Recently, the difficult behavior of a toll collector at a toll station in Fuzhou has gone viral on the Internet, causing widespread concern. A driver was subjected to unreasonable difficulties, but there was nothing he could do. With the deepening of reform and opening up, Chinese society has undergone earth-shaking changes, but grassroots governance has become a prominent weakness.
At the grassroots level, the little power in the hands of many functionaries has been abused and turned into personal gain, seriously harming the interests of the masses. This phenomenon of "capricious law enforcement" not only undermines the credibility of the government, but also makes people feel chilled. It is necessary to delve into the root causes of this in order to prevent it from becoming a problem. The toll collector is a small role, but she can make things difficult for passing drivers as she pleases.
This is not an isolated case, in the front line of grassroots governance, many staff can adapt to law enforcement, and there are no clear supervision measures, which makes power easy to expand, and also provides soil for willful law enforcement. Establishing a supervisory mechanism for the exercise of power and strengthening checks and balances is an important part of preventing arbitrary law enforcement.
The toll collector's actions were clearly illegal, but she didn't seem to pay much for it. The low cost of violating the law has contributed to this egregious behavior. To eradicate capricious law enforcement, it is necessary to establish a sound accountability mechanism and make violators pay the price they deserve. Whistleblowing, complaints, administrative lawsuits and other means should be unimpeded, so that power cannot escape public scrutiny.
The toll collector forgot his original intention of serving the people and used power as a tool to satisfy his selfish desires. Such distorted values must be eradicated at the ideological roots. It is necessary to strengthen moral education and promote healthy trends in order to establish a correct outlook on power. Grassroots public servants should keep in mind the concept that the interests of the people are above everything else and use power to serve others and not to obey others.
People who don't have character and integrity, even a little bit of power, can cause big problems. It is necessary to establish a scientific mechanism for selecting and employing people, so that those who truly understand service can take up posts, and those with character defects must be prevented from controlling power. It is also necessary to pay attention to job rotation to prevent problems caused by long-term tenure of power.
In order to prevent the slightest deterioration, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of power in the system, improve the accountability mechanism, strictly punish those who violate the law, strengthen the sense of service ideologically, and select people with character to control power. Only by scientifically restricting and using power can grassroots governance avoid degenerating into "capricious law enforcement" and let the masses of the people have no hidden worries about being slaughtered by others.
In this era, citizens' awareness of their rights is on the rise, and it is no longer an era of being oppressed by others. The public can use complaints, reports, and other means to supervise power, and can also pursue accountability through legal channels. This is a warning to grassroots governance: the golden age of relying on privilege for personal gain is over. The new era requires a more scientific, transparent and responsible operation of power.
I believe that with the progress of society, false public servants will be eliminated, and real public servants will grow. Grassroots governance will also become more and more standardized, and truly realize that power is used by the people, feelings are related to the people, and benefits are sought by the people.