The Masses are Creative

Many of these examples of how the principle of self-reliance operates in practice also explain how the Chinese practice the mass line - the principle of relying on the masses for creative ideas and suggestions. Educational and medical services are provided at the local level in the towns and in the country, and In factories so that the needs of the people can be better served.

The organisation of political life since the Cultural Revolution has also been aimed at providing the greatest possible opportunity for ordinary people to express their ideas and suggestions. Shanghai is divided into ten administrative districts, each of which has a Revolutionary Committee as the main organ of political power. In each district there are a number of Street Revolutionary Committees. While these street committees are the basic organ of political power, the area they control includes a number of neighbourhood committees. The purpose of the neighbourhood committee is to express the wishes of the local people to the Street Revolutionary Committee.

The ordinary people living in the area controlled by a Street Revolutionary Committee can influence its work in a number of ways. Firstly through their neighbourhood committees, secondly through their representatives on the street committee (1/3 of its members), and thirdly because street committee members live and work in the local area among the people and are not an isolated bureaucracy.