In this paper, the author examines the sometimes explicit and, more often, implicit system of values and interests that have been part of the profession from its origin and that, by virtue of the relationships it has established with the power elites it serves, underlie the dominant paradigms of professional interpreting, its teaching, research, and deontology. The author focuses mainly on the area known as conference interpreting, in which he has been working as a teacher and as a professional. He presents a general critique of these paradigms and proposes an alternative for each case, within a value system premised on the search for solidarity and social justice and geared towards a vision of the interpreting profession that can be more useful to societies and to society at large.