Seeking Truth: Consolidating the Common Ideological Basis for the United Struggle of the Party and the People

This Seeking Truth Autumn Stone editorial, published today, is the second of a diptych. The first one, published two weeks ago, addressed the question of consolidating the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological area. This article further explore matters of political unity and resisting deleterious domestic and foreign influence in relation to continued development. 

Consolidating the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological area and consolidating a common ideological basis for the united struggle of the entire Party and the people of the entire country are basic tasks for propaganda and ideology work. The “Two Consolidations” are closely linked, and each has its particular emphasis. This article discusses a few viewpoints on consolidating a common ideological basis for the united struggle of the Party and the people.

I, The common ideological basis relates to the rise, fall, success and failure of the undertaking of the Party and the people

A common ideological basis, where the existence and development of a governing party, a country and a nation are concerned, is of considerable importance. Without the bonds and support of a common ideological basis, a party will not be a party, a country will not be a country, and a nation will not have cohesion. A common ideological basis cannot emerge out of nothing, and it is also not something that people determine, it is rooted in common interests, it grows on a common undertaking, and takes shape through common objectives.

Gaining national independence and the liberation of the people, and realizing national wealth and strength, and the happiness of the people are the most fundamental common interests of the Chinese nations since modernity. The Chinese Communist Party has, since the day of its foundation, made this into its historical mission, and has lead the people of all ethnicities in the entire country in conducting arduous and indomitable struggle. With the establishment of the new China as symbol, the objective of national independence and liberation of the people was realized; with reform and opening up as symbols, China is currently marching a journey to realize the flourishing, wealth and strength of the country and the common prosperity of the people. In a long time of common struggle, the Party and the people have closely united , and formed a common ideological basis. To summarize: under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, marching the path of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are the common ideological basis for the united struggle of the Party and the people in the present stage.

Just after the 18th Party Congress was concluded, the newly elected CCP Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping, together with the complete body of comrades of the Standing Committee of the Politburo and the comrades from the Central Committee Secretariat attended the exhibition “The Road to Rejuvenation” in the National Museum, and he deeply elaborated the Chinese Dream. He said: “Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the most magnificent dream of the Chinese nation since modernity”. The Chinese Dream, in the final analysis, is the dream of the people, it concentrates the long cherished with of generations of Chinese people, reflected the overall interests of the Chinese nation and the Chinese people, and is the common expectation of every son and daughter of China. Only if the country does well and the nation does well can everyone do well; only if the country is rich and strong and the nation is vitalized, can the people be happy – the Chinese Dream concentrated the largest consensus for the united struggle of the Party and the people.

Moving the common undertaking forward and realizing common interests is inseparable from the strong unity of the Party and the people. Marxism has an extremely important viewpoint: only if the people are organized and united, do they have power and can they seize victory in the struggle for their own interests. When the masses were a sheet of loose sand, they did not have power, and could only let themselves be trampled upon and enslaved; to all forces inimical to the people, the most harmful is the unity of the people. Therefore, Marx and Engels’ issued the magnificent call, “Proletarians of all nations, unite!” in the “Communist Manifesto”. The reason that the old China was poor, weak, and subject to bullying was because it disintegrated and was a sheet of loose sand; the reason why the New China can hold its head high and stand free in the forest of the nations of the people, is because the Chinese Communist Party organized the people and united the people, and China thoroughly ended its situation of disintegration and being a sheet of loose sand. The Party and the people have deeply understood through a long period of struggle that unity is strength, unity is the bigger picture and unity is victory.

The strong unity of the Party and the people is inseparable from consolidating a common ideological basis. International anti-Chinese forces, in their hearts and bones, do not hope to see China develop and expand, they continue to do their utmost to push their strategy to Westernize and divide China forward. Westernization is the method, but division is the objective, only a divided, disturbed, weak and lax China would conform to their interests. Their main trick in Westernizing and dividing China is conducting ideological infiltration, bringing chaos to people’s thoughts and disintegrating the common ideological basis for the united struggle of the Party and the people. This is also the most dangerous trick, it is a trick trying to pull the carpet from under us, and requires our vigilance. The disintegration of a country and a regime often starts in the ideological area, political unrest and regime change may occur in one night but ideological evolution is a long-term process. If the ideological defence front is breached, other fronts will be difficult to hold.

II, In consolidating the common ideological basis, all disturbances must be eliminated.

The common ideological basis for the united struggle of the Party and the people is consolidated and developed through struggle with all sorts of mistaken ideologies. Following the profound changes in our country’s society and the incessant expansion of opening up to the outside world, all sorts of ideologies and cultures interact, mingle and clash increasingly frequently, some mistaken thinking trends and undercurrents gush up, they rise one after another, and the common ideological basis for the united struggle of the Party and the people faces all sorts of challenges.

The dispute concerning “universal values” has been a hot point in the ideological area for the past few years. Does humankind have common values? Of course it does. Humankind lives on the same planet, and it is unavoidable in the relationships of humans and nature, humans and society and humans among themselves that some common or similar problems may be encountered, that some common needs thereby emerge, and that some common value relationships, value pursuits and value concepts are formed. If one is unable to see the commonalities existing in the area of values, it will also be impossible to understand the vertical relationship of inheritance of human civilization and the horizontal relationship of learning lessons. This is a quite commonsensical issue that is not disputed. Freedom, democracy and human rights are humankind’s common pursuits, and are the results of civilization created commonly by humankind through a long period of struggle. The problem is that different classes and people in different social positions have different understandings and demands of freedom, democracy and human rights; in different countries and different historical development stages, the real forms and ways of freedom, democracy and human rights are also different, and there is no uniform model. “Universal values” are stirred up by some people because they have ulterior motives, the “universal values” they propagate are in fact not common values of humankind in the ordinary sense, but they specially refer to Western political concepts and institutional models. On the one hand, they say that the Western political model is a “universal value”, on the other hand, they impute all bad things in China to institutions and structures, they preach that only if China accepts “universal values”, it can have a future, but it is very clear where their intention is. Universalism that has dense religious characteristics has always been the ideological source and course by which the West expanded externally and conquered the world.

“Constitutional democracy” is another influential political thinking trend in the wake of the “universal values” thinking trend. The source of the concept of “constitutionalism” is the West, and using it to present and discuss Western constitutionalism at an academic level is permitted. But among a few people, “constitutional democracy” has seemingly become the first topic in political structural reform, they say that “constitutional democracy is the only way out for China”, this merits vigilance. Our Party has always stressed that the Constitution is the basic laws of the country, is the general rule to administer the country and ensure security, and has the supreme position in the legal system; it has always advocated that governing the country according to the law first and foremost means governing the country according to the Constitution, and that the key of governance according to the law is governance according to the Constitution, any organization and individual must take the Constitution as the basic norm for action. The Party leads the people in formulating the Constitution and the laws, the Party leads the people in implementing the Constitution and the laws, the Party itself must take the lead in acting within the scope of the Constitution and the laws, this all beyond any doubt. Now, why do some people still want to play up “constitutional democracy”? Does the “constitutionalism” they discuss refer to “the implementation of the constitution”? DO they truly believe that “implementing the Constitution is constitutionalism”? Not at all! In contrast toe a number of scholars who identify with the wording “Socialist constitutionalism” and believe that this wording benefits strengthening the authority of the Constitution and moving ruling the country according to the law forward, the “constitutional democracy” that some people advocate has an unambiguous political content and direction, which is that Western institutional model. They attack our country for “having a Constitution but no constitutionalism”, “The Chinese Communist Party single-party governance is not legitimate”, “the Party is above the law”, etc., where does this talk about implementing the Constitution or carrying out the Constitution, it clearly aims to deny and oppose our country’s’ current Constitution, and to press us into conducting the “political reform” they aim for, their basic objective is that they want to abolish the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and change our country’s Socialist system. Would it do not to expose this thinking trend?

Historical nihilist thinking trends are a sort of very harmful mistaken thinking trend that is closely linked with “universal values” and “constitutional democracy”. Our country’s Constitution has the form of the basic law of the country, and affirms the heroic struggle of the Chinese people over the past 100 years to oppose domestic and foreign enemies, strive for national independence, and the freedom and happiness of the people, it affirms the historical change of the Chinese Communist Party leading the Chinese people in seizing victory in the New Democratic Revolution and the people mastering State power. But, some people distort the history of the Party and the country under the guide of “reappraisal”, they depict the history of the Party and the country as a history of crime and evil, a history of power struggle, and a history of conspiracy, they deny historical facts and historical characters where a verdict has been reached, criticize the revolutionary generation, vilify Party leaders and even do not stint to fabricate facts, sparing no effort to attack, vilify and slander. The ancients said: “To annihilate a country of men, its history must first be removed.”. The objective of doing historical nihilism is bringing chaos to the historical understanding of people, and thereby fundamentally denying the history of the Party and of the New China, and denying the development results of the path, theory and system of Socialism with Chinese characteristics established in the Constitution. Some people who enthusiastically preach for “constitutional democracy” are enthusiastically attacking the history of struggle of the Party and the people entered into the Constitution, could this not bring us to be on alert?

Furthermore, there is neoliberalism. The West, with the US in the lead, has used globalization to peddle neoliberalism to the world, and after this brought disastrous results to Latin America, the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, it also caused that they got bogged down in a financial crisis from which it is difficult to escape, this in fact has announced the bankruptcy of neoliberalism. Exactly such a theory that has already gained notoriety is still embraced by some people who will not let it go. They concentrate their attacks on State-owned enterprises, they say that State-owned enterprises are devoid of any merit, they say that “State-owned enterprises cannot be compatible with the market economy”, they spare no effort to advocate the privatization of SOEs and of State-owned assets. What is the real situation? In the past, the only marvel created by the “shock therapy” of privatization in Russia was “wealth creation”, and this rapidly fostered a batch of superrich and monopolist oligarchs, the Russian economy rapidly declines, and the absolute majority of the population saw their living standards decline substantially; in the privatization reforms in Mexico, Carlos Slim bought the Mexican national telephone company, and now, he has climbed the ranks of global wealth, has monopolized 90% of the Mexican telephone market, and Mexico has become one of the countries with the largest difference between rich and poor in the world. Just think, if China’s telecommunications business would be privatized, with the scale of China’s users and markets, it would be completely possible that this would result in moneybags like Carlos Slim who have as much money as the country, would the broad Chinese people accept this? Would they agree?

Challenging reform and opening up, and challenging the Socialist quality of Socialism with Chinese characteristics is also a mistaken thinking trend that should not be overlooked. In recent years, the topic of reform has repeatedly provoked heated debate, all kinds of viewpoints are competing. Some people impute the contradictions and problems in development to reform and opening up, they believe that reform has “been overdone” and “deviates from the Socialist orientation”, they challenge China’s being Socialist or not, or simply say that it is “Capitalism with Chinese characteristics”, “state capitalism”, “bigwig capitalism”, etc.; some kick up a fuss with the “stagnated reform theory” and the “stagnated political structural reform” theory, they advocate the so-called “comprehensive and thorough reform.” Rethinking reform at the level of implementing work and at the policy level is permitted, but if the conclusion is reached that reform has taken a wrong turning and deviates from the Socialist path, or if it is believed that reform that is not based on Western models and standards is “no real reform”, “insufficient” or “not thorough”, this is an actual denial of China’s reform and opening up, a denial of the Party’s line, principles and policies since the 3rd Plenum of the 11th Party Congress, and thereby a denial of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Because the abovementioned mistaken thinking trends, imply political standpoints that violate the principles of our country’s Constitution, they cannot but be “wrapped up” in all kinds of manners, when they are refuted, the topic is changed, in order to cheat and confuse the masses. But “the heart of Sima Zhao, was known by passers by in the street”, their crucial point lies in the fact that they want to bring chaos to people’s thoughts and disintegrate the common ideological basis for the united struggle of the Party and the people.

III, Build a firm line of defence for the common ideological basis

The practice of reform and opening up irrefutably proves that we have found a correct path for national development, this path is Socialism with Chinese characteristics. If we march along this path, we will be ever closer to realizing the objective of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than in any other time in history, we will have more confidence and ability to realize this goal than at any other time in history. At this moment, how could we allow mistaken thinking trends to confuse the hearts of the Party and the people, and bring the excellent development trends of the country to suffer disturbance and even destruction?

China’s unique cultural traditions, unique historical mission and unique basic national conditions have decided that we must march a development path suitable to our own characteristics. Since modernity, the constitutional monarchy, multi-party systems and presidential systems have all been tried in China, the result was that none of them got anywhere. Only the Chinese Communist Party’s leading the people, and integrating the basic principles of Marxism with Chinese reality, has found the correct path to realize national independence, liberation of the people, wealth and strength of the country and the happiness of the people. The development achievements of China over the past few decades can be declared as a miracle in all of human history. In the present world, when the question is asked which party, which country and which nation has a reason to be self-confident, then the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese nation have the most reason to be self-confident. History and reality both prove that our path, theory and system has its own clear characteristics and distinct superiorities, and there is no reason whatsoever to bring us to scrap it and start from a white sheet of paper.

No matter whether we discuss Marxism or Socialism, the crucial reason why it could gain victory in China was that our Party used it in integration with Chinese reality and incessantly moved its Sinification forward. If we completely abide by Western and foreign methods, they will not be able to acclimatize in the new environment, and are doomed to be defeated. Why is the US so committed to export democracy to the world? In fact, Western democracy, with competitive elections as the main rules of the game, has been grafted into non-Western countries and regions, and often brought social division ethnic opposition, incessant political disputes, endless political upheaval, weak and feeble governments, but as electoral rules endowed the government with formal legitimacy, they did not completely collapse. It is the internal mechanism of Western democracy that made this happen, which was called “the democracy trap”. Having a few more countries in the world that are internally chaotic, weak and lax but do not necessarily completely collapse is most beneficial to US global hegemony and most conform to the needs of Western monopoly capital, this is the essence of the issue. This fact has also confirmed a logic: if western democracy truly is a good thing, if it truly can “make China flourish and formidable” as some people say, then why do Western anti-Chinese forces export it to China with such energy? US high technology is a good thing, but they do not sell it even if we spend money to buy it.

The development of all countries clearly indicates that the modernization process of a country mainly will experience the following stages: the stage stepping from low-income to middle-income status is a stage in which the economy soars and poverty is cast off, economic growth is high, citizens receive universal benefits and society blossoms; the stage of climbing from middle-income status to high-income status is both a period of development opportunity and a period with prominent contradictions, it is both possible to stimulate smooth economic transformation and stable social development with appropriate means, and to bring hesitation to the economy and long-term unrest to  society because of misleading responses; the high income stage is the developed stage, where modernization is realized, the economy and society are mature, and they operate at a higher level. Our country has leapt into the ranks of the middle-income countries, and is in stage of climbing from middle-income to high-income status, many complex economic, social, political and technological challenges arise one after another, all sorts of social contradictions and issues pile up, and emerge in concentration. Problems should be treated rationally: first, these problems generally are developmental problems, they are problems that became prominent after development. The growth of the income gap also means the growth of a basis for general moderate prosperity; the unbalanced development of urban and rural regions is a lack of balance due to some regions developing first; the fact that people complain that it is difficult or expensive to see a doctor is because living standards have risen, health consciousness has strengthened, and demands concerning healthcare service quality has risen; traffic jams and air pollution have become prominent after entering the “car society”, and people’s environmental consciousness greatly strengthened; the problem of high housing prices is a problem that emerged because of large houses becoming fashionable, the pursuit of one-step solutions and an overly high housing ownership rate, etc. We cannot deny the development achievements that we have obtained because of these problems, or deny the development path that we have marched, neither can we withdraw to the old road from before development. Second, the Party and the government perceive the problems clearly, and provide positive responses to the calls of the masses, they are currently adopting measures to progressively resolve the. With regard to anti-corruption, look at the quantity of investigation and prosecution cases announced by discipline inspection organs, look at the list of names of high officials who have fallen from their horses for suspected corruption one after another over the past few years, and then compare it with the display put on by countries that are comparable to China according to the “Transparency International” clean government index, which country in the world has such anti-corruption strength as China? Resolving problems takes time, resolving problems that emerge through development may well take more time than was used for development, impatience for results is unrealistic.

Problems emerging through development can only be resolved through earnest and sincere reform and development. We need to expand reform strength, but can absolutely not drop our basic system or start from a clean sheet, that would only bring about great waste and great chaos, and finally, it would ruin the achievements of China’s revolution, construction and reform; we must develop democracy, but we cannot do that sort of Western-style “mass democracy” with multi-party competition, neither can we do Chinese-style “mass democracy” as in the “Cultural Revolution”, that would only lead to a forest of political parties, political unrest, social fragmentation and an end of peaceful days in the country, we would not be able to resolve the problem of corruption, or resolve the problem  of the difference between rich and poor, large amounts of urgent issues concerning the national economy and people’s livelihoods would be cast aside because of political disputes, and the result could only be calamity for the country and the people. The more contradictions become prominent and the more problems arise, the more we need  firm and forceful political leadership, the more we need an authoritative government and a high-efficiency administration, and the more we need concentration, unity and the smooth implementation of governance. China can only firmly push forward reform and perfection of the State system in all aspects under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, by relying on the firm unity of the Party and the people, by relying on the superiority of the system of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and under the precondition of guaranteeing the stability of the larger picture, and welcome an even brighter and more beautiful future!

巩固党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础

巩固马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位，巩固全党全国人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础，是宣传思想工作的根本任务。“两个巩固”紧密联系，各有侧重。本文就巩固党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础谈一些看法。
一、共同思想基础关系党和人民事业兴衰成败
共同思想基础，对于一个政党、一个国家、一个民族的生存发展来说，是至关重要的。没有共同思想基础的维系和支撑，党将不党，国将不国，民族也不会有凝聚力。共同思想基础不会凭空产生，也不是人为确定的，而是根源于共同的利益、生长于共同的事业、凝结于共同的目标。
求得民族独立和人民解放，实现国家富强和人民幸福，是近代以来中华民族最根本的共同利益。中国共产党从诞生之日起就以此为自己的历史使命，带领全国各族人民进行了艰苦卓绝的顽强奋斗。以新中国成立为标志，民族独立和人民解放的目标得以实现；以改革开放为标志，中国正走在实现国家繁荣富强和人民共同富裕的征程上。在长期的共同奋斗中，党和人民紧紧团结在一起，形成了共同的思想基础。概括起来说，在中国共产党领导下，走中国特色社会主义道路，实现中华民族的伟大复兴，就是现阶段党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础。
党的十八大刚刚闭幕，新当选的中共中央总书记习近平，率新一届中央政治局常委会全体同志和中央书记处的同志，参观国家博物馆的基本陈列《复兴之路》展览，深情阐述中国梦。他说：“实现中华民族伟大复兴，就是中华民族近代以来最伟大的梦想。”中国梦归根到底是人民的梦，它凝聚了几代中国人的夙愿，体现了中华民族和中国人民的整体利益，是每一个中华儿女的共同期盼。国家好，民族好，大家才会好；国家富强，民族振兴，人民才能幸福——中国梦凝聚起党和人民团结奋斗的最大共识。
推进共同事业，实现共同利益，离不开党和人民的坚强团结。马克思主义有一个非常重要的观点：人民只有组织起来、团结起来才有力量，才能在争取自身利益的斗争中取得胜利。当群众处在一盘散沙的状态时，是没有力量的，只能任人宰割、任人奴役；一切与人民为敌的势力，最害怕的就是人民的团结。为此，马克思恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中发出“全世界无产者，联合起来!”的伟大号召。旧中国之所以积贫积弱、备受欺凌，就是因为四分五裂、一盘散沙；新中国之所以能昂首自立于世界民族之林，就是因为中国共产党把人民组织起来了、团结起来了，中国彻底结束了四分五裂、一盘散沙的状态。党和人民在长期奋斗中深深懂得：团结就是力量，团结就是大局，团结就是胜利！
党和人民的坚强团结，离不开巩固的共同思想基础。国际反华势力骨子里是不希望中国发展壮大的，一直在不遗余力地推行西化、分化中国的战略。西化是手段，分化才是目的，一个分裂动乱、软弱涣散的中国才符合他们的利益。他们西化、分化中国最主要的一手，就是搞意识形态渗透，搞乱人们的思想，瓦解党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础。这也是最厉害的一手，是釜底抽薪的一手，是最需要我们警惕的。一个国家、一个政权的瓦解往往是从思想领域开始的，政治动荡、政权更迭可能在一夜之间发生，但思想演化是个长期过程。思想防线被攻破了，其他防线就很难守住。
二、巩固共同思想基础必须排除各种干扰
党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础，从来就是在同各种错误思想的斗争中巩固和发展的。随着我国社会深刻变革和对外开放不断扩大，各种思想文化交流、交融、交锋日益频繁，一些错误思潮暗流涌动、此起彼伏，党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础面临种种挑战。
关于“普世价值”的争论是这些年思想理论领域的一个热点。人类有没有共同价值？当然有。生活在同一个地球上的人类，在处理人与自然、人与社会、人与人关系中不可避免地会碰到相同或相似的问题，从而产生一些共同的需要，形成一些共同的价值关系、价值追求和价值观念。看不到价值领域存在共同性，就无法解释人类文明纵向上的继承关系和横向上的借鉴关系。这本是一个近乎常识、无需争论的问题。自由、民主、人权是人类共同的追求，也是人类在长期奋斗中共同创造的文明成果。问题在于，不同的阶级、不同社会地位的人们，对自由、民主、人权的理解和要求是不同的；不同的国家、不同的历史发展阶段，自由、民主、人权的实现形式和途径也各不相同，没有统一的模式。“普世价值”被某些人热炒，是醉翁之意不在酒，他们所宣扬的“普世价值”根本不是一般意义上的人类共同价值，而是专指西方政治理念和制度模式。他们一方面把西方制度模式说成是“普世价值”，一方面把中国一切不好的东西都归咎于制度和体制，鼓吹中国只有接受“普世价值”才有前途，其用意何在，是清清楚楚的。而具有浓厚宗教色彩的普世主义，从来就是西方对外扩张、征服世界的思想源流。
“宪政民主”是继“普世价值”思潮之后又一有影响的政治思潮。“宪政”的概念来源于西方，对西方宪政在学术层面介绍和讨论是可以的。但在有些人那里，“宪政民主”几乎成了政治体制改革的第一话题，称“宪政民主是中国的唯一出路”，这就值得警惕。我们党历来强调宪法是国家的根本法，是治国安邦的总章程，具有至高无上的法制地位；历来主张依法治国首先是依宪治国，依法执政关键是依宪执政，任何组织和个人都必须以宪法为根本的活动准则。党领导人民制定宪法和法律，党领导人民执行宪法和法律，党自身必须带头在宪法和法律范围内活动，这些都是毫无疑义的。那么，有些人为什么还要热炒“宪政民主”呢？他们说的“宪政”真的是指“宪法的实施”吗？他们真的认为“履行宪法就是宪政”吗？根本不是！与一些认同“社会主义宪政”的提法，认为这个提法有利于强化宪法权威、推进依法治国的学者不同，有些人主张的“宪政民主”有着确切的政治内涵和指向，就是西方那一套制度模式。他们攻击我国“有宪法，无宪政”、“共产党一党执政不具合法性”、“党大于法”，等等，这哪里是要履行宪法、实施宪法，分明是要否定、反对我国的现行宪法，是要压我们进行他们所期望的“政治改革”，根本目的是要取消共产党的领导、改变我国的社会主义制度。对这股思潮，不揭露行吗？
历史虚无主义思潮，是同“普世价值”、“宪政民主”思潮紧密联系的一种危害甚大的错误思潮。我国宪法以国家根本法的形式，确认了近代100多年来中国人民为反对内外敌人、争取民族独立和人民自由幸福进行的英勇斗争，确认了中国共产党领导中国人民夺取新民主主义革命胜利、人民掌握国家权力的历史变革。可是，有些人却以“重新评价”为名，歪曲党史国史，把党史国史描绘成一部罪恶史、权斗史、阴谋史，否定已有定论的历史事件和历史人物，贬损革命前辈，诋毁党的领袖，甚至不惜编造事实，竭尽攻击、丑化、污蔑之能事。古人说：“灭人之国，必先去其史。”搞历史虚无主义的目的，是要搞乱人们的历史认知，进而从根本上否定党的历史和新中国历史，否定宪法确立的中国特色社会主义道路、理论和制度的发展成果。有些起劲地鼓吹“宪政民主”的人，也在起劲地攻击载入宪法的党和人民的奋斗历史，这难道还不能让我们警醒吗？
再说新自由主义。以美国为首的西方借经济全球化向世界推销新自由主义，给拉美及苏东地区国家带来灾难性后果，也使自身深陷金融危机难以自拔，这实际上宣告了新自由主义的破产。就是这样一种已经声名狼藉的理论，有些人仍然死抱着不放。他们集中攻击国有企业，把国企说得一无是处，称“国有企业与市场经济无法相容”，极力主张国企私有化、国有资产私有化。实际情况是怎样的呢？当年俄罗斯私有化“休克疗法”创造的惟一奇迹是“造富”，快速造就了一批超级富翁和垄断寡头，俄罗斯经济却急剧衰落，绝大多数居民生活水平大幅下降；墨西哥的私有化改革中，卡洛斯·斯利姆买下了墨西哥国家电话公司，如今他跻身世界首富行列，垄断了墨西哥90%的电话业务，而墨西哥也成了世界上贫富差距最大的国家之一。试想，如果中国的电信业也搞私有化，以中国的用户和市场规模，完全可能造就像卡洛斯·斯利姆这样富可敌国的富豪，中国的广大人民群众能接受吗？会答应吗？
质疑改革开放、质疑中国特色社会主义的社会主义性质，也是一股不容忽视的错误思潮。近年来改革话题一再引发热议，各种观点竞相发声。有些人把发展中的矛盾和问题归咎于改革开放，认为改革“改过了头”，“背离了社会主义方向”，质疑中国还是不是社会主义，或者干脆说成是“中国特色资本主义”、“国家资本主义”、“权贵资本主义”等；有的则鼓噪“改革停滞论”、“政治体制改革滞后论”，主张所谓“全面彻底的改革”。对改革进行工作层面、政策层面的反思是可以的，但如果得出改革已经走入歧途、背离了社会主义道路的结论，或者认为改革不照西方模式和标准改，就是“不真改”、“不到位”、“不彻底”，那实际上就是否定中国的改革开放，否定党的十一届三中全会以来的路线方针政策，进而否定中国特色社会主义。
上述错误思潮，由于蕴含其中的政治主张违背我国宪法原则，所以不得不做种种“包装”，当遭到批驳时就偷换概念，以欺骗和迷惑群众。但“司马昭之心，路人皆知”，其要害就在于要搞乱人们的思想，瓦解党和人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础。
三、筑牢共同思想基础这道防线
改革开放以来的实践无可辩驳地证明，我们找到了一条国家发展的正确道路，这条道路就是中国特色社会主义。沿着这条道路走，我们比历史上任何时期都更接近中华民族伟大复兴的目标，比历史上任何时期都更有信心、有能力实现这个目标。这个时候，我们怎么能听任错误思潮搞乱党心民心，使国家大好的发展势头受到干扰甚至破坏？
中国独特的文化传统、独特的历史命运、独特的基本国情，决定了我们必然要走适合自己特点的发展道路。近代以来，君主立宪制、多党制、总统制等都在中国尝试过，结果都行不通。只有中国共产党领导人民，把马克思主义基本原理同中国实际结合起来，找到了实现民族独立和人民解放、国家富强和人民幸福的正确道路。中国这几十年的发展成就，在整个人类发展史上都堪称奇迹。当今世界，要问哪个政党、哪个国家、哪个民族有理由自信，那中国共产党、中华人民共和国、中华民族是最有理由自信的！历史和现实都证明，我们的道路、理论、制度，有着自己的鲜明特色和显著优势，没有任何理由让我们推倒重来、另起炉灶。
马克思主义也好，社会主义也好，能够在中国取得胜利，关键就是我们党紧密结合中国实际加以运用，不断推进其中国化。如果全盘照搬西方的洋办法，只会水土不服，注定要失败。美国为什么热衷于向世界输出民主？事实是，以竞争性选举为主要游戏规则的西方民主，被移植到非西方国家和地区后，带来的往往是社会分裂、族群对立、政治纷争不断、政局动荡不已、政府软弱无力，而选举规则赋予政府形式上的合法性，使其又不至于完全崩溃。这是西方民主的内在机制使然，被称作“民主陷阱”。世界上多一些内部纷乱、软弱涣散而又不至于彻底崩溃的国家，最有利于美国称霸世界，最符合西方垄断资本的需要，这就是问题的实质。这个事实也印证了一个逻辑：西方民主如果真的是好东西，如果真的像有些人说的那样“能使中国繁荣和强大起来”，那西方反华势力会这么起劲地向中国输出吗？美国的高科技是好东西，可是我们花钱买它都不卖。
各国发展经验表明，一个国家的现代化进程大体都会经历这样的阶段：从低收入向中等收入迈进的阶段，是经济起飞、摆脱贫困的阶段，经济高速成长，国民普遍受惠，社会欣欣向荣；从中等收入向高收入攀登的阶段，是经济社会结构发生深刻变动的阶段，既是发展机遇期，也是矛盾凸显期，既可能因举措得当促进经济顺利转型和社会平稳发展，也可能因应对失误导致经济徘徊不前和社会长期动荡；高收入阶段就是发达阶段，现代化得以实现，经济社会发育成熟，在一个更高平台上运行。我国已跨入中等收入国家行列，正处于从中等收入向高收入攀登的阶段，许多复杂的经济、社会、政治和技术挑战接踵而至，各种社会矛盾和问题相互叠加、集中呈现。对问题应该理性看待：第一，这些问题大都是发展中的问题，是发展起来以后凸显的问题。收入差距拉大，是总体小康基础上的拉大；城乡区域发展不平衡，是一部分地区先发达起来以后的不平衡；人们抱怨看病难、看病贵，是因为生活水平提高了，健康意识增强了，对医疗服务质量的要求更高了；交通拥堵、大气污染，是进入“汽车社会”、人们环境意识大大增强后凸显的问题；高房价问题，也是流行大户型、追求一步到位、住房自有率过高下出现的问题，等等。既不能因为这些问题就否定我们取得的发展成就、否定我们走过的发展道路，更不能退回到发展前的老路上去。第二，党和政府对问题看得很清楚，对群众诉求给予积极回应，正在采取措施逐步加以解决。就拿反腐败来说，看看纪检监察机关公布的查处案件数量，看看这些年一个个涉贪落马的高官名单，再比比“透明国际”清廉指数排名榜上与中国有可比性国家的表现，世界上哪个国家有中国这样的反腐败力度？解决问题需要时间，解决发展起来出现的问题很可能比发展所用的时间更长，急于求成是不切实际的。
发展中出现的问题，只能通过脚踏实地的改革发展来解决。我们需要加大改革力度，但决不能改掉我们的根本制度、另起炉灶，那样只会带来大折腾、大动乱，最终葬送中国革命、建设和改革的成果；我们需要发展民主，但既不能搞多党竞争那种西方式“大民主”，也不能搞“文革”那种中国式“大民主”，那样只会导致政党林立、政局动荡、社会分裂以致国无宁日，既解决不了腐败问题，也解决不了贫富分化问题，大量紧迫的国计民生问题也会因政治纷争被放到一边，结果只能是祸国殃民。越是矛盾凸显、问题多发，越需要坚强有力的政治领导，越需要有权威的政府和高效率的施政，越需要集中统一、政令畅通。中国只有在中国共产党领导下，依靠党和人民的坚强团结，依靠中国特色社会主义制度的优势，才能在保持大局稳定的前提下，扎扎实实推进国家各方面制度的改革完善，迎来更加光明美好的前景！