Why does the backwardness of agriculture and light industry restrict the development of heavy industry?

In the process of economic development in developing countries, there is almost always a problem, that is, how to coordinate the proportional relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture? If this relationship is not handled well, it will not only affect economic development, but also lead to social unrest and even social change. After the founding of New China, it followed the Soviet Union's strategy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry. However, because the Soviet Union has not handled the relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture for a long time, this strategy has caused great controversy among domestic academic circles and people. Is the strategy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry correct, and how to deal with the relationship among them? With Mao Zedong as the core, the first generation of leading collective of China's * * * production party, taking the Soviet Union as a mirror, led hundreds of millions of people to make arduous explorations. In particular, Mao Zedong himself put forward many correct opinions, which greatly enriched the theory of scientific socialism and promoted the development of Mao Zedong Thought. Although these theories have not been fully and correctly applied in practice, they have played a great guiding role in China's socialist modernization.

Value evaluation of priority development strategy of heavy industry

Throughout the history of the world, countries that developed first basically developed light industry and agriculture first, and then developed heavy industry after their economies reached a certain level, such as Britain and France. Chairman Mao has a deep understanding of this and once said: "Capitalism has long focused on developing light industry." [Mao Zedong: Reading the Soviet Union Talk "(1959 65438+1February 960-65438+February)] After Britain embarked on the road of capitalist development, it implemented a free economic policy and allowed the people to develop their own economy. Of course, it is suitable for the situation and needs at that time for people to develop industries with less investment and quick results. Therefore, we have been concentrating on developing light industry and agriculture. The country's leading industrial sectors are wool textile and cotton textile, and related auxiliary industries, such as animal husbandry and coal mining. It was not until the industrial revolution and the scientific and technological revolution made great progress in science and technology and improved the organic composition of capital in the industrial sector that heavy industry began to develop. After the industrial revolution, Britain was able to make machines with machines. This development model conforms to the Marxist viewpoint. Marx's law of priority growth of means of production holds that in the process of social reproduction, with the continuous improvement of the organic composition of capital, the proportion of constant capital in additional capital is increasing, which will affect the continuous improvement of the organic composition of the whole prepaid capital. This requires the first category to grow faster than the second category, and the production department that manufactures the means of production is the fastest growing in the first category. Therefore, the normal mode of economic growth should be from simple to complex, from agriculture and light industry to heavy industry, which is the general law of economic development.

Countries with late development often implement the strategy of giving priority to heavy industry, and then appropriately increase the proportion of agriculture and light industry, such as Germany, Japan and later socialist countries. There are some inevitable reasons for the late-developing countries to choose this war, which not only makes full use of objective conditions, but also satisfies the feelings of their own people.

First, make full use of the advantages of latecomers. Those countries that have given priority to the development of heavy industry from the beginning of economic development believe that it will be much easier to make machines after they have the ability to make them. Moreover, countries that have developed first already have such technology, and they only need to learn, saving a lot of time for exploration. This is like what a person who wants to run a chicken farm thinks, that is, buy eggs first, then hatch them, and make a fortune by them when they grow up; Or buy a flock of chickens directly, and you can sell eggs to make money immediately. From this perspective, if you have the ability to give priority to the development of heavy industry, you should develop heavy industry first.

Second, the late-developing countries tend to give priority to the development of heavy industry based on political considerations. First of all, when faced with the threat of external enemies or trying to invade other countries, they will be eager to develop heavy industry, especially military industry. Germany adopted this development strategy in order to get rid of colonial oppression, oppress other countries, and seize colonies with Britain, France and Japan, while socialist countries such as China and the Soviet Union also chose this strategy in the face of blockade and provocation by western powers. Secondly, in order to implement the catch-up strategy, Germany and Japan launched fierce competition with Britain and France in order to catch up. China, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and other socialist countries are also trying to catch up with developed countries such as the United States and Britain, so as to show the superiority of socialism. Of course, the Soviet Union's catch-up strategy also has the factor of competing with the United States for world hegemony.

China implemented this strategy, firstly because of the guidance of Marxist economic theory; Secondly, there are political blockades and military threats from western capitalist countries; Third, we should embody the superiority of socialism, attract the broad masses of people to devote themselves to the torrent of economic construction, develop the economy and protect the country and defend the country; Finally, because of the lessons of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union implemented the strategy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry. Lenin pointed out at the beginning of implementing the new economic policy: "There is only one real and only foundation for increasing wealth and building a socialist society, and that is large industry. If there were no big capitalist factories and highly developed large industries, there would be no socialism at all, let alone socialism in a peasant country "[Complete Works of Lenin, vol. 32, p. 399]. He also said: "Without saving and restoring heavy industry, we can't build any industry, and without industry, we will perish and become an independent country." [Complete Works of Lenin, Volume 33, Page 385] It can be seen that Lenin linked heavy industry with the life and death of the country. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China was close to the Soviet Union and would naturally learn from the Soviet model; Finally, it is determined by the actual situation in the early days of the founding of our country. Mao Zedong once described the situation at that time. He said, "What can we build now? You can build tables and chairs, tea bowls and teapots, grow food, grind into flour and make paper, but you can't build cars, planes, tanks or tractors. " [Mao Zedong: Draft Constitution of People's Republic of China (PRC) (1954. 6. 14)] If we don't pay attention to such a weak heavy industry, it will lead to: no weapons to defend the enemy militarily, no potential for economic development and no attractive charm politically. Without the foundation for survival and conditions for development, developing heavy industry has become a top priority.

The relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture

The strategy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry in China and other countries is basically correct, especially in China, which is the only way to give priority to the development of heavy industry in theory and practice. However, when this strategic idea is applied in practice, it often overemphasizes the development of heavy industry and ignores the development of light industry and agriculture, resulting in terrible consequences. According to Marxism, giving priority to the development of the means of production does not mean that the production of the means of production can grow without the production of the means of consumption, as if the production of the means of production grows faster than that of the means of consumption. Because, in the final analysis, the growth of the means of production depends on or is subject to the growth of consumption means of production. This is manifested in the following aspects: first, the expansion and reproduction of the first category require additional labor, and the demand for consumption materials depends on the growth of the second category; Second, more production materials made by the first category for the second category need to be purchased and used with the growth of the second category; Third, the more means of production produced by the first category for this department will eventually be restricted by the development of the second category, because the ultimate goal of social production is always consumption, otherwise it will become "production for production" without purpose. In real economic life, it will artificially increase the increase of constant capital and improve the organic composition, thus reducing the value of labor and making the wages of workers not equal to the labor they pay; Moreover, under the condition of underdeveloped economy, the excessive development of heavy industry will inevitably sacrifice some necessary light industry and agriculture. In this way, workers get low wages and can't buy enough consumer goods, which makes people generally dissatisfied with the government. Germany and Japan, in particular, once practiced nationalist ideology, militarized the national economy, and claimed that they wanted cannons instead of butter, which greatly hurt the interests of the people. They exchanged blood and tears for the development of the national economy and the strength of the army. However, as a socialist country, we can't ignore the interests of the people in this way, and we can't just focus on developing heavy industry and ignore light industry and agriculture.

The relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture is actually the relationship between the main contradiction and the secondary contradiction. In the whole national economy, industry is the main contradiction, agriculture is the secondary contradiction, heavy industry is the main contradiction and light industry is the secondary contradiction. Solving the main contradiction is the key to solving the problem, but the solution of the secondary contradiction must not be ignored. If the minor contradiction is not solved well, it will hinder the solution of the major contradiction and have a negative effect on the solution of the whole problem. Moreover, the main contradiction and the secondary contradiction may also be transformed into each other. Under certain conditions, agriculture and light industry will also become the main contradictions. Chairman Mao expounded these viewpoints in his works, such as On Ten Major Relations, On Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People, and Reading the Soviet Union Talk.

In the article "On Ten Major Relationships", Mao Zedong thinks: "Heavy industry is the focus of China's construction. It has been decided that priority must be given to developing the means of production. But we can't ignore the production of means of subsistence, especially the production of food. If we don't have enough food and other necessities, we can't support workers, let alone develop heavy industry. Therefore, we must handle the relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture. " In the article "On Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People", he went on to say: "The industrialization problem mentioned here mainly refers to the relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agricultural development. It must be affirmed that China's economic construction is centered on heavy industry. But at the same time, we must pay full attention to the development of agriculture and light industry. " Then, taking the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe as a mirror, he said: "We have not made any mistakes in principle in dealing with the relationship between heavy industry, light industry and agriculture. We did better than the Soviet Union and some Eastern European countries. For example, the problem that the grain output of the Soviet Union has not reached the highest level before the revolution for a long time, and the serious problems caused by the uneven development of light and heavy industries in some countries in Eastern Europe do not exist here. They pay one-sided attention to heavy industry and ignore agriculture and light industry, so there are not enough commodities in the market and the currency is unstable. " [Mao Zedong: On Ten Major Relationships (1April 25th, 956)] and asked China to increase the proportion of agriculture and light industry on the basis of heavy industry. He read that the Soviet Union "of course, the development of industry is faster than that of agriculture. However, the formulation should be appropriate, and industry should not be emphasized in an inappropriate position, otherwise problems will definitely arise. " And predict that it will have a positive result. "The result of aggravating? As a result, on the one hand, it can better meet the needs of people's lives, on the other hand, it can increase the accumulation of funds more quickly, so it can develop heavy industry more and better. Heavy industry can also accumulate, but under our current economic conditions, light industry and agriculture accumulate more and faster. " [ditto] In the article "On Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People", the Chairman also said that "with the development of agriculture and light industry, heavy industry will develop faster with market and capital. From this point of view, the speed of industrialization seems to be slower, but it will not be slow in fact, or it may be faster. " This fully embodies the chairman's strategic thinking of "giving priority to the development of heavy industry and not neglecting light industry and agriculture".

In the ideological field, the chairman dialectically warned the whole party about the relationship between the three: "Here is a question: Do you really want to develop heavy industry, or do you imagine it? Do you want it very much or almost? If you are imagining things, or thinking a little worse, focus on agriculture and light industry and invest less. If you really want it, or you really want it, then you should attach importance to agriculture and light industry, make more raw materials for food and light industry, accumulate more, and invest more money in heavy industry in the future. " [ditto] "In the long run, developing more light industry and agriculture will make heavy industry develop more and faster, and because it ensures the needs of people's lives, it will make its development foundation more stable." [ditto] These statements are correct in theory, but they are still not done well in practice, which greatly harms the interests of the people and affects the further development of heavy industry.

There is nothing wrong with the strategy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry The key problem is how to increase the proportion of light industry and agriculture, sum up the positive and negative experiences and lessons at home and abroad, and tell us that we must not ignore the development of light industry and agriculture. The Soviet Union implemented the policy of exploiting agriculture from the beginning of industrialization. Results After industrialization, the development of agriculture did not reach the level of 19 17. In view of this situation, the chairman said: "Our people have to endure a little sacrifice now, just like the Soviet Union at that time, but as long as we can make agriculture, light industry and heavy industry develop at a high speed at the same time, we can ensure that the people's lives will be properly improved while developing heavy industry rapidly. Both the Soviet Union and our experience have proved that the development of agriculture and light industry is not conducive to the development of heavy industry. " [Mao Zedong: Interpretation of the Soviet Union China did not implement the policy of exploiting agriculture like the Soviet Union. Mao Zedong said in "Ten Relationships": "Our policy towards farmers is not a Soviet policy, but takes into account the interests of the country and farmers. Our agricultural tax has always been relatively light. In the exchange of industrial and agricultural products, we adopt the policy of narrowing the scissors difference, equivalent exchange or almost equivalent exchange. We buy agricultural products at normal prices, and farmers do not suffer, and the purchase price is gradually increasing. In the supply of industrial products to farmers, we adopt the policy of small profits but quick turnover, stabilize prices or reduce prices appropriately, and generally give some subsidies to farmers in grain-deficient areas. But that's all. If you are careless, you will still make mistakes of one kind or another. In view of the serious mistakes made by the Soviet Union on this issue, we must pay more attention to handling the relationship between the state and farmers. " This idea is correct, but it is not done well. In fact, agricultural production is damaged and farmers' interests are damaged, which leads to the slow development of agriculture and the failure to improve farmers' lives.

When paying attention to the main contradiction, we can't ignore the secondary contradiction, so the chairman put forward the idea of "simultaneity" "The law of priority growth of means of production is the same law of all social expansion and reproduction. If the capitalist society does not give priority to the development of the means of production, its social production cannot continue to develop. Stalin embodied this law as giving priority to the development of heavy industry. Stalin's shortcoming is that he overemphasized the priority of heavy industry growth, and as a result, he neglected agriculture in his plan. This problem also occurred in eastern European countries a few years ago. We concretize this law as follows: under the condition of giving priority to the development of heavy industry, industry and agriculture should develop at the same time. We have implemented several synchronous measures, the most important of which is the simultaneous development of industry and agriculture. " [ditto] "We concretize the formula of giving priority to the development of means of production as follows: under the condition of giving priority to the development of heavy industry, we will implement several simultaneous measures; Each of them is in the middle and has an advantage. For example, the central and local governments are dominated by the central government; Industry and agriculture are dominated by industry. " [ditto] synchronous development is not egalitarianism, nor is it the first priority to shake heavy industry. "Our idea is to develop industry and agriculture at the same time under the condition of giving priority to the development of heavy industry. The so-called synchronous development does not deny that heavy industry gives priority to growth and industrial development is faster than agriculture; At the same time, it is not necessary to use strength on average. " [ditto] It can be seen that the chairman's thought of synchronous development is not egalitarianism regardless of primary and secondary, but two-point theory that emphasizes key points and two-point theory that emphasizes key points.

The consequences of neglecting light industry and agricultural production

I have no intention of exaggerating an important reason into a fundamental reason in order to achieve a blockbuster goal. However, the shortage of light industrial products and agricultural products has indeed promoted and accelerated the great changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. People have to face up to the consequences of neglecting light industry and agriculture, as if the alarm bell is ringing in people's minds.

At the end of 1970s, Colne, an internationally renowned Hungarian economist, was studying the shortage phenomenon in the socialist economy, and the theoretical system of shortage economics was being established. Although he did not blame the shortage on the policy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry and neglecting light industry and agricultural production, he only said: "Shortage, whether as the cause of other phenomena or as its consequence, is linked with other links in the economic system through countless ties, namely, prices and wages, planning and markets, fiscal and monetary policies, and material and spiritual stimulation." [Janos Kornai: Shortage Economics, p. 12] However, in socialist countries, the formulation of prices and wages, plans and markets, and fiscal and monetary policies have not deviated from the fundamental policy of giving priority to the development of heavy industry, so this theory is a reflection of the serious shortage of consumer goods caused by the neglect of light industry and agricultural production in socialist countries.

In Poland, this phenomenon is prominently reflected in the consumption of pork. Poland likes to eat pork, but Poles have to queue for a long time every day to buy meat, and they may not be able to buy meat. "In the late 1970s, a joke was widely circulated in Poland: a butcher shop on the streets of Warsaw had a long queue to buy meat since 5 am. A middle-aged woman stood in line for six hours and still didn't buy meat. She was very tired and impatient. She said to an elderly man behind her:' No, I have to go to Gillek, the first secretary of the * * * production party.' Half an hour later, the woman hurried back to the queue, muttering,' Shit, the queue at the gate of Girek is longer than here.' This is a wonderful irony of the shortage of goods. [Ouyang Dong: Documentary of the Great Fission in Eastern Europe, China Economic Publishing House, p. 320] The shortage of goods in Poland is so serious that some people even sigh helplessly: "Life now is worse than Hitler's time", while other socialist countries are not much better.

In the big shops in East Berlin, the capital of Germany, you can hardly see video recorders and videos, let alone high-end stereos, CD players and records. You can't even buy a remote-controlled car for children to play with. Although there are color TVs in the shops, they are expensive and few in variety. The car has poor appearance, loud noise, slow speed and high fuel consumption. Even so, it still takes 10- 12 years to buy a car, whether it is a satellite brand, a Fort Worth brand or a LADA brand. Many people don't have the patience, so they have to spend three times as much money to visit the black market. The price of a new LADA car is as high as 70,000 marks. On the opening day of the Berlin Wall, the citizens of Mingde who came back from West Berlin, both men and women, were carrying colorful refined plastic bags containing all kinds of articles. Some people, willy-nilly, grab some empty plastic bags as soon as they go to West Berlin. This is also rare in East Berlin.

The same thing happened in other socialist countries without exception. The shortage of economy seriously hurt the people of that era, made them lose confidence in the * * * production party, and finally led to great changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which caused the most serious setback to the international * * * production movement. The painful lesson tells us that we must attach importance to the development of light industry and agriculture and provide people with enough necessities.