Benefit maximization

Without defining the connotation of interests, some economists put forward the ideological slogans of "maximizing interests" or even "maximizing wealth" with interests as the core. Since this kind of "science" lacks academic rigor, it naturally lacks academic dignity and credibility. Some people are keen on the "invisible hand" of Adam Smith, the "father of classical economics", but ignore that he is an ethicist first. During his long academic and teaching career, he talked about justice and ethical values. He constructed a unique theory of justice (see Chapter 8 of this article), and his "invisible hand" depends on the "virtue" that can be seen. From the prisoner's dilemma of game theory, we can also see that the invisible hand that dominates interests can be destroyed by the invisible foot. If everyone only cares about their own interests, it may lead to a total loss of interests. In the contemporary theory of justice, there is also the problem of unclear definition of interests. For example, in the primitive state set by Rawls, the people behind "veil of ignorance" don't know their class, status, talents and purpose in life, and everyone chooses as many "basic interests or benefits" as possible, namely freedom, rights, property, power and self-esteem. That is, the fixed content set by Rawls is the basic interest, which is the basic premise of his theory. Rawls believes that if all contractors are in the original equal position and choose these basic interests, then this choice itself must be the principle of fairness (see Chapter 8 of this article). But the basic interests he set are inconsistent with our above observations, and the contents of these interests he listed may be contradictory. Such as property and freedom. If I am a penniless student who loves art and suddenly accepts a large inheritance, the condition is that I must give up my lifelong interest-art and study law instead. At this time, property and freedom are contradictory, and it is impossible to list property and freedom as basic interests at the same time. And there are also many people who do not choose property and power in experience. For example, the rule of order is to give up property. It is only a secular prejudice to think that "interests" such as money are the interests of all people. Personal interests can only be chosen by yourself, not decided by others. In a well-ordered society, personal interests must conform to the principle of justice and respect the legitimate interests of others, so as to be protected by law and public opinion. There is already a value principle in it.

In human social life, the valuable concept of interest needs to be analyzed concretely: when a person says what his interest is, he is actually making a value choice, not just stating a recognized fact; When people say what is public interest or basic interest, they are actually affirming a value system or a justice system. The benefits that are divorced from the value structure simply do not exist. Anyone who advocates pure interests, uncontroversial interests, unconditional representation of interests, rational self-interest recognized by everyone and abstract maximization of interests has special interests behind them, which requires our vigilance. If you want to understand what my interests are, you must understand what my value choice is and what the justice system I want is. Because, what kind of judicial system, there is what kind of basic interest distribution. With the right of free choice, there is an opportunity to choose personal interests (even the judicial system). The most important thing is the freedom of information and expression, because without these freedoms, I can't tell what my needs are, and I can't communicate with the society and understand what my needs are. What are the benefits to talk about? Therefore, it can be said that the fundamental interests of human beings are freedom, including freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom to choose one's own lifestyle, and the obligation to respect the equal rights of others and social order. Only under the system of pluralistic freedom and basic justice can self-interest be realized. Freedom is the fundamental interest to protect the interests of all individuals and society.

However, even so, interests cannot be equated with value ideals. In the agreed usage, "interest" has the connotation of "currently realized rights and interests". For example, in Webster's dictionary, interest has several basic definitions: the right, ownership or legal share in something refers to legal rights and interests; The state of being concerned or affected. By advantages or well-being, we mean advantages or well-being. From this perspective, benefits do have the meaning of immediate realization or suffering benefits. But it contains some premises, such as: what is interest? What are the necessary conditions for welfare? What are the possible consequences? These are all value choices. So it can be said that interest is a kind of value choice, but it does not mean value choice (not all value choices are interests); Interest does have the meaning of immediate interest, but interest needs to be explained, and this explanation is a value choice; Not all benefits are benefits. These subtle differences can be illustrated by examples. For example, I choose Mozart's music instead of pop songs, which is also a value choice, but it is not a benefit, because it does not involve or affect anyone's interests or rights. However, if I choose to believe in a religion, this religion is now persecuted, which involves serious interests. Similarly, if I like Mozart, but no matter how hard I try, I can't afford to buy a record, and there are many people in society who can enjoy music easily, which involves the issue of interests, because it affects my welfare. However, not all welfare or welfare is welfare. For example, being young, beautiful and smart is also a blessing, but it is not a benefit, because it is born, neither a man-made consequence nor a social right, and there is nothing to fight for. From the analysis here, we get three necessary conditions of interest: first, value choice; Second, benefit from it; Third, social rights. If I need a disease-resistant vaccine to make it my interest, I need: first, I believe in science and accept the vaccine willingly, which is a value choice; Second, it is indeed disease-resistant after injection, which is beneficial; Third, I must be able to enjoy this injection (affordable), which is a social right. If I don't believe in any kind of bird vaccine at all and resolutely refuse to inject it, and the authorities force me to inject it and give me an injection as hard as a kidnapper, although I am really resistant to the disease and I am not infected, it will not be my interest to bring me mental harm and personality insult, because that is not my value choice. (Here you can compare the example of the vaccine in the second paragraph of this article. That example shows that I have believed in science and chose vaccine A. Vaccine B is equal to vaccine A, so it is also my interest. )

In daily life, people's normal reason can understand and judge what their own interests are. Even a child knows who is good to him/her, and an illiterate farmer knows what representatives of public opinion are good to her/him. However, once the essence, premise and consequences of interest are involved, interest is always a negotiable issue. As long as the value choices of human beings are not unified, the interests are ambiguous, and the modern pluralistic society is precisely a system with diversified values. Otherwise, it is not enough to guarantee people's basic right to choose their own way of life. In addition, the understanding of interests not only depends on the value orientation, but also is limited by knowledge and vision. As a person or a society grows through experience and broadens its horizons, its understanding of interests will gradually deepen. The original short-sighted understanding of interests may be replaced by a long-term and profound understanding of interests. For example, at the beginning, I only cared about developing the economy and did not consider destroying the ecology. Later, we learned about ecological protection and sustainable development. Finally, we may understand that primitive harmony is naturally the home of human existence. There is no end to people's understanding, and there is no final answer to people's understanding of their own interests, social interests and human interests, which can be discussed forever. However, we already know that the fundamental interest of mankind is the right to freedom. If you don't have the right to freedom, even the opportunity to express your needs will be deprived. What are the options and interests to talk about? Only under a basic justice system, everyone has the basic freedom of choice and expression, and the reasonable interests that all citizens understand at present can be guaranteed at least.

Interest is a basic category in law. The so-called interests are people's various objective needs for a certain object, which are restricted by objective laws and produced to meet the survival and development. Its original meaning is "interest", which was originally used to express the legitimacy of creditors' interests. Later, interests, as a reflection of the relationship between individuals and society, were used more and more widely. The awakening of interest consciousness and the formation of interest concept are undoubtedly a great progress in the history of human thought.

The word "interest" was first discussed by Guan Zhong in China ancient books in the Spring and Autumn Period. He believes that "the love between husband and mortal, seeing profit and not avoiding it." Since then, Confucianism, France and Taoism have taken the interest issue as an important content of their own research and discussion. In the west, the word "intecest" comes from the Latin word "intecesse", and its original meaning is sandwiched in the middle, and later it is extended to include some unpaid things and paid components in events. The doctrine of protagoras, a wise man in ancient Greece, has obvious utilitarian principles, while Epicurus, a happy school, clearly links justice with interests. Since modern times, western bourgeois thinkers have generally paid full attention to and discussed the issue of interests. However, these thinkers were either dominated by idealistic historical views or hindered by metaphysical methods, and did not reveal the formation and essence of interests. The establishment of dialectical materialism and historical materialism provides correct methods and necessary conditions for scientifically revealing the formation and essence of interests.

The so-called benefit is the need to obtain social content and characteristics on the basis of certain production. It consists of three factors: the psychological basis of interest is human needs. Need is the subjective basis of interest, and interest is the social form of need. In the real world, everyone has many needs, which are infinite and extensive. This determines that the content of interest is also rich and colorful. People's demand and pursuit of material constitutes the basic content of material interests, and the demand and pursuit of spiritual life constitutes the basic content of spiritual interests.

Benefits reflect people's production capacity and production level at a certain stage. Interest is the demand that people try to meet with the help of production. All the needs that can be met without human production or labor, such as sunshine and air, are not the content of material benefits, which exceed the needs of people's actual production capacity and production level and do not constitute the basic content of benefits. Interests reflect the social relations between people in a specific historical stage. Interest is the social transformation that people need, reflecting the relationship between people, and its essence is a specific social relationship. On the other hand, because people have formed certain social relations in order to realize their own needs, the relationship between people is essentially an interest relationship, and social relations are bound to be reflected in various interest relationships. Because of this, there are various interests in human society, such as economic interests, political interests, cultural interests, personal interests, group interests, national interests, class interests, national interests and so on. Social material production is the basis of all other production, so economic relations are also the basis of all other social relations, and economic interests with material interests as the main content have also become the basis of other interests, affecting the formation and development of other interests. In class society, economic interests are first manifested as class interests, and class interests have therefore become the dominant interests that restrict other interests. In socialist society, class relations take a secondary position in social relations, and various relationships among the people become the main body of social relations, in which economic interests continue to play a leading role in a form different from class society.

The expanded benefits can include: food, food, sex and the number of allies in the struggle.