55、People’s Life Is a Capital Operation

Investment begins as soon as a child is born, or rather, before the child is born.

Husband’s request for wife’s preparation for pregnancy can be seen as a kind of investment, since they are clear that they will spend a great deal in raising a child in the future. However, majorities of parents are pleased to make such investment and many couples feel anxious because they cannot make such investment (without a child) immediately.

The child, who is of vital importance to a normal family, is more than a kind of investment.

The child can give rise to three benefits:

1. Retain the affection between spouses. Many couples decide not to get divorced for children’s reason.

2. Rear children as a support in old age. Chinese moral and ethical views argue that rearing children as a support in old age is a most traditional and reliable approach to solving living problems in their twilight years.

3. Inherit family property. For the poor, there may be little property to be inherited, whereas for the proprietary class and middle class, the child will be surely the only heir, or rather, the son is undoubtedly the only heir.

In addition, from the national and social perspective, childbearing is a process contributing not only to a larger population, but also to a higher number of social resources.

To a certain degree, social development has a need for population stability as well as workforce increase.

Besides, population stability and workforce increase are the indispensable elements and assurances for the development of social productive forces.

No matter how developed a society is and how high the quality of life is, the continuous decrease in total population will be bound to result in a severe crisis or even national subjugation and genocide when reaching a certain degree.

Therefore, for a country, childbearing is a kind of necessary investment.

Children are supported by others from their birth to their growth into an adult who can live independently. They need other’s financial help in respect of basic necessities, education, skill trainings, medical treatment, and security assurance. Instead of making contributions or creating economic income, they require the investment from others.

In this stage, the state is responsible for environmental investment and the nine-year compulsory education, while parents for all other expenditures, mainly survival-oriented investment.

As a matter of fact, in our life, environment is a kind of important investment as well. The environments described here refer to ecological and social environments.

1. Ecological environment is the natural living environment highlighting the indices like air pollution, noise, soil, and water quality.

2. Social environment is the manmade living environment emphasising the indices like social security, road traffic, social civilisation, public facilities, labour security, employment environment, and medical insurance.

Social environment investment is a concept completely different in socialist countries and capitalist countries.

In capitalist countries, tax revenue from the people is the only source of the government’s income. Thus, investment and spending of the government is also the investment and spending of the people. It is understandable that the government short of money levies taxes to deal with official affairs.

In socialist countries, the government’s income is not only constituted by tax revenue, but also by a large proportion of state-owned capital gains. Thus, governments of socialist countries can do many things that governments of capitalist countries cannot do, and for these governments, the major task is to make environmental investment.

Environmental investment is of crucial importance to the common people, because they live a life in social environment. Just like the fish living in water, people will have entirely different fates when living in different water. This point is easy to understand.

The social environment of the socialist country has been mentioned in ‘How Socialist Countries Carry Forward Their Superiority in Socialist System’.

Public capital is required to build an environment essential to the common people from an overall perspective.

Educational environment, employment environment, and secure environment have been described above.

I. Infrastructure Construction

Infrastructure construction cannot only transform our environment, including living environment, but also provide convenience for people living near the infrastructures. Land appreciation can create various benefits for local people.

1. If the infrastructures near your houses such as subway, station, wharf, and road are put into practice, your house will be sure to appreciate immediately, i.e., your assets will appreciate immediately.

2. Large numbers of people become rich overnight because of demolition. If infrastructures are built in front of their houses, they will be allocated with several apartments when the country requisitions local land.

3. Due to national investment and construction, many places that were wastelands in the past have been turned into downtowns, which have attracted more visitors and travelling merchants. As a result of this, local people will be provided with more job opportunities and get a higher income.

Why do parents spend a great deal in rearing their children, providing a life of high quality for them, hiring a private teacher for them, and sending them abroad for further education? The reason is that they hope their children have a promising future and find an ideal job.

There will be more job opportunities and chances of earning money in a favourable environment, which is the environment resource that can never be bought. This is also a part of national investment benefits as well.

You will never find a satisfying job despite being well-educated and highly capable if the employment and business environments fail to be built in the absence of national investment. A significantly positive result will be achieved by national environmental investment, as opposed to the lack of national environment investment. It can be said that national environmental investment plays a crucial role. Ordinary people usually fail to discover this point.

Thus, in socialist countries, the investment in children is categorized into two types: (1) parent’s investment, and (2) national and environmental investment.

Environmental and national investment plays a decisive role. Thus, investment is a most crucial element, which is the largest capital for the people.

II. Fundamental Science and Technology Studies

Many fundamental science and technology studies need tremendous investment, which will be unable to create economic returns for a long period of time. Nevertheless, such studies play a decisive role in national security, national economy, and people’s livelihood. All these require not only enormous investment to be made, but also national investment to play its role.

III. Safe Investment

Safety refers to national defence security, public security, etc.

National defence security requires huge national investment, which represents national strength.

Public security is always of vital importance to the common people. People who have encountered public security problems can perceive its importance more deeply.

China performs well in respect of public security, which is closely associated with the socialist system. This is also an example for the public capital investment in a secure environment. The secure environment today is completely reliant on the infinite security assurance that public capital provides.

Mexico is an extreme example, which spends $200 million on national defence every year, while the income of drug dealer is $2 billion every year. From the perspective of military expenses, Mexico’s national army is overwhelmed by drug dealers’ private army; as a result of which, Mexico is controlled by drug dealers on the whole.

Their presidents cannot find a way out, because the gap between $200 million and $2 billion results from their political system, ideology, values, and external environment. The United States, a bad neighbour and role model, has created a huge drug market for Mexico.

The fundamental reason is that Mexico lacks state-owned capital that can help to fight against the demon.

This has reflected the hypocrisy, foulness, evilness, weakness, and ugliness of democracy.

The prerequisite for ‘everyone is equal’ is the equality in respect of public capital rather than in terms of human right. The most famous slogan of capitalism is ‘All men are created equal’.

I have mentioned that men are not created equal, and ‘All men are created equal’ is only a capitalist slogan. Seemingly, people are spiritually equal. As a matter of fact, in the society with private ownership, equality cannot be achieved in a real sense due to the inequality in respect of means of production and means of livelihood, namely, capital inequality.

To achieve equality in a real sense, capital equality must be ensured.

The whole people in possession of public capital will be granted corresponding dividends, which turn out to be the most fundamental assurance for equality.

No matter whether you are poor or rich, healthy or sick, or tall or short, everyone competes against each other with the support of capital from their birth.

All the contents above have proved the importance and irreplaceable role of public capital, which proves to be the foundation of people’s life.