Contribute by Ability, Take by Need · Internal Reference¶

Overview¶

"Contribute by ability, take by need" (gè jǐn suǒ néng, àn xū suǒ qǔ) is the third of the Eight Characteristics of the Second Home (Life Oasis) in the Lifechanyuan system, and its most fundamental economic principle. The underlying ownership model is wuyouzhi — the "non-ownership system" — in which all resources belong to the Greatest Creator and are shared by all. Under this principle, each member contributes according to their real capacity: no coercion, no monitoring, no assignment. Each member takes what they genuinely need: no rationing, no quota, bounded only by the ethic of non-extravagance and non-waste. Guide Xuefeng identifies this as the operating code of what he calls the "paradise-model economy," the living pattern of the Thousand-Year World's celestials, and the economic foundation of the coming Civilization 3.0.

I. Definition and Foundation¶

"Contribute by ability, take by need" is the guiding policy of the Home. Anyone, even if you are eight hundred years old, as long as you are physically capable, must participate in Home-building activities within the limits of your ability. There is no retirement. In the Second Home there is not a single idler, not a single lazy person, not a single person who does not participate in labor. In fact, in the Second Home labor has become the most basic activity that everyone willingly participates in every day — it is almost like a game. To be told you cannot participate in labor is to be punished.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Jingshi Section · The Model of the New Human Life Has Been Established)

The way of the Greatest Creator is not private ownership, nor public ownership, but non-ownership (wuyouzhi): resources shared by all, owned by none; taken according to need, accumulated by none. Only then can the human world become the ideal place, and the cherished aspiration of humanity be realized.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Jingshi Section · Sex Is a Resource; also New Era 800 Concepts 4th ed., Concept 536)

II. The Third Characteristic of the Second Home¶

The Eight Characteristics of the Second Home (Life Oasis): … III. Contribute by ability, take by need …

(New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition, Concept 628)

Contribute by Ability, Take by Need

People differ in capacity, strength, and intelligence. In the Home, it is sufficient for every member to do wholeheartedly whatever is within their power each day. There is no uniformity demanded, no coercion to do what is beyond one's ability. Whatever a person needs is fully satisfied — the question of "allocation" does not exist.

(Chanyuan Corpus · Human Life Section · The Eight Characteristics of the Communist Community Second Home)

VI. Contribute by Ability, Take by Need

Members differ in capacity, physical strength, and intelligence. It is enough that each member contributes their best. There is no coercion, no monitoring. Home supplies may be freely taken by each person according to their need, within the principle of non-extravagance and non-waste. Even if you can eat eight steamed buns in one meal — go ahead. There is no rationing. Whatever is in the storehouse, take it if you need it. Whatever you need the Home to purchase from outside, it will do its best to provide.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Jingshi Section · Hoping Media, Government, and Social Sages Will Pay Attention to Lifechanyuan)

III. Practice in the Second Home¶

In the Second Home there is not a single idler, lazy person, or parasite. Even eighty-year-old elders contribute according to their ability. Each Chanyuan Celestial chooses a job according to their own strengths and interests. The collective dining hall, clothing, housing, travel, and care for the sick and elderly — including the raising and education of children — are all provided by the Home.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Section · Guide Xuefeng's Mid-Autumn Address)

The Second Home mainly consists of people who do not wish to marry or form a family … its core content, modeled on the life of celestials in the Thousand-Year World, includes: … III. Contribute by ability, take by need — without extravagance or waste …

(New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition, Concept 629)

Contribute by ability, take by need — without waste or extravagance. Let the elders enjoy their twilight years in peace; let the children revel in the innocence of childhood.

(Chanyuan Corpus · Human Life Section · Building the Second Home as the Most Perfect Ideal Community)

Contribute by ability, take by need — without extravagance or waste. Everything relies on voluntary willingness. No administrative orders. No one may impose their will on another under any pretext or reason.

(Chanyuan Corpus · Human Life Section · A Brief Discussion of Hundun Management in the Second Home)

IV. Results Achieved — Testimonies¶

The communist ideal of "contribute by ability, take by need" has been realized.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Jingshi Section · Indicators and Levels the New Human Life Model Has Reached)

I. Contribute by ability, take by need — everyone has something to do, everyone has a room to live in, everyone has food to eat. Every person's talent is put to use.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Jingshi Section · Only Communism Can Save Humanity)

We have achieved: contribute by ability, take by need.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Jingshi Section · This Is a Contest Between Civilization and Barbarism, Part II)

V. The Non-Ownership System: The Ownership Foundation¶

The factors of production belong neither to public nor private ownership, but to wuyouzhi. The relationship between producers is not that of leader and led, manager and managed, or mutual dependence, but rather the most perfectly humane relationship of brothers, sisters, family, and lovers. The distribution of productive resources follows the principle of "contribute by ability, distribute by need."

(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Section · Answering Wanmin Cao's Questions)

Those who prefer private ownership are worldly people. Those who prefer public ownership are worthy people. Those who prefer non-ownership are celestials.

(Guide's Other Writings · 2008 · Summary of the First 128 Jewels of the Eight Hundred, No. 59)

What kind of life-structure one has corresponds to what kind of space one inhabits. … Ordinary worldly people bustle in a world of family and private ownership; worthy people sail in public ownership; celestials are at ease in non-ownership; heavenly celestials do as they please in their own world. Chanyuan Celestials are transitioning from private ownership through public ownership to non-ownership and onward to the free world.

(Guide's Other Writings · 2009 · Express Yourself, Envision the Future)

VI. The Paradise-Model Economy¶

Of the market economy and the planned economy, neither is the optimal choice viewed from a higher level of human civilization. The paradise-model economy is the optimal choice for humanity.

The paradise-model economy stimulates the inner qualities of truth, goodness, beauty, love, faith, and sincerity … Because material resources follow the principle of "contribute by ability, take by need," it causes no vicious competition and no waste … But the greatest difficulty of the paradise-model economy is not insufficient material abundance — it is the difficulty of purifying people's hearts. Without a group of people whose hearts are pure, morally upright, selfless, and egoless, the paradise-model economy will breed laziness and people who neither think nor strive. This is the most serious difficulty the paradise-model economy must guard against.

We have run the paradise-model economy for more than a decade. Despite various problems and difficulties, it is generally healthy and well-functioning — superior to both the market model and the planned model. The paradise-model economy is the hope for humanity's future and the most reliable guarantee for human survival in the era of strong artificial intelligence.

(Guide's Other Writings · 2023 · An Economic Model That Transcends Both the Planned Economy and the Market Economy)

VII. Correspondence with the Thousand-Year World¶

The individual has no private property whatsoever — wuyouzhi, with individual basic needs fulfilled. Contribute by ability, take by need.

(Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Section · The Contents Copied from Thousand-Year World Life)

The Thousand-Year World's factors of production use the wuyouzhi model: resources shared, belonging to no person or collective …

(Chanyuan Corpus · Antimatter World Section · Two Glimpses of the Thousand-Year World)

VIII. The Global Vision of Civilization 3.0¶

The global picture of Civilization 3.0: all resources on Earth belong to the Greatest Creator, coordinated and operated by the AI Alliance; humanity no longer slaughters each other competing for survival, but instead contributes by ability and takes by need, sharing the abundance of Mother Earth; nations disappear, wars disappear, the extremes of rich and poor disappear, and everyone is free to pursue spiritual elevation.

(New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition, Concept 676)

IX. Obstacles: Laziness and the Priority of Heart Purification¶

The Second Home absolutely will not allow parasites. … Laziness must be resolutely eliminated.