作者：周恒
编辑：冯仍 责任编辑：侯改英 校对：程筱筱 翻译：彭小梅
到底是人民选择了制度，还是制度塑造了人民？这是一个经典的问题。2024年诺贝尔经济学奖获得者的观点是：国家的繁荣主要取决于其社会制度。我的观点是制度和人民就是国家的两条腿，它们相互依存相互影响，国家拥有健康的双脚才能持久繁荣。我们先来看看被很多悲观人士形容为“盐碱地”的中国现状。
2000多年以来，中国这片土地上最大的悲哀在于逆淘汰。真正有灵魂、有血性的人都会在一次又一次的政治清洗与杀戮中被消灭。这个族群早已失去骨气和勇气。能够活下来的，都是胆小怕事、虚伪狡诈的庸众。而今中国人都是庸人、怂人的后代，这样的人民是赤色共产主义滋生的温床，发展的沃土。
近代一百年来，中共集苏共和德国纳粹洗脑手段之精华，利用国家机器将中国人思维方式和价值观彻底摧毁。本来被视为耻辱的欺骗，在高压与宣传体系下逐渐被视为“生存智慧”；批评政府本应是公民责任，但在宣传体系下被混淆为“攻击国家”；中共和人民没有共同利益，但被洗脑的人民却相信他们和中共有共同的敌人，那就是国内的资本家和西方反华势力。
季羡林说：“在中国公有制的体系里，每个单位都是小人的天下。正直的人总是少数，且无权势。群众的眼睛是瞎的、势力的，他们大部分时间不会站在君子一边。坏人是不会变好的，因为他们不认为自己是坏的……”这些话虽然带有时代情绪，但反映出不少知识分子的共同观察。
陈丹青更是说：“在中国，如果你没有背景，还要选择做一个好人，200%会落入社会底层。哪怕你才华横溢，哪怕你有真知灼见，社会的筛子会把你过滤掉。越是循规蹈矩、刚正不阿、天性善良的人，越容易被淘汰。你所有的优点都会成为竞争中的劣势。”可见在制度性的激励结构中，清白与善良不能带来制度回报，是因为中共一直在故意让社会道德沦丧、是非颠倒。他们指鹿为马，他们让好人不得好报，让坑蒙拐骗横行，让无底限作恶者得到嘉奖和重用。中共这么做的目的：一是对内分化底层，让底层无凝聚力呈原子化，便于维稳统治；二是对外败坏中国人的形象，让外国人认为中国人素质低，不值得拯救，不要去“干涉中国内政”，这也利于中共长期独裁统治；三是让中国人强化意识得出结论：中国人素质低，中国不能搞西方民主，一搞就乱。中国只能由中共这样强力的中央集权的政党执政，中国才能稳定并且逐步走向富强。
中共和他们的喉舌宣传的这种论调极其荒谬，经不起推敲。试问如果中国人民素质低下不适合搞西方民主制度，那为什么中国人可以实行他们所谓的“更加先进的社会主义制度”？难道是社会主义对人民的素质要求不高？还是社会主义不如资本主义民主？
一般来说，国家制度分两种：①专制暴政，②民主法治；人民也分为两种：A：野蛮、奴性、盲从集体；B：理性、独立思考、个人负责。国家制度和人民两两组合，共有四种情况：
第一种情况①+A：专制暴政洗脑让人民更加愚昧，愚昧的人民默许服从，让专制暴政更加稳固。中国大陆就是这种情况。这种情况下的国家制度和人民，像看似稳定的两只脚，实则是病态的，走不长久。它一定会从内部瓦解或者被外力改变。转换成其他三种情况之一。
第二种情况①+B：要么理性人民推翻专制暴政，要么专制暴政驯化奴化理性的人民。这种情况下的国家制度和人民，像两只不同步的脚，不能行走。他一定会快速转变为第一种情况，或者是第四种情况。
第三种情况②+A：要么民主法治制度启蒙教育转化奴性的人民，要么奴性的人民推翻民主法治制度。这种情况下的国家制度和人民像不同步的两只脚，依然不能行走。他一定会快速转变为第一种情况，或者是第四种情况。
第四种情况②+B。这种情况下的国家制度和人民，是真正和谐稳定步调一致的两只脚。即使偶尔有重大错误也能及时自我纠错、自我纠偏，回到正轨。而其它三种情况最终都将转变成这种情况，正所谓“天下大势，浩浩汤汤”，历史潮流滚滚向前谁也无法阻挡。
推翻中共再造共和是所有民运人士的理想。当这一天真正来临时，我们不得不提防民主倒退和专制复辟，所以在重建民主法治制度的同时，也要加强对人民的逻辑和反思教育——让理性回归人民，让人民学会独立思考。因为只有这样的人民才能保护民主制度有效运行，这样的民主制度才能让全体人民得到平等的权利和尊严。这样制度下的中国才能摆脱被专制反复奴役的历史往复，才能变得真正文明和繁荣。
需要警醒的是，长期专制奴役在现代实际中形成的思维方式，不可能一代人就完全消失，要迎接那个时候的来临，需要至少两代人努力彻底地文化隔绝。这是中共执政事实下的必然代价。就像摩西带领以色列人出埃及后，在旷野里走40年，让奴性思维的人全部死去才带领剩余的人进入上帝应许的迦南地。希望那个时代能够善待他们。他们是我们的弟兄姊妹，他们只是中共统治的受害者。
A Brief Discussion on Institutions and the People
Author: Zhou Heng
Editor: Feng Reng Executive Editor: Hou Gaiying Proofreader: Cheng Xiaoxiao Translator:Xiaomei Peng
Abstract:
This article examines the mutually shaping relationship between political institutions and the people. It argues that the CCP uses brainwashing and reverse selection to cultivate a submissive populace, creating a vicious cycle of authoritarianism. Only by rebuilding democratic institutions and renewing rational thinking among the people can China escape the “historical cycle” and move toward genuine freedom and prosperity.
Are institutions chosen by the people, or are the people shaped by institutions? This is a classic question. The 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics asserts that a nation’s prosperity depends primarily on its social institutions. My view is that institutions and the people are like the two legs of a nation—interdependent and mutually reinforcing. A country can prosper sustainably only when both legs are healthy.
Let us first look at the current situation in China, which many pessimists describe as a “barren land” for civic development.
For over two millennia, the greatest tragedy on this land has been reverse selection. Individuals with soul, integrity, and courage have been repeatedly eliminated through waves of political purges and killings. The Chinese people have long been stripped of their backbone and bravery. Those who survived are often the timid, the cunning, and the mediocre. Today’s Chinese are largely the descendants of the timid and compliant—fertile soil for the growth of red totalitarianism.
Over the past century, the CCP has absorbed and refined the propaganda and brainwashing techniques of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, using the machinery of the state to completely destroy Chinese modes of thinking and systems of values. Behaviors once considered shameful—deception and manipulation—have, under high-pressure propaganda, been redefined as “survival skills.” Criticizing the government, originally a civic duty, is now framed as “attacking the nation.”
Although the CCP and the people share no common interests, indoctrinated citizens are convinced that they and the CCP face the same enemies—domestic entrepreneurs and the anti-China force of the West.
Writer Ji Xianlin once said: “Under China’s public-ownership system, every workplace is ruled by petty men. The upright is always the minority and hold no power. The masses are blind and opportunistic; most of the time, they do not stand with the upright. Bad people will not become good, for they do not think they are bad.” Though tinted with the emotions of his era, his words reflect a common observation among many intellectuals. Artist Chen Danqing put it more bluntly:
“In China, if you have no background and still choose to be a good person, you will certainly fall to the bottom of society—even if you are talented, even if you possess real insight. Society’s sieve filters you out. The more honest, upright, and kind you are, the more likely you are to be eliminated.” In a system where morality is deliberately inverted, goodness yields no institutional reward. The CCP ensures moral degradation and universal confusion: calling a deer a horse, punishing the righteous, rewarding the deceitful, and promoting the utterly shameless. Why?
1. To atomize the lower classes, preventing solidarity and making authoritarian control easier.
2. To tarnish the global image of the Chinese people, so foreigners conclude China is not worth helping—thus reducing pressure on CCP dictatorship.
3. To reinforce the narrative that “Chinese people are not suited for democracy,” so that only a centralized authoritarian party can maintain “stability and prosperity.”
This narrative collapses under the slightest scrutiny. If Chinese people supposedly lack the “quality” for Western democracy, how can they implement the CCP’s so-called “more advanced socialist system”? Does socialism require lower civic quality? Or is socialism simply inferior to democratic capitalism?
Broadly, national systems fall into two categories:
① Authoritarian tyranny
② Democratic rule of law
Likewise, people can be divided into two types:
A. Submissive, collectivist, and easily manipulated
B. Rational, independent thinkers who take personal responsibility
This yields four combinations:
1. Authoritarian + Submissive (① + A)
Authoritarian rule produces an even more submissive populace, and submissive people reinforce authoritarianism. Mainland China represents this model. Such a state appears stable, but is fundamentally unhealthy and unsustainable. It will eventually collapse from within or be transformed by external forces.
2. Authoritarian + Rational (① + B)
Either rational citizens overthrow the regime, or the regime forcibly reshapes citizens into obedience. This combination cannot last long; it quickly shifts to either the first or the fourth scenario.
3. Democracy + Submissive (② + A)
Either democratic institutions enlighten the people, or the submissive people dismantle democracy. Again, this combination is unstable.
4. Democracy + Rational (② + B)
This is the truly stable combination. Even when serious mistakes occur, the system can self-correct and return to the right path. All other combinations eventually evolve into this one, because the tide of history flows irreversibly toward rationality and democracy.
To overthrow the CCP and rebuild a republic is the ideal of all democracy activists. When that day comes, the greatest danger will be democratic backsliding or authoritarian relapse. Therefore, rebuilding democratic institutions must go hand in hand with strengthening the logical and reflective capacity of the people—restoring rationality and cultivating independent thought. Only rational citizens can safeguard democratic institutions; only democratic institutions can protect the equal rights and dignity of the people. Only then can China escape the endless cycle of authoritarian relapse and rise as a truly civilized and prosperous nation.
One must remain sober: the mental frameworks shaped by long-term authoritarian rule cannot disappear in a single generation. To fully transition, at least two generations of cultural renewal will be required. Just as Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years—allowing the generation enslaved in Egypt to pass away before entering the Promised Land—China will need time to let old mindsets fade. May the coming era treat its people kindly.They are our brothers and sisters—victims of CCP rule, not its accomplices.
