Objective Interests

All human beings, both individually and collectively (as specific groups or as societies as a whole), have objective interests and subjective interests. Now, the difference between the two is that the first (objective) set of interests are those that an independent observer can objectively identify.[1] Subjective interests, on the other hand, are interests that are unique to specific individuals or groups and which only they can point to them—that is, an objective observer would have to be told about them. To make this difference clearer some examples are in order.

From a biological point of view, an objective interest that all human beings have is access to adequate nutritionally rich food. Another objective interest is access to decent affordable shelter; another objective interest is access to adequate affordable health care; and so on. On the other hand, for most people, what particular kinds of foods one desires to eat (e.g. bread versus rice or meat versus fish or mangoes versus apples, etc.), or what kind of housing one wants to live in (e.g. a house versus a ten-story building), are matters of individual subjectivity—meaning individual preferences.

Some more examples: in modern societies, equal access to quality schooling is an objective interest; whereas access to a school that has a huge gym represents, for most, a subjective interest. From the perspective of who is teaching this course, your objective interests in this class are matters like: fairness (that is, not biased in terms of race, gender, class, ethnicity, etc.); excellent mastery of subject matter; ability to communicate effectively; a passion for teaching; a well-organized syllabus; punctuality; and flexibility when circumstances call for it. Your subjective interests, on the other hand, are being concerned about things like the gender or ethnicity or race or religion of the teacher; whether the teacher is disabled or not, or whether the teacher wears a suit versus casual dress, or whether the teacher is fat or thin, or whether the teacher’s personality is one of a smiley happy-go-lucky person or not; and so on. In capitalist societies, the objective interests of the masses (that is the working classes) primarily concerns undermining the class warfare of the capitalist classes waged against them—by demanding such things as decent wages, safe working conditions, universal access to affordable health care, a pollution-free environment, a robust social safety net, fair tax policies, and so on (all of which undermine that key objective interest of the capitalist class: surplus appropriation).

On the basis of the foregoing, you should now be able to distinguish between objective interests versus subjective interests. At the same time, you should also be in a position to think of situations where you are hurting your own objective interests by confusing your subjective interests with your objective interests.[2]

So, folks, why is this concept really important to know? A quick answer is that people often do things that is not good for them and may even be dangerous to their well-being. From the perspective of capitalist democracies, this concept in my view is of great importance in helping us analyze the political behavior of the masses; especially behavior that does not further their objective interests but, on the contrary, undermines them. That is, the penchant for self-oppression that one witnesses time and time again among the masses (that is the working classes—like yourselves) can only be explained by a lack of political consciousness that allows them to be manipulated by the bourgeoisie into “objectifying” their subjective interests and “subjectifying” their objective interests.[3] Here are some examples of such behavior: being obsessed with banning abortion than being concerned about access to a robust social safety-net; being more concerned about owning guns (here in the U.S.) than access to decent affordable housing or decent well-paying permanent jobs; being more concerned about the race or ethnicity of fellow citizens than about the unconscionably spiraling income inequality brought about by the class warfare of the rich that undermines the overall quality of life for all; being more incensed with the very poor accessing the social safety-net (e.g. food stamps—here in the U.S.) than being concerned with the lower-than-the cost-of-living minimum wage levels, or the unconscionable tax-payer funded subsidies to big corporations; being more concerned with the political status of one’s country in the world (jingoism) rather than being concerned about the absence of the rule of law, violations of the human rights of the citizenry, and other similar democratic protections; opposing the formation and support of trade unions but ignoring the political and economic power of employer organizations; and so on.