These interests of the workers, as the exploited and oppressed

The fiery revolutionary and advocate for justice, Clara Zetkin, gave us these searing words: “These interests of the workers, as the exploited and oppressed, class of society, are the same in all countries.” In this single sentence, she revealed a truth that transcends borders, languages, and governments: that the struggles of the poor, the laborers, the ones whose sweat oils the engines of society, are bound together by a common chain of suffering and by a shared hope for liberation.

To be a worker in Zetkin’s time was to stand at the bottom of the social order, to toil long hours for little pay, and to see the fruits of one’s labor consumed by others. Yet she reminds us that this oppression was not unique to Germany, nor to Europe—it was a universal condition. Whether in the mills of Manchester, the factories of Chicago, or the rice fields of Asia, the oppressed class of society bore the same burdens: poverty, injustice, and exploitation. Thus, their interests—the desire for dignity, for fair wages, for the right to live as human beings and not as beasts—were united beyond all borders.

History testifies to this truth. Consider the story of the Haymarket Affair of 1886 in Chicago, where workers protested for the eight-hour workday. Though American in place, the spirit of the struggle was the same as in Europe, where workers fought against sixteen-hour days in unsafe conditions. When the protest turned violent, the authorities crushed the workers with brutal force, but their cry for justice rang around the world. Zetkin’s words echo here: though continents apart, the workers’ interests were identical, for their suffering was born of the same chains of exploitation.

Zetkin herself was a pioneer of International Women’s Day, calling upon women workers from all nations to unite. She saw clearly that a seamstress in Paris, a factory girl in Moscow, and a weaver in India were sisters in struggle. Their voices, though separated by distance, spoke the same plea for freedom from oppression. She understood that the divisions of nation and tongue were but walls erected by those in power; beneath them, the workers shared one heart, one hope, one destiny.

The meaning of her words is both revolutionary and eternal: the struggles of the oppressed are not isolated but collective. The interests of the workers are not German interests, or French interests, or American interests—they are human interests. The desire for justice, for bread, for dignity, is not bound by nation, but by the common condition of humanity. When the workers realize this unity, they awaken to their true strength, for what tyrant can stand against the will of the many joined together?

The lesson for us is profound: do not look at the oppressed of other nations as strangers, for their plight is your own in another form. Stand in solidarity, knowing that injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere. Remember that the systems of exploitation may wear different masks in different lands, but their essence is the same. Unity among the oppressed is the seed of liberation, and division among them is the weapon of their masters.

Practical wisdom follows: honor the dignity of labor in your own life. Do not despise the worker, the poor, the unseen ones, for their labor sustains the world. Support fair treatment, fair wages, and just conditions wherever you can. Lend your voice not only to your own community, but to those beyond your borders, knowing that their interests and yours are bound together in the great fabric of humanity.

So let Clara Zetkin’s words echo through the ages: “The interests of the workers… are the same in all countries.” Let them awaken in you a spirit of unity and compassion. For though nations may differ, though banners may change, the cry of the oppressed is one voice. And when that voice rises together, it becomes a force mighty enough to bend the arc of history toward justice.