In a broken world, systems of power create violence. The solidarity of the oppressed is not just a slogan. It is a lifeline. It is a political strategy. It is a moral need. When suffering people see their shared wounds, solidarity begins. They also see their shared strength. This solidarity is both resistance and rebuilding. It is a conscious connection across different struggles. It is not based on being the same. It is based on a shared recognition of injustice. It is also based on the shared will to overcome it.


To be oppressed is to be alone. Oppression grows by dividing people. It tells the worker that the indigenous person is a rival. It tells the ethnic minority that the student protester is a troublemaker. It tells the poor person that their poverty is their own fault. The system stays in control this way. It makes sure the pain of one group does not connect to another. Solidarity breaks that isolation. It is a refusal to be turned against each other.


Solidarity does not need identical experiences. It does not demand that we all suffer the same. It needs an ethical promise. We must promise to support the freedom and dignity of others. This is true even when their situation is different from ours. A factory worker in Yangon may not know a farmer's daily life in Kachin State. But they can see something important. The same system of exploitation crushes them both. This understanding creates a "Political Friendship." Each struggle supports another. This forms a network of care, protection, and shared learning.


But solidarity built on rigid identities is weak. If we join only because we are in the same group, we can become closed. We can become suspicious of differences. We can become defensive about purity. True solidarity must be based on critical thinking. We must understand our identities. These are class, ethnicity, gender, and religion. They are tools made by history and strategy. We use them to fight. But they should not become walls that divide us. This is Strategic Essentialism. We unite under one banner to fight a common oppressor. But we stay open to others who carry different banners.


This solidarity is not about claiming to be victims. It is about seeing a key fact. All forms of oppression are held up by hierarchical power. Freedom in one area is connected to freedom in others. A democracy movement that ignores ethnic rights will fail. It will just replace one tyrant with a majority tyrant. A fight for economic justice that ignores gender is not complete. We are woven together in one fabric of destiny. A tear in one part will unravel the whole.


For a critical thinker, power must always be watched. This includes power inside the resistance itself. Solidarity does not mean blind loyalty to a leader or a party. It means loyalty to the principles of dignity and justice. It grows when it builds participation. It does not grow from worship. It requires us to hold each other responsible. We must ask difficult questions. We must make sure the new world we build does not copy the old hierarchies.


But strategic unity is very important. The oppressed must sometimes speak with one voice. They need to negotiate and demand rights. We must face power with coordinated strength. This coordination does not erase our unique stories. It harmonizes them. We may row different boats, but we are in the same stormy river.


Solidarity is held together by relationships, not just ideas. Trust is built through shared risks and mutual support. It needs a willingness to learn from each other's mistakes. It is made in quiet moments, like sharing food. It is made in brave moments, like standing together on a picket line. It is also made by listening to stories that are not our own. It defies the "divide and rule" method. This method has kept tyrants in power for centuries.


In a world that often rewards cruelty, we must hold onto a moral truth. No one is free until all are free. This is not just a beautiful idea. It is a real fact. Oppression in one place makes oppression stronger everywhere. The long-term survival of any struggle needs solidarity. We must build a culture of solidarity across borders, identities, and generations.


This is the solidarity that builds movements. It rebuilds broken societies. It creates the chance for new ways of living. It is not charity. It is not pity. It is mutual duty and mutual liberation. It is the understanding that my humanity is connected to yours. We can only be human together.