This article is excerpted from my answer to a question on Zhihu
Original Question Title: Why are many “beautiful lies” that everyone knows — for example, “human nature is good at birth”, “all men are born equal” — still promoted by the mainstream?
Because that is the result humanity hopes for.
And thought determines behavior, while behavior determines results.
If nobody believed in goodness, the rules of human society would become the law of the jungle: the strong prey on the weak.
Although the strong preying on the weak and the survival of the fittest are facts, humanity has already left the stage of primitive nature and has a heart of compassion, that is, conscience (whether some Westerners have it I can’t say, but the Chinese have had it since ancient times — when Mencius was discussing what makes humans different from beasts, there were only barbarians around China). The leaders of human groups hoped to create a society in which humans live together in harmony, where the young are raised, the old are provided for, and the weak have someone to help them, so that each person can live out this life in peace and contentment, rather than the strong bullying the weak, corpses lying everywhere, and people killing one another.
So we have to teach people: human nature is good; as a human being, you cannot do evil, otherwise you are not a human being but a beast. A male dog mounts a female dog as soon as it meets one on the road, but you can’t — because you are a human. So although a person is born as a member of the human species, a natural creature, we still have to learn “how to be a human being.” And being a human being means you cannot just follow your desires and do whatever you please. Cultivating the self is a practice, and the practice is correcting our behavior — so “restraining desire” (tempering one’s desires) is inherent to cultivating the self and practicing. Nowadays, with thinking Westernized, how many people still understand such a simple truth? Fortunately, the new era advocates cultural confidence, and the problem of Westernized thinking is being corrected.
So “human nature is good at birth” is a lie invented to correct “at birth, human nature is not good.” But “what is molded young is like nature.” If a person’s family education from childhood is very good — as the state now advocates, reading and reciting the classics, excellent upbringing, a good family tradition — then a child who grows up that way will surely be innocent and kind.
“All men are born equal” is a lie invented to correct the “not all men are born equal” that arose after human society was built as an organization. Society, in essence, is an enormous organization that takes in almost all human beings. I say almost because some people are reclusive — they don’t concern themselves with worldly affairs and don’t set foot in the world of dust. Every Chinese person knows about 出世 and 入世, right? In any case, it isn’t the WTO… Entering the world essentially means acknowledging society as an organization, building society, contributing to society, and making a name for yourself. Withdrawing from the world essentially means believing that society is unfair and ineffective, that I have another way to live, that you up there needn’t worry about me — I’ll do my own thing and keep out of trouble. Why do people withdraw from the world? Because they think society’s framework doesn’t work and can’t solve problems! Where there is an organization there are higher and lower levels, leaders and the led. In a thing like that everyone is a slave, all working for this man-made concept called society — to what end? Look, even a national leader is overwhelmed with a thousand affairs a day, rising early and sleeping late — who is comfortable? The rich get richer, and the children of the poor are poor too. I built society — did I get anything out of it? Laozi put it best: a small state with few people, where the crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs can be heard from village to village, yet the people grow old and die without ever visiting one another. I withdraw from the world, I jump out, I don’t play with you lot; I farm my own land, grow my own vegetables, raise my own poultry and sow my own seed, self-sufficient, living every day the retirement life you all long for. What are you after? Isn’t it just the two empty words, “fame and fortune”?
People who enter the world don’t think that way: yes, there are problems of this and that kind right now, but they are problems of a stage; in essence, people are equal — look, we also teach the people that wealth cannot corrupt them and power cannot bend them, that every person must be respected! Money is only lent to you for a while; in reality everything belongs to the state. This is a small device of ours: you make money, you develop the productive forces, and once they are developed to the highest degree and material goods are extremely abundant, we achieve communism — and that is when equality among all people is truly and realistically realized! In ancient times, “within the four seas, all is the king’s land”; today all land is state-owned — the two are in one continuous line. By this point, dear reader, you’ve seen it too: this is simply socialism and communism. Yes, exactly!
Capitalism has no such lofty ideals: its beliefs and its behavior are completely divorced — it’s purely a matter of saying one thing and doing another. Of course, now that Trump is in office, its true nature is exposed even more, known to every passerby. What is capitalism’s logic? Capitalism’s logic is: this money I earned with my own ability, this land I bought with my own ability. I don’t care whether the young are raised or the old provided for; if you have no money, go live in a slum. That you have no money means you have no ability — contempt. If I have money, I’ll be as extravagant as I please — that’s my freedom. See, doesn’t it feel familiar? Some of our compatriots in China never manage to learn the good things, but pick up the bad ones fast.
To sum up, “all men are born equal” is a fig leaf for some people, not a fact. It is the ideal of some people, not yet a fact.