Source: History of the Analects of Confucius
Selected paragraph:
Qiu also heard that people with state-owned families do not suffer from inequality, poverty and anxiety. There is no poverty, no poverty and no peace.
Translation:
I heard that for princes and doctors, they are not afraid of poverty, but they are afraid of inequality; Not afraid of small population is afraid of instability. Because wealth is balanced, there will be no poverty, harmony and unity will not make people feel small, and domestic stability will not be in danger of overturning.
Text interpretation
Everyone who lives in this world must engage in some kind of labor to maintain his own survival. It is also labor that creates social wealth and promotes social development and progress.
People who create wealth through labor naturally have the right to enjoy social wealth. Therefore, the distribution principle of social wealth should be equality. They don't mean average distribution, but balance. We should not only pay more for more work, but also take care of the poor, the sick and the widows. Everyone's life is guaranteed, which reaches what Confucius said: "No one is poor."
However, in the era of Confucius, more than half of the labor achievements of the broad masses of working people had to be turned over, and it was the normal state of society at that time for the upper rulers to get something for nothing. This has led to a huge difference in wealth possession between people, and the long-term existence of this result is bound to cause dissatisfaction among people who have actually worked, thus triggering social unrest.
Looking back at history, many dynasties collapsed because of the serious polarization between the rich and the poor. Therefore, Confucius said that "not suffering from widowhood but suffering from inequality" can actually be understood as not being afraid of less wealth, but being afraid of unreasonable distribution. Therefore, how to distribute social wealth is an important issue for any country and society.