subjective because our senses will interpret reality differently from everyone else. As a
result, one of the ways humans are self-interested is because the only way they can
interpret the world is a consequence of how it affects them. Additionally, in the state
of nature, with the absence of any authority, humans become self-interested because it
is the only means of self-preservation they have. Hobbes argues that without a
sovereign “whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is
enemy to every man, the same is consequent to the time wherein men live without
other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them
withal” (Hobbes, 1996, p.186). Self -interest becomes competitive because the
insecurity brought about by the state of nature forces individuals to compete with one
another to protect their self-interest.
Like his conception of human nature, Marx’s ideas surrounding the purpose of an
authoritarian government are positive too. His envision of the Proletarian Dictatorship
was to ultimately free the proletariat from the oppressive nature of capitalist
production. Within a capitalist society, there are many antagonisms at play due to the
different interests surrounding the means of production. Because individuals have
“diffe rent social relations in production, different economic interests prevail, and
different economic interests demand different political interests. If the interests of
some are to prevail, the interests of others must be suppressed. This “ requires
coercion, and coercion requires a state” (Henry, 2008, p.16 -17). The state then
becomes a tool of suppression that can be used in “class -divided societies to maintain
the stability of property relations” (Marquit, 2005, p.551). A Proletarian Dictatorship
is then required to be able to suppress the bourgeoise and prevent them from regaining
power. As Len in argues, “What class must the proletariat suppress? Naturally, only the
exploiting class, i.e., the bourgeoisie. The labouring people need a state only to
suppress the resistance of the exploiters, and only the proletariat is in a position to
direct this suppression” (Lenin, 1992, p.23). Marx’s purpose for a Proletarian
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