The Mutual Restraint Between the Political Structure and the Economic Structure

In recent days more and more articles discussing the reform of the political system have appeared in the nation's newspapers and popular magazines. Nevertheless, even though people may be discussing the same subject, with regard to what they really hope for they may be very strikingly at odds with one another. People's understanding of a society's politics and economy is often confined to the impressions they receive from recent history, and yet, under certain peculiar circumstances, recent history may not be a normal state of things. Precisely because recent history may be so far removed from a normal state of affairs, its impact on people is often particularly great, so much so that, as a result of concentrating on the impressions of recent history, people may not even be able to discern what is the normal state of things, or what ought to be "common knowledge." I believe that many Chinese scholars have a rather confused understanding of the concepts of a democratic system, of capitalism, of a formerly socialist state's political system, of egalitarianism, and so on. To gain a clearer understanding of all these concepts will, in my opinion, be beneficial to us, whether in terms of understanding our present, or opening our eyes to the possibilities of the future.