Capitalist ideologues often speak of the “national interest” as though society is a single, harmonious community bound together by shared goals. Whether it is in discussions of foreign policy, economic “recovery,” or internal security, ruling elites insist that workers and capitalists alike must sacrifice for the common good of the nation. This appeal to a singular “national interest” is not a reflection of reality however, but an ideological weapon designed to obscure class domination and to uphold capitalist rule.
Class, Not Nation, Defines Interests
Under capitalism, society is fundamentally divided into antagonistic classes: the capitalists, who own the means of production, and the proletariat, who must sell their labour power to survive. These classes do not share the same interests. The capitalists seek to maximize profit, exploit labour, and expand their dominance at home and abroad. The proletariat seeks to reduce exploitation, defend its living standards, and ultimately abolish class society.
When politicians, business leaders, and the press invoke the “national interest,” they erase this antagonism. They pretend that the interests of a billionaire factory owner and the factory’s workers are identical, that the well-being of a banker in the City of London or on Wall Street is bound up with that of a precariously employed gig worker. In reality, the wealth of one rests on the exploitation of the other.
“National Interest” in Practice: Sacrifices for Whose Benefit?
The usefulness of the “national interest” becomes clearest in moments of crisis:
In times of war, workers are told to fight and die for “their” nation, while wars themselves are waged for markets, colonies, and spheres of influence benefiting the capitalist class. The First World War was hailed by every imperialist state as a matter of “national defence,” but in truth it was a slaughter for redividing the world among capitalist powers.
When recessions hit, workers are told they must accept austerity, wage freezes, or layoffs in the “national interest” of saving the economy. What is really being saved are the profits of banks and corporations. Workers’ sacrifices rarely see a return on investment. Living standards remain depressed while capital starts growing again.
Large, disruptive strikes are denounced as “against the national interest.” But this simply means they threaten the profits of the capitalist class. The bourgeoisie conflates its own ability to exploit without disruption with the health of the “nation.”
In each case, the “national interest” means the interest of the ruling class dressed up as universal.
Dividing the Working Class
The concept also plays a divisive role. By appealing to a supposed national unity, workers are encouraged to see their foreign counterparts not as fellow exploited people but as rivals or enemies. The ruling capitalist class whips up chauvinism and nationalism, convincing workers to rally behind their exploiters in defence of “their” nation against others. This is a direct barrier to the unity of workers across borders against their common oppressors.
A Proletarian Conception of Interest
Marxists reject the myth of a singular “national interest.” Instead, we speak of class interests. The capitalist class has its interest: preserving private property, the exploitation of labour and resources, and imperialist domination. The proletariat has its interest: seizing control of society so that it can build a system that serves the working and marginalized masses, and ultimately eliminates exploitation altogether. While the capitalist class cloaks its interest in the language of the “nation,” the proletariat can only triumph by tearing away this mask and asserting its own class perspective.
This does not mean workers reject the nation outright. Under socialism, national liberation struggles and socialist states have advanced the interests of working people precisely because they broke the hold of imperialist capital. But this is fundamentally different from the capitalist myth of a “common” national interest under capitalism.
Conclusion
As long as capitalism endures, the phrase “national interest” will serve as a rhetorical club wielded against the working class. It justifies war, austerity, and repression by pretending that all members of society share a single interest. But this is only the ideological disguise of capitalist rule.
The task of the working class is to reject this false unity, to recognise its distinct class interests, and to forge international solidarity. Only then can society move beyond a system where the wealth of a few rests on the suffering of the many, and toward a socialist future where the real, collective interest of humanity can be realised.
