreign cultures and failing to accept the merits of other ethnic cultures. They alienate themselves from the mainstream of the international society, becoming a solitary soul outside the international family. Domestically, they detach themselves from the masses, protected by the mist of government authority, keeping the common people ignorant of the political inside story and the sources of policy. They pose as profoundly knowledgeable instructors, their mouths full of grand principles to lecture the populace, portraying any development of society as their own great political achievement. To the few literati who are willing to clamor on their behalf, they dispense small favors and kindnesses, ruling the entire society in the primitive fashion of the carrot and the stick.
Blinding the eyes and ears and muddying people’s minds is a weapon of any successful ruler. In the absence of any other sources of information, the obscurantist policy can successfully enumerate to the common citizens the countless advantages and inevitabilities of the social status quo, attributing all developments of society to the rulers and causing the common people to display an obedience colored by admiration. For their policy errors and various problems arising in society, they can also always find all kinds of big and small excuses, allowing the media they control to produce explanations advantageous to themselves.
In this way, they use a meticulously planned and densely woven net to cover the entire society, forming an independent ideology. People can only think about problems within the scope of this ideology in a government-permitted, uniform manner. Even the most creative spirits and those with the most resolute will cannot break through this net to become leaders of social reform.
As for those isolated and weak opponents, before their insights can appear in the press and before their personal capabilities can show any prominence, the rulers will immediately deal them a head-on blow and crush them to death. Under such brutal crackdowns, society is incapable of producing any valuable political insights.
As time goes on, the common people are deceived by various false appearances and develop misunderstandings toward various social phenomena. Knowing neither their own society nor the true conditions of the outside world, they leave the populace of the entire society spiritually decadent and ideologically demoralized.
That thousands upon thousands of citizens in a society are cowed and subdued by a handful of rulers through pure methods of terror is the most disgusting and disappointing spectacle of human society.
Under this kind of feudal autocratic rule, it is impossible for ordinary people to have any say whatsoever in the behavior of government officials, let alone apply their own wisdom and will to guide and alter the behavior of the government. They can only obey the orders of the government, or even helplessly allow the government to infringe upon their own rights and interests. If anyone who cares about the political issues of the country is unable to exert any influence on them, and instead faces considerable danger that makes it impossible to maintain a basic livelihood, they will become indifferent to political issues and public affairs, turn a blind eye to the corruption of government officials, remain unmoved by the decay of social morals, and even lose all interest in the planning, sanitation, and public security of their own streets, believing those are entirely the government’s business. Ultimately, the citizens care only about their own lives, focusing their energy on how to better arrange the narrow space in which they live, and how to scramble for a bit more negligible interest for themselves in a crowded society. They lack the spirit of resistance, and have even entirely lost the capacity to generate discontent. They are numb to all social problems, possess no sense of social responsibility, and live at the absolute bottom of society—turning into a herd of timid, submissive cattle and sheep that only know how to work, allowing themselves to be slaughtered and enslaved at will, while government officials become their shepherds.
In such a society, the common people often believe in the mandate of heaven and fate. They believe that their situation, encounters, fortunes, and misfortunes are all predestined by fate, and whether one can accomplish a certain thing depends entirely on one’s own luck. They believe that kings, generals, ministers, bureaucrats, and aristocrats are born to be rulers. With extremely simple and pure feelings, they shed tears of gratitude for the negligible subsidies returned and heavily played up by the rulers. Meanwhile, the rulers do not forget to crown their own regime with the beautiful name of “the people,” holding power in the name of the people, which makes it highly deceptive.
The result of the government’s implementation of the obscurantist policy forms a vicious cycle of ruling: the autocratic government controls the communication media of society to manufacture the obscurantist policy; the obscurantist policy creates a vast number of common people who resign themselves to fate; and the common people who resign themselves to fate subsequently support and bear up an all-controlling autocratic government, as shown in Figure 4.1, going round and round in a vicious cycle. There is a saying in political science that goes, “A people get the government they deserve.” This saying has its merit, and the reason is very simple, because a government should be built upon the consent of the people. However, in an uncivilized, powerful, and autocratic society, this saying also holds true in reverse: “A government gets the people it deserves.”
In such a society, the common people often believe in the mandate of heaven and fate. They believe that their situation, encounters, fortunes, and misfortunes are all predestined by fate, and whether one can accomplish a certain thing depends entirely on one’s own luck. They believe that kings, generals, ministers, bureaucrats, and aristocrats are born to be rulers. With extremely simple and pure feelings, they shed tears of gratitude for the negligible subsidies returned and heavily played up by the rulers. Meanwhile, the rulers do not forget to crown their own regime with the beautiful name of “the people,” holding power in the name of the people, which makes it highly deceptive.
The result of the government’s implementation of the obscurantist policy forms a vicious cycle of ruling: the autocratic government controls the communication media of society to manufacture the obscurantist policy; the obscurantist policy creates a vast number of common people who resign themselves to fate; and the common people who resign themselves to fate subsequently support and bear up an all-controlling autocratic government, as shown in Figure 4.1, going round and round in a vicious cycle. There is a saying in political science that goes, “A people get the government they deserve.” This saying has its merit, and the reason is very simple, because a government should be built upon the consent of the people. However, in an uncivilized, powerful, and autocratic society, this saying also holds true in reverse: “A government gets the people it deserves.”
Holding the big stick of powerful crackdowns in one hand and the anesthetic of the obscurantist policy in the other, the autocratic ruler can cope with any strong-willed resistance. As long as the obscurantist policy can fully exert its effects, autocratic rule can be maintained for a long time.
5. Routine-Bound and Stagnant Conservatism
The bureaucrats and aristocrats are accustomed to ruling in a routine and conventional manner according to the ways left behind by their ancestors, because their ancestors lived very well by doing so, and they are well-satisfied with their own positions. Only when the development elements or productive forces of society undergo changes will the bureaucrats and aristocrats reveal their own incompetence; they lack any capability whatsoever to adjust their own organizational structure in a timely fashion to adapt to the new situation. Rulers are all selected and generated by old rulers from among a few reliable close relatives they are familiar with; their knowledge and concepts are identical to those of the old rulers, and they cannot break away from the domain of the vested interest groups. This method of selecting leaders cannot guarantee that successors will possess excellent leadership qualities, knowledge, and talents, nor can it guarantee that they can secure the admiration and support of other veterans and high officials in the government. Therefore, except for the first-generation leaders, successors all have no choice but to let the aristocratic veterans share a portion of the power. It is very difficult for powerful figures to emerge in the government who possess the capability to carry out structural restructuring and reform of the government to make it adapt to the development of productive forces.
When society remains unyielding and unchanging, they still possess a certain capability to conduct management; but when social morphology undergoes changes, the government will appear at a loss as to what to do, with internal management falling into chaos and promulgated policies contradicting one another. As a result of internal political power struggles, a group of older individuals who are rich in officialdom experience frequently gain the upper hand. These individuals follow the beaten track and cling to old customs, ultimately turning the government into a backward, conservative, and reactionary stronghold that opposes change.
In such a society, when the power of the rulers is absolutely secure, they are still relatively mild and magnanimous; when their power becomes weak, or after the holders of power become old and decrepit, they will become stubborn and unconvertible. When the lifestyle of the ruling class becomes a habit and is fixed down, their prejudice and opposition toward change will become deep-rooted. Making any alteration to their lifestyle will become extremely dangerous, even encountering hysterical retaliation. The reaction of such a society toward change is just like a psychiatric patient who roars upon seeing a doctor, unable to tolerate anyone putting a hand on his defects, studying his illness, and thinking of ways to cure his disease.
Under this ruling model, due to the obstructing effect of the massive vested interest groups occupying the dominant position, the development and progress of society can only occur intermittently and are inefficient. Each change can only be implemented by replacing muddle-headed and tyrannical political leaders through methods of violence and coups, thereby triggering social turmoil, accompanied by bloodshed or even consecutive years of internal wars, causing enormous human, financial, and material losses to the entire society. Alternatively, the entire society pays a long price in time, waiting for the natural death of the supreme ruler, pinning its hopes on the possibility of an enlightened and rational new leader coming to power. Yet, tragically, under the best medical and healthcare conditions, rulers are often long-lived, while the new rulers, except for their age, possess a mode of thinking that is an exact replica of the old rulers. This causes those people who harbor illusions about the social system and a beautiful life to unconsciously pass through their youth and middle age in the midst of waiting, only to usher in their own twilight years.
An autocratic system is not entirely incompetent and ignorant; at times, there are also civilized and enlightened autocratic governments. When society is under the rule of an enlightened and wise leader, it can also be managed in an orderly fashion. It can construct some great human engineering projects, organize powerful armies, resist foreign invasions, and even conquer neighboring countries to establish vast empires—even though this kind of strength often does not endure longer than the lifespan of a single generation.
For the rulers, autocratic rule is the most convenient, natural, and comfortable way of ruling. Rulers can do as they please, fully enjoying the pleasures of being human. Even if the country is very poor, the rulers can still enjoy a lifestyle that only the rich in wealthy countries can afford: access to the most advanced medical equipment, the highest-grade means of transportation, the most precious and expensive food and utensils, and the most luxurious palaces. If wanting to do as one pleases is human nature, then as far as human nature is concerned, no ruler is unwilling to rule in this manner. Therefore, although the autocratic regime is an unfair, inhumane political model with obvious defects, it still possesses a powerful vitality. In human history, there have been quite a few precedents where democratic regimes, under circumstances where the populace lacked sufficient vigilance, unconsciously evolved into autocratic regimes.
Editor: Huang Jizhou Proofreader: Feng Reng Translator: Ge Bing
