Everyone Tries to Their Best Ability and Takes What they Need Freely — Bright Spots (15)

Written by Yixian on January 28, 2014

When Karl Marx described his ideal communist society of the future, his most well-known quote has always been,“from each according to their ability and to each according to their needs”. That wealth is “distributed” according to peoples needs is a concept that has been and is always being changed by our national leaders in order to meet whatever requirements they have at any particular time, but it is not Marx’s original expression. Meanwhile, the practice in China proves that it does not matter whether wealth is distributed based on labor or on need because both have their shortcomings. Firstly, if wealth is distributed according to labor, who will be the ones to decide how much should be given to each laborer, and if the value of labor cannot be recognized fairly, it will surely cause unfairness and conflicts. In terms of “distribute according to one’s needs”, as long as there is a consciousness of distribution, there are differences of classes or grades, and a complete fairness will not be reached. Secondly, the distributor cannot be clear to know the needs of all the people, it will cause egalitarianism, and some people might get more than enough while other people’s needs will not be fully met.

Then, the market economy comes. It stimulates the vanity of society and people have more choices on working. Some people with good abilities become rich first, but because of the cruel competition and some political reasons, many others have no opportunities or stages upon which to utilize their talents. When everything is based on money, products are abundant and people can buy them freely on the market, but you cannot acquire these products no matter how badly you need them if you lack the money. Therefore in order to survive in society, most people have to do jobs that they do not like. Besides, your labor value is determined by the market and when “the market” is not successful, your hard work and contributions will not be enough to provide you with a comfortable and happy life.

In the Second Home, everything is simple. For permanent residents in the Second Home, the community is responsible for your food, clothes, shelter, transportation, birth, aging, sickness and death, the nursing and caring of the elderly, and the education of children. You neednot worry about anything in life any more and the life quality is beyond the average level of the life standard in the world. The natural environment is excellent: clean, tidy, with flowers, trees, and birds surrounding you, and everyone has a bedroom, which is a sacred space that will not be disturbed by anyone without your permission.

To ensure the effective running of the community life program, there are many jobs from which people may choose. These“jobs” are not related to money, but they are only emerging for the life needs of the community. No currency is used within the community, work is divided among all members, and people serve each other rather than owe each other.

The building of the Second Home includes many aspects of life — it is a big stage. Whatever talents you have, you may put into full use and you need not worry about lacking the opportunities to realize your dream. Wherever possible, the community will create chances for you to demonstrate your abilities and people can always find jobs that they like and that fit them.

In the public canteen, there is always enough food, tea, and snacks for people to take, and in the storeroom, all kinds of daily use items are abundant and people can take them anytime they need to. If you have extra clothes which are relatively new, you may send them to the storeroom and people will share them; in the medicine room, most of the often used medicines are available for anyone to use. If you want something that needs to be bought on the market, the community will buy it for you, the only principle is: no luxury or waste, and on the basis of the community’s financial ability.

Work is divided and people serve each other, all resources are shared among all the people. The Second Home has achieved the goal of, “everyone tries to his best ability and takes what they need freely, people’s talents are fully utilized, and everything is used to its best values”.