Thrift Research

Advocating thrift in the whole society is a choice of our times. In theory, thisthesis is expected to enrich the theoretical achievement of the research on thriftthrough expounding thrift as the traditional virtue of Chinese nation and politicallydistinctive character of the Communist Party of China. Moreover, this thesis isexpected to provide some bases for advocating thrift through analyzing somequestions in the field of consumption and the serious harms and causes of thesequestions. In practice, the thesis is expected to guide the people’s consuming behaviorthrough defining necessary consumption, payable consumption, making the best useof consumption goods as the core of thrift. Meanwhile, some proposals, such asstrengthening the construction of consumption institution, the leading cadres’ settingexamples and all the people’s practice, are put forward to advocate thrift. The mainresearch methods include documentary research method, contradictory analyzingmethod, cause and effect analyzing method and systematical research method.The view of thrift is a sum of views and opinions about thrift. In the ancientdocument, thrift is appeared in the form of individual jie and jian, which are graduallyfused to a double syllable word. Thrift is an inner meaning of consumption.Practically, thrift embodies necessary consumption, payable consumption, making thebest use of consumption goods. Consumption is closely related to production, andthrift is closely related to production, too. Consumption is dependent on production,and production is for consumption. Production precedes consumption, and productionshould be greater than consumption. Thrift will keep maintainable simplereproduction and expanded reproduction through providing materials.Thrift is a traditional virtue of Chinese nation. The life of thrift lies in its closerelationship with industry, loving others, friendly treating ecology, and etc. thrift isbased on industry. Industry and thrift can realize individual and social ideal, such asmaking a live, cultivate one’s moral character, regulating a family and administering acountry. Thrift is related to filial piety and kindheartedness, which can providematerial strength and spiritual wealth. Thrift gives expression to love and protect thenature, namely, produce and consume according to the natural law. Thrift plays animportant role in the development of Chinese nation. Thrift of the ruling classprovided enough manpower, and thrift of the whole society provided enough materials,which moved the social reproduction forward. Thrift strengthened the people’s ability to deal with the natural disaster. Thrift maintained the social harmoniousness andstabilization through moderating the contraction between the ruling class and thepeople, the officials and the people, the different people, and forming good familyrelationship. Thrift made the people not to destroy the ecology, which maintained thenature.Thrift is a distinctive character of Communist Party of China. The members ofCPC restrain themselves and keep thrift in order to realize the people’s interestsmaximally, and lead the people to work hard together. Thrift plays an important role inthe process of the development of CPC. During the period of new democraticrevolution, thrift cultivated firm revolutionary soldier, expanded the politicalinfluence of CPC, fostered Jinggangshan Spirit, Long March Spirit, and Yanan Spirit,moved the revolution forward. During the course of socialist revolution andconstruction, thrift was against bureaucratism to some extent, accumulated an amountof fund for socialist construction, improved the people’ s living level and broughtgood social atmosphere. In the period of reform and opening-up, thrift makes thepeople to inherit the revolutionary spirit of struggle, and resist hedonism, and advanceanti-corruption, furtherance the construction of conservation-oriented society.Extravagance and waste relating to public power, privilege consumption, luxuryand corruption are serious problems in the field of consumption. These problems ruinsthe atmosphere of CPC and the government because of deviating from the purpose ofserving the people wholeheartedly and the excellent working styles of working hardand perseveringly, maintaining close ties with the masses, running all undertakingsindustriously and thriftily. The problems mislead the social atmosphere, intensify thewaste in the daily life and influence the people’s thinking. The problems easily makethe people, at home and abroad, form the uncivilized and unharmonious nationalimage of China, and weaken the comprehensive national strength, including hardpower and soft power. The causes of these problems include the opinion of thriftbeing behind the times, the opinion of extravagance and luxury being favorable,Chinese traditional thought of face, western consumerism invading, and the absenceof social opinion.For the sake of developing the thrift culture, we should inherit and carry forwardChinese nation’s traditional virtue, draw on the experience of external consumptioncivilization and create the construction of consumption civilization with the times. In China, analyzing the value and significance of thrift, drawing up concrete instruction,using the way of reasoning, teaching by precept and example, leading the folk customby ruling class’s behavior are important parts of consumption civilization. In theforeign countries, there are some good methods of thrift, such as all the forcessupervising and constraining the state extravagance, all the society fostering theconsciousness of thrift, and all ways promoting saving the resource. Mixing all theexcellent culture, emphasizing the practice, stressing the practical effect are basicthoughts of creating the construction of consumption civilization. We should takemeasures of strengthening rules and regulations to provide a guarantee for the socialatmosphere of thrift. These measures include perfecting related institution ofdefending state extravagance, implementing supervision system of public funds,improving evaluation system of thrift performance, adjusting the range and rate ofconsumption tax, establishing the behavior standard of consumption, perfecting theprice system of energy and resource, and establishing the system of popularizingenergy-saving equipment. The leading cadres should set examples of thrift for themasses. All the people should form consciousness, thinking, motive and habit of thrift,which will establish the massive basis for the inheritance of thrift. Propagating thethrift consumption with modern scientific knowledge and advanced technical meanswill efficiently implement the living manner of thrift in a short period of time.Thrift is a traditional virtue of Chinese nation, and social responsibility andhistorical mission of every Chinese people. If everyone keeps thrift, the society willkeep the social custom of thrift, and we shall leave a living environment ofpicturesque scenery and rich resource.