The development of human society in private ownership XV: private ownership and historical materialism

Chapter 15: Private Property and Historical Materialism

Historical materialism is an important ideological theory of Marx, which comprehensively summarizes and summarizes the material stage of human nature, the main needs of the material category level of human nature and the main driving force of social and historical development, which complements his inevitability of the development of human society ("law"), and is closely related to the private ownership determined by the natural law of human nature in the inevitable kingdom of human material stage.

In 1845, Marx and Engels co-authored the book "German Ideology", which marked the birth of Marx's philosophical thought in the true sense. In this book, they expounded for the first time the basic principles of historical materialism. That is, social existence determines social consciousness, and the mode of production plays a decisive role in social life, and the historical task of the proletariat "seizing" political power is clearly proposed, so that the theory of socialism has a complete theoretical basis from utopian to scientific. But now we must make it clear that the "social existence" here is the social existence of the material that is closely consistent with the material category level of human nature, and the "mode of production" here is the material production mode that is closely consistent with the material category level of human nature.

Obviously, this "history" is the history of human beings entering civilized society after primitive society, not the history of the universe or cosmic life, nor the entire history of human society for 3 million to 5 million years, but the history of the last 5,000 years; This "thing" is the material product that is inseparable from the needs of human society and human nature, the material production and means of life; This "materialism" is the only sign, the only theme, the only center, and the only determinant of the progress and development of human civilization and society, or the main sign, the main theme, the main center, and the main factor, and so on. In a word, matter has been the main topic of the main agenda of mankind for 5,000 years, the main focus, the main contradiction and the main goal and task of human nature in the material stage from the inevitable kingdom of matter to the kingdom of material freedom, and the main focus, main contradiction and main goal and task of society.

In the material stage of human beings, the natural laws of human nature determine the level of material categories of human nature, so that the mode of production of social materials naturally and logically plays a decisive role in social life. Because we are now in the material stage of human beings, matter is in the position of primary contradiction in the four categories of human nature (security, material, sexuality, and spirituality), and the others are in a secondary contradictory position.

In the course of about 5,000 years of human beings from slave society to feudal society to capitalist society, human nature (whether it is the ruling class or the ruled class, whether it is the bourgeoisie or the proletariat) material needs and material selfishness have always run through, thus becoming an irresistible source of power for social progress and development. Especially in capitalist society, the material category level of human nature is more distinct, more prominent, more real, more down-to-earth and more confident, more upright and more self-righteous in the needs of human nature, in material selfishness, and in social contradictions. Therefore, it has become the main ideological source of the proletariat's "overthrow" of the bourgeoisie, and has become the flashpoint and source of the "revolutionary" forces of the proletariat. Therefore, Marx judged the hour and sized up the situation, chose the proletariat and laborers who have a strong revolutionary will and represent the direction of the progress of human society, and conformed to the material selfish needs of the proletariat and laborers, founded the theory of "revolution" of the proletariat, and put forward the historical task of the proletariat to "seize" state power.

But this "revolution" was before they published the Communist Manifesto. Because, after the publication of the "Manifesto" in 1848, on the one hand, it pointed out the revolutionary direction and path for the proletariat, so that the proletariat began to be eager to try for its own material needs and material selfishness, trying to make human society (including itself) carry out a violent revolution on the basis of paying a great price, so as to satisfy the selfishness of its own class determined by the natural laws of human nature; On the other hand, it was also the ruling bourgeoisie that clearly and unmistakably understood the inevitable trend of the development of capitalist society towards socialism (scientific socialism), especially the October Revolution in the former Soviet Union, and even more rationally felt the situation and direction of the unprecedented social movement. Therefore, they no longer take strong measures against the proletariat (the working class, employers, and laborers), but build a bottom line against a violent proletarian revolution, learn to be scientifically selfish, scientifically safeguard the selfishness and rule of their own class, and constantly improve and develop the welfare capitalist system with the times, so that the extreme, irrationality and willfulness of the bourgeoisie's material selfishness can be curbed, and the material conditions of the proletariat and the laborers will be continuously improved, so that the social unity between them and the proletariat will always be greater than the social antagonism. Social cooperation has always been greater than social struggle, the social unity has been continuously continued, and the bourgeoisie has maintained the greatest class selfishness and class rule, so as to realize its own material interests at the level of human nature categories for the longest time and to the greatest extent, and constantly satisfy the material needs of its own categories of human nature.

Under the impetus of the fighting forces of the "proletariat" on the premise of no violent revolution, a qualitative change is achieved in this continuous and continuous quantitative change, that is, the capitalist society constantly adjusts, improves and reforms itself, and the magic of the dialectic of things leads private ownership to finally reverse, and finally move from capitalism to socialism (scientific socialism), thus avoiding the occurrence of a violent proletarian revolution, and finally the "proletariat" also realizes the needs of its own class at the level of human material categories. Liberation and freedom were also achieved at the level of material categories. All of this revolves around "things", develops and changes around "things", and progresses around "things". This is one aspect of the manifestation of "things" in the history of the material stage of human society.

On the other hand, it is the manifestation of Marx's sharp contradiction between the private ownership of "things" by the bourgeoisie and the capitalists and the socialized production of "things"; Another aspect is that in the final period of the stage of world monopoly capitalism, due to the different appropriations of "things", the extreme minority of the bourgeoisie and the extreme majority of the "proletariat" form a manifestation of the disparity of class power; The last aspect is that the material productivity is highly developed, the material products are extremely abundant, and the level of human material categories has realized the distribution on demand, supply and consumption on demand, and "things" have become a manifestation of public resources at this time.

Therefore, in the material stage of mankind, in the social history of private ownership, and according to the social development trend of the main contradiction between the human material of private ownership and human nature, Marx's social theory and revolutionary theory -- capitalism will sooner or later be replaced by socialism (scientific socialism) is undoubtedly scientific and correct, and the road of violent proletarian revolution must be reserved and must be continuously investigated and studied.

Capital is an important work of political economy by Marx, in which Marx is guided by the basic idea of historical materialism (historical materialism), firmly grasps the social existence of "things", and reveals the law of development of capitalist society through a profound analysis of the capitalist mode of production. This revelation is the greatest value of this work to human society, but without the ideological guidance of historical materialism, there would be no social value of this work. Therefore, it is not so much that Capital has obtained the social value of the inevitability of the development of human society, but that it is further said that the historical materialism has obtained the social value of human development. Capital is an interpretation and specific explanation of historical materialism through a specific capitalist society.

Marx's historical materialism can be traced back to human nature at a deeper level through the specific "thing" of "capital", that is, the human nature that constitutes society. A society without humanity is a society without desire and motivation, a society with a pool of backwater, but such a society does not exist. Marx believed that the difference between the fifth-level human life form and the fourth-level animal life form is that human beings can clearly and effectively create the material means of life and means of production on which they depend for survival according to the needs of social and human nature. Therefore, once human beings carry out social labor production, they are fundamentally different from other animals, and the essence of this distinction is a difference in human nature. Human nature determines labor, and social human nature determines that members of society must form certain material production relations and other social relations in advance. The labor productivity of the members of society restricts the mode of production in which the members of the society carry out their activities. And what kind of mode of production there is, what kind of social relations there are. The mode of production and social relations of members of society constitute the basic structure of society, and determine the social consciousness of members of society to conform to the natural laws of human nature in the material stage of human beings. Once social consciousness is formed and consensus is reached, it in turn becomes an objective force guiding human activities.

Therefore, the development of society in the material stage of human beings is based on social production and labor, and the "natural laws" of human society are created and run through in the process of production and labor. On the surface, the development of society seems to be chaotic, but in fact, it has internal objective laws just like the natural world. This objective law began in the first social form of the material stage of mankind, the slave society, passed through the feudal society, and now reached the capitalist society, the "socialist society with Chinese characteristics", and the future scientific socialist society.

It can be said that Marx's historical materialism is a revelation of the essence of the material stage of human society, with precise benchmarking and extremely simple extraction and generalization.

It can be seen that the ideological viewpoint of historical materialism is very important to Marx, but Marx hardly explicitly put forward a complete scientific concept of "historical materialism", leaving us with rich space for discussion.

Because, first of all, historical materialism has a relationship with dialectical materialism; Secondly, historical materialism is closely related to the material stage of human society. Third, historical materialism is closely related to private ownership.

First, historical materialism is related to dialectical materialism. Historical materialism and dialectical materialism were provided to us by Marx at the same time, and they occurred at the same time in Marx's ideological coordinates. Therefore, we unconsciously ask a question, what is the relationship between the two? Are the "things" of the two harmonized and consistent? But Marx and Engels did not give an explanation. So we find that the two "things" refer to inconsistencies.

This is because the things of historical materialism are the things of human society, the material, the economy, the artificials, the commodities, the means of subsistence, the capital, the things that are needed at the level of human nature's material categories, and so on. Its premise is "history", which is obviously the history of the material stage after the stage of human security (primitive society), the history of the kingdom of material necessity, the history of material private ownership.

On this basis, due to the material selfishness of human nature and the needs of material categories of members of human society, people's historical and actual possession of "things" is different and somewhat uneven, so when it comes to capitalist society, human society is divided into capitalists and laborers, bourgeoisie and proletariat. Due to material selfishness and class selfishness, the two classes are constantly contradictory and fighting, sometimes very fierce and violent, and its development trend and direction is scientific socialism, and its internal principle is that the material productive forces determine the material production relations, and the economic base determines the superstructure. Therefore, Marx took "things" as the starting point, and took the material category level, the main contradiction of human nature selfishness and human needs, class selfishness and class needs, as the starting point, and creatively put forward his proletarian revolutionary theory after analyzing the capitalist society.

Therefore, historical materialism tells us that after the primitive society (the stage of human security), the human history of slave society, feudal society and capitalist society is the history of human selfishness, class selfishness and class material interests under the action of the natural laws of human nature, so that the history of the development of human society is the history of material private ownership, which is the secret implied by historical materialism. Its logic is that in this "history", only "things" meet the needs of the material category level of human nature determined by the natural laws of human nature, and only "things" as the main contradiction of human nature can promote social progress and development. Moreover, the power and role of this "thing" are unique, and there is no second possibility to take them. However, this kind of power can only burst out and be released in private ownership, and this role can only be carried out and implemented in private ownership. Therefore, it can be said that if there were no "things", there would be no formation of private ownership, and without private ownership, there would be no social manifestations of "things", and the emergence of private ownership would be the result of "materialism".

That is to say, in the material stage of human society, the history of mankind is the history of material private ownership, and the progress of human beings is accompanied by the progress of material private ownership. The evolution and change of society is determined by the material nature of the human nature of the class, and it is human nature that determines the material productive forces, which in turn determines the social relations of production, and then determines the leap of social forms, forming the inevitability of social development ("law"). In a word, Marx's historical materialism is the history of materialism, and thus the history of materialistic private property. However, this is contrary to the theory of proletarian revolution, so it is better to keep silent about the concept of historical materialism, or the relationship between historical materialism and private ownership. This is the selfishness of the "spirit" of Marx's human nature.

As for the relationship between the two "things", the "things" of dialectical materialism seem to be the things of nature and things including human society, so they do not explain or highlight the attributes of society, human nature, and class, let alone the attributes of things of life and means of production determined by human nature, but only the general philosophical meaning - the attributes of the movement of things, and more tend to lead to the attributes of the dialectical movement of the earth and the universe on which we live. Therefore, the connotation and object of the two "things" are different.

Second, historical materialism is closely related to the material stage of human society. Historical materialism highlights the extreme human social value of the material of human historical development, and because of the social value of the material, competition has been high and low, success or failure, and possession has been rich and poor, resulting in this history is the history of class struggle, that is, the history of class struggle since the slave society, and this history completely and completely shows the history of human material stage of the philosophy of historical life. Therefore, historical materialism coincides with the material stage of mankind, and both emphasize the importance, primacy, and value of artificial material productivity and its artificial material.

Historical materialism emphasizes that in this history, only material manifestations are the manifestations of society, only material forces are social forces, and only when the material productive forces develop and progress can society develop and progress. The material dominates society, guides society, signs, reflects, and drives society, so that the common humanity (material selfishness) is divided into rich and poor, into capitalists and laborers, into the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, on different material platforms. The class selfishness determined by human nature gives rise to fierce class struggles, to the private ownership of classes, to the private ownership of society, the family and the individual, and thus to the private ownership that pushes society forward forever. The history of historical materialism is again represented here by "things" as the history of class struggle, and the history of class struggle is the history of pushing human society forward; Thus, in the material stage of human beings, the power of human nature is expressed as the power of matter, the power of material is expressed as the power of class struggle, and the power of class struggle is expressed as the force of social progress.

This is the connotation that historical materialism should have, but Marx said that historical materialism has cut off the foundation and origin of human nature, that is, the foundation and origin of scientific selfishness at the material category level of human nature in the material stage of human society.

The human material stage is to solve the security problem of human beings in the biological world in the human security stage (primitive society), climb to the top of the biological chain (food chain), break free from the shackles of the relationship between the biological chain and the food chain "eating" and "being eaten", and create a new free kingdom of human security, and the demand at the level of human security has become public ownership and a public resource (because of this, we ignore the existence of the 3 million - 5 million years security stage of human beings, So that for a long time it has been impossible to explain the principle of primitive social development), after creating and consolidating security conditions for social materials, about 5,000 years ago (slave society) human beings entered the material stage, the main contradiction of the security of the first human nature and selfishness determined by human nature has now been transformed into the main material contradiction of the second human nature selfishness, and the material and material productive forces have become the symbol and main traction of social development, so the social development mechanism of private ownership has become the fundamental way for human nature to satisfy, release and move towards freedom at the material category level.

Therefore, the main material contradiction in both historical materialism and the material stage of human beings is the existence of the mode of behavior and social essence determined by the material category level in the long history of the emancipation and development of human nature, and they all follow the natural laws of human nature and are determined by the natural laws of human nature. The powerful effect of the natural laws of human nature cannot be changed, only the natural laws of human nature can change them, and they cannot change the natural laws of human nature. Therefore, to a certain extent, it can be said that historical materialism is put forward from the perspective of human nature, so that the ideological theory of historical materialism has become the high-end, classic induction, summary, generalization and extraction of social existence in the material stage of human beings, the explanation of social existence and historical development in the material stage, and the explanation and exposition of the great role of private ownership in this stage.

Thirdly, historical materialism is closely related to private ownership. Historical materialism highlights the extreme importance of matter in the long river of human history in the material stage, why is this so? Because the importance of matter in human society is determined by the material category level of human nature of social members, and the realization and possession of the material category level of human nature are selfish for individuals and individuals in the class and stratum they are in, that is, human nature material selfishness and class material selfishness. Thus, the release, demand, satisfaction, emancipation, possession and freedom of human nature at the level of material categories naturally adopt the method of private ownership. Because it's an efficient way, a convenient way, and a scientific way. Therefore, historical materialism profoundly connotates material private ownership, historical materialism originates, originates and arises from private ownership, and historical materialism is another decoration and makeup of private ownership civilization, and is a subtle refinement, affirmation and encouragement of private ownership.

It can also be said that historical materialism is the darling of private ownership, without which there would be no class struggle, without which society would not be able to advance, without Marx's theory of proletarian revolution, without the idea of the inevitability of socialism (scientific socialism) replacing capitalism, and thus without historical materialism.

It can be said that this is our understanding and commentary on historical materialism today, and it gives historical materialism its due meaning.

Why does the proletariat want revolution? Why did the proletariat seize power? This is the same as the bourgeoisie, which is determined by class selfishness, by the selfishness of human nature, and by the natural laws of human nature. Therefore, in the material stage of human beings, thousands of years of historical development have unmistakably summed up a basic experience of the development of human society - the experience of historical materialism, so as to further have the experience of material private ownership. That is to say, the development of human society is the development of materialism, and on the basis of materialism is the development of private ownership, and human society develops in materialism and develops in private ownership. Because materialism is most in line with the requirements of human nature at this stage, and private ownership is most in line with the realization of human nature at this stage, both of which are determined by the natural laws of human nature.

Two points must be made here: first, human selfishness is scientific selfishness; Second, private ownership is not unlimited, so don't be sad or worried about the disadvantaged groups in social life, the groups with poor survival ability, or the people at the bottom. The so-called "just", "fair" and "equal" society in your hearts will come, which is the scientific socialist society discovered by Marx in the material stage of mankind. At that time, the second level of human nature was like security for society now, and it has become a public resource for everyone, but the third level of human nature has entered private ownership, and society will take sex as the starting point to promote social development as the main contradiction.

Of course, sex is a broad topic, multi-angled, multi-layered, and multi-domain, rather than an extremely narrow human act of copulation. After the foundation of this category of human nature is completely consolidated at the level of human nature security and the level of human nature and the level of human nature, it will be fully exposed without any scruples, and it will come to the foreground in the level of human nature category and become the leading and decisive force of society.

In any case, human society develops in private ownership. If the needs of a certain category level of human nature are not met by the whole society, the construction and development of this category level will not be able to enter the public ownership system. The words are a bit evil, but this is the case with thousands of years of experience in the development of human society, the experience of millions of years of human society development, and the prediction of the future of human society.

It is precisely because in the material stage of human beings, in the historical and realistic environment of the development of private ownership society, Marx discovered and created the scientific theory of the proletariat's struggle for freedom and emancipation of mankind, but this emancipation is the emancipation of the material category level of human nature, and everything else is incidental and secondary.

On the one hand, Marx did not deny that since the slave society, capitalism has been the most materially productive social structure in history, and capitalists must invest more capital and resources in scientific and technological research and development for the sake of productivity and profits, so as to objectively promote social progress, and on the other hand, he does not mention at all that this is the high-end result created by the development of material private ownership to the high-end period of capitalism. Without private ownership, there would be no such results. This is Marx's subjective choice that he is unwilling to associate with his historical materialism and private ownership, but this choice is not objective and therefore unscientific. He only emphasized his proletarian position, but completely ignored human values and human positions, which greatly reduced the scientific connotation of historical materialism.

Marx's contribution to philosophy was to introduce into philosophy the practical concept of the development of social movements, to link philosophy with the emancipation of the modern proletariat (working class), with class, with humanity and thus with private property. So that we can better discover the common humanity of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, that is, classes are selfish and human nature is selfish. Because the two classes determined by human nature walked together, life and death depended on each other, life and death fought each other, and fought without breaking (after the publication of the Communist Manifesto), to complete the tasks of the material stage of mankind, to achieve the goals of the material stage of mankind, and to push capitalism to socialism (scientific socialism) on the track of the "natural laws" of human society, until "communism".

In the material stage of human nature, human nature is mainly manifested at the level of human material categories. The manifestation of this category level in society is the development of material productive forces, material production, means of subsistence, commodities and money that meet social needs, and so on, thus profoundly connotating historical materialism with the existence of social history as the carrier.

In turn, under the guidance of historical materialism, Marx analyzed and studied the economic basis of capitalist society, so as to discover the "surplus value" for the working class (laborers), and then pointed out that the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie inevitably leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat. However, this "surplus value" and "dictatorship" are still worthy of further discussion and cannot be blindly confirmed. This is caused by Marx's strong class stance and class selfishness, as a thinker should think about problems and solve problems from the standpoint of all mankind, and should see that private ownership is an objective need for social development, not a subjective action of any class; It should be noted that private ownership is formed in a spontaneous order, not in a man-made constructed order.

We don't choose for the sake of what society we choose, we don't choose for the sake of what doctrine we choose, we don't choose for the sake of what ownership (private ownership, public ownership) we choose; Rather, it is for the emancipation of man and human nature, for the satisfaction of man and human nature, and for the purpose of moving from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom at the level of material categories of human nature in the material stage. We should choose what society, doctrine, and ownership system are conducive to our development, our liberation, and the fulfillment of our tasks and goals at this stage. Because, in the material stage, the common goal, common task and common human value of the whole world and all mankind is to develop material productive forces and meet the needs of human nature at the material category level. Therefore, we should eliminate the differences between different societies and different classes, build a common scientific selfish culture and scientific selfish system for mankind, and on the road of scientific selfishness, reduce the internal friction of human society, save costs, reduce antagonism and struggle, improve unity and cooperation, conform to the natural laws of human nature, and follow the natural laws of society (social laws) to develop healthily and benignly.

This requires us to choose private property in the kingdom of necessity.

Of course, none of the previous thinkers broke the shackles of class.

Before the birth of Marx's ideology and theory, due to the non-scientific selfishness of the bourgeoisie, the one-sided understanding of class selfishness and private ownership was put into social practice, which led to many serious problems in capitalist society, or even national crises. However, due to the birth of Marx's ideology and theory and the continuous occurrence of the world proletarian revolution, Marx's ideology and theory not only aroused the proletariat and its political party to attach great importance to it, but also to the bourgeoisie and its political party, so that Marx's ideology and theory could be rapidly disseminated and studied around the world. Because the bourgeoisie and its political parties recognized the irreversible inevitability of the development of capitalism towards socialism (scientific socialism), and thus practiced scientific selfishness to protect the interests of their own class in the longest possible and long-term to the greatest extent possible, the establishment of a capitalist welfare state became the trend of political and economic reform in the advanced European countries, and promoted social progress. On the premise of guaranteeing its own class rule and economic interests, the bourgeoisie will benefit the proletariat, let the proletariat and the laborers keep the bottom line of no violent revolution, and finally achieve a win-win situation. This is something that Marx and Engels did not expect -- their theories objectively made a great contribution to the later development of society, so they influenced and pacified the proletarian revolution that they envisioned and did not continue to happen, so that private ownership continued naturally and naturally played a role in promoting social progress, and private ownership was not artificially transformed and abandoned.

Marx always subsumed himself into the advanced proletariat in order to represent the interests of the proletariat, and thus always proceeded from the theory of class and class struggle in which he stood and believed that in a society of private ownership, the existence of class selfishness in human nature made the struggle between opposing classes irreconcilable social stubborn diseases, and under the effect of a narrow and one-sided understanding of the natural laws of human nature, the ruling class naturally wanted to rule the ruled class in a coercive way in order to safeguard the interests of its own class. Thus, in order to maintain class relations in an order and within the limits of its own class interests, the ruling class forms the state and the law. If the proletariat wants to gain material emancipation and material freedom, and to shake off the shackles and shackles of material, it must act in unison to launch a violent revolution, seize power, and enter scientific socialism and the communist society of the future. However, this previous history and historical understanding have been objectively subverted and denied by his ideological theory.

The former slave society was replaced by feudal society, and feudal society was replaced by capitalist society, and it was indeed achieved by means of violent revolution. But we must be clear that the situation in capitalist society is different: Marx did not expect that it was the publication of his "Communist Manifesto" and "Capital" that awakened the scientific selfishness of the bourgeoisie, so as to correct his bottomless non-scientific class selfishness and seek a strategic class rule and class selfishness, so he invented the system of welfare capitalism, so that the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie did not spread, get out of control and not intensify to the point where the proletariat united for a violent revolution. It maintains the cooperation between the two main classes over the struggle, and pushes the capitalist social unity forward. In this kind of advancement, the material division between the rich and the poor gradually and quantitatively disappeared, blurred the distinct social status and social identity of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and one day a qualitative change took place, entering a scientific socialist society, and the material private ownership was reversed and became public ownership.

Marx believed that in the material stage of mankind, that is, in the class and social stage of Marx's historical development of mankind, class struggle is inevitable, and class struggle itself constitutes a driving force for the development of human history. The problem of class struggle can only be thoroughly resolved in connection with the development of the productive forces and the changes in the structure of social relations determined by the productive forces. Therefore, historical materialism runs through the question of the emancipation of the proletariat caused by material problems, but this problem is always closely related to private property and cannot be separated.

These are all the contributions of historical materialism on the surface and private ownership to social development.

Therefore, the latecomers who adhered to the Marxist doctrine were divided into non-revolutionary and revolutionary. The non-revolutionary doctrine, also known as the revisionist faction, formed a progressive socialist development centered on Edward Bernstein. The revolutionary doctrine, represented by the radical Lenin, emphasized the inevitable necessity of violent revolution for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

In the material stage of human beings, individual humanity constitutes class humanity, and individual selfishness constitutes class selfishness, so that it becomes the organizational form and appeal that is compatible with the class is the main focus of class conflict. In this way, Marx's historical materialism starts from the class and analyzes and answers the fundamental causes of historical events.

Therefore, historical materialism is the cornerstone of Marx's theory on the general laws of the development of human society, the scientific view of social history in the material stage, the general methodology for understanding and guiding human society in the material stage, the ultimate cause and driving force of all important historical events in the material stage, and the internal cause of social and economic development determined by the natural laws of human nature.

The value of historical materialism lies in the fact that in the material stage of human beings, the fundamental cause of all events in history is economic factors and material interests, that is, the material category level of human nature in the philosophy of historical life; Under the guidance of the natural laws of human nature, the movement and development of social history have revealed their own inherent objective laws, that is, the laws of the external form of the society presented by the natural laws of human nature, and the most fundamental laws are still the natural laws of human nature.

In the material stage of human beings, the main contradiction of human nature in society, that is, the mode of production of material life of material contradictions, determines the general process of social life, and the secondary contradiction of the needs of the spiritual category level of human nature (i.e., the so-called political life and spiritual life); Social existence in the material stage of human beings (the system and structure of society, and the various elements that make up society) determine social consciousness (the consciousness, demands, thoughts, etc. generated by the system architecture), and social consciousness can shape and change social existence; The contradiction between the productive forces and the relations of production (the relationship between the owners of the factors of production and the providers of the productive forces), and the contradictions between the economic base (the form of economic organization revealed by the productive forces and the relations of production) and the superstructure, can be used as the starting point, context and end point of the study of social development. The view of human nature determines the class point of view, and the selfishness of human nature determines the selfishness of class. Therefore, in class society, the basic contradiction of society is manifested in the game of material interests at the second level of human nature due to the difference between people of different strata due to the natural laws of human nature, and class struggle is the direct driving force for the development of class society, and the selfishness and strength of human nature are the fundamental driving force for social development, but these two driving forces must be fully embodied and brought into full play in private ownership.

Historical materialism recognizes that the subject of history is man, and that history is nothing more than the activity of man who follows his own purpose in accordance with human nature and determined by the natural laws of human nature. However, the man mentioned by historical materialism is not an empty and abstract person in some kind of fantasy isolation and isolation, but a realistic person with rich human nature in the process of social development that can be observed through experience, and takes the material of the second category of human nature as the main contradictory demand.

In the material stage of human beings, all the manifestations and activities of people always depend on the material living conditions in which they live and the level that human nature satisfies. By observing and understanding people and their activities from the social and material living conditions that have made them what they are now, we can accurately depict the real process of human development on the basis of real history, and grasp the context and path of human nature. Historical materialism studies the general structure of society and the general laws of development from the overall and overall situation. However, these structures and laws are reflected and manifested on the roof of private ownership under the action of the natural laws of human nature.

Therefore, historical materialism extracts the law of social development in the material stage of human beings, that is, the productive forces determine the relations of production, the relations of production react on the productive forces, and the final relations of production must adapt to the development of the productive forces. With the development of the productive forces and the change of production relations, human society has moved from a slave society to a feudal society, to a capitalist society, and finally to a socialist society with public ownership (scientific socialism), and finally to a communist society with complete public ownership.

In the development of all social movements, all social systems and social forms are a temporary stage in the infinite development process of human society from low to high, there are no eternal social systems and forms, they all serve the eternal and unchanging human nature, they all start from scratch in the embrace of private ownership, from promoting social progress to being eliminated by society. This is true of the development of human society as a whole, and the same is true of the development of human material stages.

In the material stage of human society, social relations should be born, developed and matured from the foundation of the original society under certain material conditions, and the release and bloom of human nature should also be reflected and presented on the basis of the original society under certain material conditions, and gradually move from this shore of the kingdom of necessity to the other side of the kingdom of freedom. Until all the material productive forces they contain are brought into play, the social forms will not be replaced by new or future advanced social forms, and the reflection and presentation of new human nature cannot appear until all the human nature they contain is released and bloomed. Because, in the long river of human nature developing from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom, human nature releases and satisfies new platforms, new steps and new stations, which are always born in the original and past platforms, steps and stations, and then build new platforms to develop and satisfy. The conditions of all this are the conditions of private ownership, and the basis of all this is the basis of private ownership.

The movement of the laws of human society develops from the lower to the higher with the development of the natural laws of human nature from the lower to the higher, and it also presents itself as a historical process along with the development of the material category level of human nature from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom. In this process, the law of movement in which private ownership comes into play is presented.

Scientific socialism has a distinct social practicality, which liberates the human nature of all mankind with material (economy) as the main thing in a down-to-earth manner, enables all mankind to be liberated, free and comprehensively developed at the level of material categories of human nature, enables all mankind to obtain a better life at the level of material categories of human nature, and enables mankind to step onto a new level of human nature in the long river from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom.

Therefore, the "things" of historical materialism are not natural things, but social things, things of wealth, and artificial things, which are the material selfish things of the category level of human nature determined by the natural laws of human nature in the period of material stage capitalist society, the things that divide the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the things that promote the development of human social movements, the things that are the engine and the leading thing of human social progress, and the things that achieve emancipation, freedom and all-round development of the material category level of human nature.

It can be seen from this that Marx's historical materialism emphasizes and highlights the material category level of human nature, and the external social manifestation of promoting the progress of human society in the material stage of human beings is the presentation of the material selfishness of human nature, the selfishness of the material class, and the selfishness of the material society, and the transformation of human subjective ideology into the objective form of society. Therefore, Marx's historical materialism is, in the final analysis, a historical outlook on human nature, a historical outlook on the release, emancipation, and development of human nature.

Marx's grasp of capitalist society does not start from the abstract "spirit" nor from the empty "material", but from the concrete "commodity", which is "perceptible and super-sensible" "thing". And this sensibility is the most concentrated representation of the "thing" that transcends the senses, that is, the "capital" that rules and dominates everything in capitalist society. This is the foothold, flashpoint, and strength point of historical materialism in capitalist society. This point cuts to the key points of society represented by the capitalists and the bourgeoisie, to the key points of human nature represented by the capitalists and the bourgeoisie, and to the key points of private ownership represented by the capitalists and the bourgeoisie. This is the wisdom and greatness of Marx and his Capital.

In capitalist society, capital is capital not only because of its "physical content" as material materials, but also because of its "formal provisions" of social relations, and it is also the "incorruptible body" of private ownership. Commodities are only the "cells" of capitalist society, but capital is the "atomic energy" to understand capitalist society, the "diamond diamond" to interpret private ownership, and a "golden key" to unlock the secrets of modern social development.

Marx's historical materialism unveiled the real "social relations" between "people" at the material category level of human nature hidden behind "things and things", dug out the real "social relations" of "private ownership" (selfishness) between "human nature and human nature", and finally realized the fundamental revolution in ideology and theory from "things" to "people", from "things" to understand people's subjective world, and realized the social existence of "things" reflecting "human nature".

In the material stage of mankind, private ownership has deepened and developed to the capitalist period, and "capital" is the concentrated representative and typical reflection of historical materialism. For, in capitalist society, or in any society corresponding to the level of material productive forces of capitalist society, there is a specter that constantly wanders among the whole world, of the whole society, of all members of society, and that specter is capital. As the core and soul of any society corresponding to the level of material productive forces in capitalist society, or in capitalist society, capital has become in capitalist society, or in any society corresponding to the level of material productive forces in capitalist society, which not only cannot be driven away, beaten away, or destroyed, but also possesses the flesh of people (capitalists and bourgeoisie) like ghosts and becomes a widespread reality in society. No matter what clothes they wear, no matter what they say, no matter what banner they fight, no matter what guns they carry, the depths of their souls are capital, and they are all beautiful words determined by capital.

Therefore, Marx said: "things" are not only products that we make, designed to help us meet basic human (instinctual) needs, "things" are also expressions by which we express who we are and who we are. After the "thing" is man-made and becomes the "materialism" of people, both the people who make it and the people who do not make it are "materialized", and the relationship between people and things is reversed, highlighting the profound revelation of historical materialism to society under the action of the natural laws of human nature, we have become slaves of "things", and we have become our slaves; Human beings have become slaves of "things", and human beings have become slaves of human beings.

It's a bit out of line, but that's the truth, and that's the fact that private ownership is going to the extreme.

Therefore, "capital" in capitalist society is completely in line with the nature of "things", in line with the selfish nature of material beings at the second level of human nature, and fully reflects the unchangeable reality of the natural laws of human nature. Because of grasping capital, we also understand the "things" of capitalist society, and then understand the "people" of human society in the capitalist period, and then understand the true meaning of historical materialism, and then understand the charm of private ownership, and then deeply experience the scientific connotation of the natural laws of human nature.

Historical MaterialismIn capitalist society, the actual "things" are concrete and vivid commodity capital (commodities) and money capital (money).

As early as ancient Greece, Aristotle believed that "matter" is composed of two aspects: "material" and "form". On this basis, Marx's historical materialism emphasizes that every "useful thing" can be examined from the two aspects of "substantive content" and "formal provisions", which not only depends on the "thing" itself, but also goes deep into the "structure" that constitutes the "thing" to be expressed.

Therefore, the contribution of Marx's theory of "things" is precisely to focus on thinking about the "social mysteries" of things on the basis of his predecessors, and to explain that "things" is a theoretical leap forward from the conditions of sociality, but it is not complete, there is no trace of the origin, there is no connection with the original human nature (material selfishness, or the material category level of human nature), and there is no open and clear kiss with private ownership.

Marx's historical materialism, the grasp of the "things" of capitalist society, is to take the "commodity" of the "cell" of capitalist society as the starting point, and then rise to "money", and finally to "capital". It has realized the proper meaning of historical materialist "things", realized the due height of private ownership, and realized the due realm of the natural laws of human nature.

In Marx's view, the first characteristic of the capitalist mode of production is that the products it produces are "commodities". Therefore, the study of Capital begins with the analysis of commodities. And the commodity is first and foremost an external object, a "thing" that relies on its own attributes to meet the needs of human nature at the level of material categories. Therefore, it can be said that the foundation of historical materialism is based on the material category level of the natural laws of human nature, that is to say, the existence of historical materialism is determined by the material category level of the natural laws of human nature. If the natural laws of human nature had lost their effect, historical materialism would naturally not exist.

However, the "thing" of commodities is not an ordinary thing, but a "thing" with a "mysteriousness"—at first glance, it seems to be a simple and ordinary thing, but after analysis, it is found to be a mysterious thing. In capitalist society, the situation of commodities as "things" is obviously not derived from the material content of the commodity, which is naturally prescriptive, but from the formal stipulation of the commodity, which is the social relations themselves. And this social relationship itself is the essence of social relations - the humanity of society.

In a capitalist society with private ownership, although "things" are expressed as huge commodities and even money, both commodities and money eventually move towards and boil down to capital with a ghostly reality. Capital is the "pedestal" of any society that supports capitalist society, or the level of material productivity corresponding to capitalist society, and is a "golden key" to uncover the secrets of modern social development. This is the manifestation of the deepening of the science of private ownership, the manifestation of the high-end form of the development of private ownership, the manifestation of private ownership sprinting towards the upper limit of its own existence, and thus the manifestation of the tendency of human nature at the material category level towards climax, emancipation and freedom (first the expression of the capitalist society represented by the bourgeoisie, and then the expression of all the people in the scientific socialist society).

Under the action of the natural laws of human nature, capital really becomes capital -- "the money that gives birth to money" not because of its "materiality", but because it has acquired a unique "formal regulation". That is to say, the means of production will never spontaneously become capital, but will they be gradually transformed into capital for profit only in capitalist society, or in the wage labour relations of any society corresponding to the level of material productive forces of capitalist society. If, as Marx did, with a subjective and strong class position, we proceed from the proletariat and the laborers, it is that the workers no longer use the means of production, but the means of production use the workers; However, from the perspective of the real society (a society dominated by the bourgeoisie, including the working class), all mankind and the long history of mankind, it is still the workers who use the means of production, not the means of production who use the workers.

Capital is essentially the concentrated expression of the "personification" of "things" and the "materialization" of social relations. Therefore, historical materialism not only summarizes the domination, dominance and domination of society by material forces in the material stage of human beings, but also summarizes the material social relations determined by the natural laws of human nature. Of course, material relations are the main social relations, but they are not absolute, all social relations (because there are also safe relationships that people neglect, and the sexual relations and spiritual relations that follow). Capital, as the humanization of capitalist society and the embodiment of material production relations, has finally become the golden sunshine of capitalist society, which covers all other colors. This is the reflection and manifestation of the main contradiction at the level of human nature and material categories in the social system of private ownership.

Therefore, capital is the power and power of capitalist society to rule everything and dominate everything. Whoever controls capital has power, and whoever controls capital has the power to change and dominate society. But if we trace back to the source, the essence of this is that on a certain platform of satisfaction, emancipation and freedom at the level of human material categories corresponding to the level of development of capitalist material productive forces, the material category level needs of human nature are the forces and powers of capitalist society to rule and dominate everything. In other words, behind the capital at this time is the demand of human nature at the level of material categories at this time. The natural laws of human nature determine capital, and capital determines society, but such results are undoubtedly the products of the golden strip paved by private ownership.

Therefore, everything that exists in capitalist society depends on and reduces to capital. Capital is both the "starting point" and the "end" of capitalist society; There can be no capitalist society without capital. "Capital" has become the dominant "God" in the real society: everything has to defend its existence or give up its right to exist in front of capital. This is the value and significance of the decisive role played by the natural laws of human nature in capitalist society as private ownership moves towards a more scientific and civilized society.

Therefore, capital is by no means just a "material entity", but a kind of social control system and control mode that has emerged in the historical development of mankind from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom. It compelled the people of all countries to promote such an advanced civilization in their own country, and to turn themselves into bourgeoisie rather than proletarians. In a word, it creates a world for itself in its own image.

Therefore, as soon as the "capital" emphasized by Marx's historical materialism appeared, it marked that human society had entered an era in which capital was mature and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. And in this era, any society must go through it in a real way, and no matter what, it cannot be surpassed. So we have to face human nature, face private ownership, face capital, and find that they are flashing, the power of social progress and the scientific way. No matter what name we give our society, it must be adhered to.

This is necessary if we are to implement the viewpoint of historical materialism.

How can man fall under the domination of his own product, capital, and be subordinate to this product? This is because capital is the most effective scientific means of achieving the material category level of human nature, we are governed by the natural laws of our human nature, we are our masters, or we are our slaves.

This is the cognition that historical materialism leads us to sublimate.

Therefore, in capitalist society, or in all social wage labor relations of production, it is not so much that capital rules over man rather than man dominates capital, but that human nature rules man rather than man dominates human nature.

The reason why the "things" of commodities, money, and capital are not only "sensible things", but also "super-sensory things", and can even transcend the human spirit and will and become "ideologies" that people worship and worship, we should thank the natural laws of human nature.

In fact, in Marx's perspective of historical materialism, "capital relations" are the product of a long-term development process in the material stage of human society, and like the ecological environment of private ownership in which it is located, it is determined by the selfishness of human nature and material nature of the natural law of human nature.

Therefore, capitalist production, with the multiplication of capital as the center and purpose, is not an absolute mode of production, but a historical mode of production that is compatible with a certain limited period of development of the material conditions of production, which is the period of capitalist private ownership at the end of the material stage

Only by analyzing the social relations between people hidden under historical materialism, the universal connection between human nature, and the social composition and social movement determined by the material selfishness of the natural laws of human nature, can we understand the historical relativity and historical process of capitalism itself in the material stage of human beings.

In the history of the security stage of human society, the material category level of human nature is in a secondary contradictory position, so it is a model of public ownership, and people's way of life is mainly maintained by the natural resources provided by nature. However, with the development of society, human beings have entered the material stage, and the material category level of human nature has risen to the main contradiction, so that the development of the natural introduction of the private ownership model, in the case of security and the new historical conditions of human nature, practical activities have made people begin to transform the material of nature into products that meet the needs of various human material categories. This process introduces a distinction between the natural world and social existence. The natural world is the direct means of human life, while social existence is the object and tool of human life activities.

Social phenomena refer to the various social behaviors and relationships that we observe in our daily lives. Practice provides a way to see through society, allowing us to gain insight into the fundamental causes behind social phenomena, that is, the existence of human nature and its natural laws, so as to deeply understand the human value and social significance of private ownership.

In the material stage of human beings, due to the inherent existence of historical materialism in society, the inevitable reality of the material category level of human nature is determined, and it has become the main contradiction of society in this stage (security, sex, and spirit are secondary contradictions of human nature); It is determined that the various systems constructed by society are first of all a material system, and other systems are built on the basis of the material system, and the community of destiny is first of all a material community of destiny; It is determined that material development is the development of society, and the abundant conditions of material control the material emancipation of human nature and the progress towards the kingdom of material freedom; It is determined that the acquisition and emancipation of the material category level of human nature in the kingdom of necessity must be the act and emancipation of possession, competition and exclusivity, and the act and emancipation of the form of private ownership; It determines the general, universal and main material value of human society, wealth marks a person's social status and identity, as a form of wealth market, capital can kidnap politics, dominate politics, and subjectively or objectively let politics serve it; The class division of human society is determined by the division of human nature, which is divided by material possession, and then settled into the capitalist or fallen into the laborer, into the bourgeois camp or the proletariat (working class) camp, and so on.

Historical materialism explains and declares that the history of mankind since the slave society is the history of the material stage; It determines the social relations of human existence, that is, the material relations between the two major classes (the slave owner class and the slave class, the landlord class and the peasant class, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat) determined by the natural laws of human nature, and this material relationship is the fundamental relationship. It is because of the existence of fundamental relations that there is a relationship between employment and employment, between opposition and unity, between struggle and cooperation, between domination and domination, between leadership and being led, between domination and domination, and so on.

From the slaves (intelligent tools) of the slave society to the land of the feudal society to the capital of the capitalist society, it is the manifestation of the social existence of historical materialism in the three stages of the development of human society, and it is also the manifestation of the development of private ownership from the low end to the high end.

Of course, historical materialism is also a study, perspective and summary of human nature, and in capitalist society, it has reached a certain depth at the level of human nature's material categories, and has become a part of the philosophy of historical life. But it is not comprehensive, it is still confined to the material stage of human nature, to the level of human material categories.

In short, in the material stage of human beings, in the development of social movements dominated by human nature, historical materialism has fulfilled private ownership, and private ownership has interpreted historical materialism. The "history" of historical materialism is the history of the material stages of the four stages of human beings, and "materialism" is the "materialism" at the main, key and long-term material category level of the four categories of human nature in the material stage, as well as the main, key and long-term "materialism" expressed by the forces of productive forces to promote the progress and development of society at this stage, and is the "materialism" of the main topics and main practical activities of human society at this stage.

Historical materialism highlights the material stage of human society and the goals, tasks, and inevitability of this stage, and is a high-level generalization and high-end summary of the inevitable kingdom of the material stage of human society. Of course, this "thing" is different from the "thing" of dialectical materialism. The former refers to human things and artificial things; The latter refers to the things of the universe, the things of nature.

In the inevitable kingdom of the entire material stage of human beings, because "material" is "materialistic" and is the main, crucial, long-term and important, different countries, regions, nations, societies and members of society in the world have competed, excluded, and possessed it, so that the demand for the material category level of human nature has naturally embarked on the road of private ownership.

His real name is Zheng Jinmin, pen name Rabbit Wo Huangshan, a native of Luonan, Shaanxi, an independent scholar, the founder of historical philosophy of life, and a researcher of the "Four Treasures Culture" of Cangjie, Luoshu, Luohe and Linglun Shaanxi (Luonan).

He is the author of "Restoring the True Appearance of the Dao" (issued in the eighth special issue of "Sinology Research" in 2020, and won the "Sinology Research Monograph Award" and "Sinology Research Academic Achievement Award" of Shaanxi Sinology Research Association in 2019-2020 and 2023 respectively), "The Law System of Historical Philosophy of Life", "The Hypothesis of the Human Security Stage", "Life and the Law of Life", etc.

At present, he has written books such as "Discussion on the Classification of Life Culture and Human Nature", "Discussion on the System of Philosophical Unity", "Exploration of Relevant Philosophical Issues", "New Thought", "Luohe Anthology", "Cangjie Lectures" and "The Development of Human Society in Private Ownership". "The Way of Cangjie Character Making" and "The Status and Role of Cangjie Character Making" in Chinese history won the Kaifeng National Cangjie Cultural Paper Essay Award respectively in 2022. He has successively obtained 13 registration certificates of "national brand" works issued by the Copyright Office of the People's Republic of China, such as "Historical Philosophy and Philosophy Law System" (entered Baidu Library), "Cangjie Lecture Notes", "Cangjie Character Creation Luonan Examination", "Linglun Luonan Music", "Luoshu Luonan Examination", "Luohe Culture Luohe Examination", etc. On September 19, 2021, he accepted an hour-long live news interview with Xi'an Radio Station on the history and philosophy of life and the situation of "Shuyuanmen 1991".