The phenomenon of urbanization destroying families should be changed as soon as possible

On February 17, 2015, in his speech at the 2015 Spring Festival reception, President Xi Jinping proposed for the first time the value of attaching importance to the family. He said that the Chinese nation has valued the family and kinship since ancient times. The family is the basic cell of society and the first school of life. No matter how greatly the times change, and no matter how greatly the patterns of life change, we must all attach importance to family building. This speech by President Xi Jinping is highly relevant to reality.

As early as 2011, in our research report on the topic "Comparative Study of New Urbanization Development Paths," we clearly proposed protecting the value of the family. We clearly recommended allowing and encouraging farmers to shift from migrating to cities as individuals to relocating to cities as families. The family is the basic cell of society, and family harmony is the foundation of social harmony. The family undertakes three most basic social functions: supporting the elderly above, raising children below, and, in between, the life of husband and wife. Therefore, traditional Chinese culture attaches great importance to the family, and the international community also regards protecting the family as an important international norm. China's existing urbanization development model has caused an unprecedented huge impact on and destruction of the family, causing wives and children to be separated and mothers and children to be parted. Cities have absorbed a large amount of the young and middle-aged labor force from rural areas, yet have left the elderly, women, and children in the countryside, producing widespread rural social problems such as left-behind elderly people, left-behind women, and left-behind children in rural areas, while in cities a large number of ugly urban social phenomena such as prostitution and soliciting prostitution have bred. These rural social problems and urban social problems are all products of the deformed urbanization development model. Without changing this urbanization model, it is impossible to solve the above social problems. If we want to raise the moral and cultural level of the Chinese nation amid economic prosperity and development, and enhance the sense of happiness of urban and rural residents in development, we must effectively protect the family, thoroughly change the urbanization that destroys families, repair as soon as possible the basic functions of families destroyed by deformed urbanization, reshape Chinese family virtues, and rebuild Chinese civilization.

This policy recommendation we put forward four years ago did not attract the attention and importance it deserved. Now President Xi Jinping solemnly proposes attaching importance to family building. This is a new sign that China's political leaders have begun to attach importance to the family, a new starting point for reviving Chinese civilization, and also a new requirement of new urbanization.

Traditional urbanization has at least three major aspects of serious destruction: first, destroying farmers' rights; second, destroying rural families; third, destroying the ecological environment. These "three destructions" are the main crux of traditional urbanization. New urbanization is precisely about changing these three destructions and achieving three protections, namely the protection of farmers' rights, the protection of rural families, and the protection of the ecological environment. Moving from the "three destructions" to the "three protections" is the main marker for measuring the transformation from traditional urbanization to new urbanization.

Since reform, our country's public policy has moved from long-term restriction of farmers entering cities to allowing farmers to enter cities to work, achieving the first historic great leap. Now there is an urgent need to achieve a second great leap, namely from allowing farmers to enter cities to work as individuals to allowing and encouraging farmers to carry out family-based migration, so as to fundamentally solve the problem of migrant workers, the rural "three left-behind problems," and related urban and rural social problems. The traditional urbanization model has caused unprecedented great destruction to Chinese people's concept of family and family life, and most farmers who go to cities to work are forced to live lives in which wives and children are separated. Young and middle-aged migrant workers are far from their parents, wives, and children; parents left behind in rural areas cannot see their children, women left behind in rural areas cannot see their husbands, and children left behind in rural areas cannot see their parents. Whether in rural areas or among migrant workers who have entered cities, all face the human tragedy of broken families and blocked kinship. This is caused by the traditional urbanization model and also by unjust public policy. Without the warmth and tenderness of family, it is difficult for people to find a happy destination, and it is also difficult for society to achieve civilized harmony. Now, the time has come when we must thoroughly change the traditional urbanization model that has long destroyed families.

To change the traditional family-destroying urbanization model and take the new urbanization path of protecting families, we must make breakthroughs and carry them out in three aspects: concepts, institutions, and actions.

At the conceptual level, we must highly recognize and value the family. Sociology holds that the family is the oldest and most basic social institution of humankind. The family is both the place of a person's first birth and a person's final harbor and resting place. In every country living on Earth, whether East or West, whether white, yellow, or black, whether believing in Christianity or in Buddhism, Confucianism, or Islam, whether developed or developing, whether English-speaking or Chinese-speaking, whether so-called capitalist or socialist, although there are thousands of differences and even conflicts, people in every country naturally form families. The family is the order and institution that has evolved spontaneously among humankind and most conforms to the natural way of heaven. The family is the high ground of affection and love, the chamber of racial reproduction, the natural place of life, and the fortress of safety and civilization. Protecting the family is protecting affection and love, protecting our future, and defending human civilization.

At the institutional level, we must change all policies and laws that destroy families and establish a legal system that protects families. First, we must resolutely change the urban-rural dual system and allow and encourage urban and rural residents to achieve family-based free migration. We must realize as soon as possible the equalization of basic public services in urban and rural areas and the free transfer and continuation of social security nationwide, providing institutional channels and guarantees for ensuring farmers' family-based migration. All social institutions must embody nationwide unity, openness, equality, and justice. Only in this way can citizens' right to free migration be ensured and families be prevented from being split by institutions. Second, we must formulate a "Family Protection Law" to clearly stipulate from a legal perspective various specific provisions for protecting families, and acts that destroy families must be punished according to law. Third, we must establish a universally beneficial family education and welfare system, and establish as soon as possible family education welfare, childbirth welfare, women's welfare, children's welfare, elderly welfare, and other family education and welfare guarantee systems. In particular, we must combine the major achievements gained in "opposing the four forms of decadence" with optimizing the structure of fiscal expenditure, and use the public fiscal funds saved from "opposing the four forms of decadence" to increase investment in education and the building of the social security system, comprehensively raising the level of family welfare guarantees. Finally, we must decisively abolish the family planning system. The long-term family planning policy has caused unprecedented major destruction to Chinese people's families, created countless human tragedies, and caused countless families to have no descendants, which is the most radical and destructive blow to Chinese civilization. If carrying out family planning more than thirty years ago was still necessary, then by today the family planning system has a hundred harms and not a single benefit, and must be abolished as soon as possible.

At the action level, it is very crucial that political leaders attach importance to the family through their actual words and deeds. Chinese people emphasize that those above set the example and those below follow it, and that each level does it for the level below to see. President Xi Jinping has set a new benchmark for China's contemporary political ecology through his own words and deeds. Chinese people value cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world. If political leaders do not attach importance to the family, or even take the lead in destroying families, then the moral order of society will quickly collapse. A common phenomenon discovered after the central government's anti-corruption "tiger hunt" is that most corrupt officials have the habit of keeping mistresses or committing adultery. This is important evidence that public political figures destroy families. In Western developed countries, if public political figures are discovered not to attach importance to the family, their political careers will face a major crisis of suspension. China, which has a historical tradition of valuing the family, should all the more place valuing and maintaining the family on an important agenda. Organization departments should take maintaining and valuing the family as an important basis for selecting and appointing leading cadres. In addition, we must allow and encourage citizens to establish various social organizations to protect families according to law, fully stimulate social vitality, and mobilize society's positive function of protecting families.

Protecting the family is a truly great cause leading toward civilization.