When we talk about solidarity and charity, we tend to use the two words interchangeably, meaning the act of giving something to someone in need. In reality, the two words have two distinct meanings; while they certainly share common ground, they are not identical.
Let’s start with the dictionary:
Charity: financial assistance provided to people in need.
Solidarity: a spontaneous or agreed-upon attitude reflecting a substantial convergence or shared identity of interests, ideas, and feelings.
In fact, charity is the concrete act of giving money from one person to another in need of help. Solidarity, on the other hand, is the instinct for cooperation that drives people to help one another, thereby creating the community—the strength of the human race. In fact, this sense of solidarity began to develop as early as the first hominids, enabling humanity to survive over the millennia.
In this historical period, however, the spirit of solidarity is slowly fading under the onslaught of individualism, a trend further fueled by modern technology, which increasingly allows people to avoid collaborating with others. The further we move into the future, the more a person can remain isolated from others while still supporting themselves without difficulty.
A result of this dissociation is the behavioral disorder known as hikikomori, from the Japanese term meaning “to stay on the sidelines,” which refers to people who choose to withdraw from social life for extended periods (ranging from six months to several years), confining themselves to their homes or even their bedrooms, without any direct contact with the outside world. In Japan, there are an estimated 500,000 cases, while in Italy, where the phenomenon has emerged more recently, there are an estimated 100,000 cases.
In a world where we increasingly rely less on the cooperation of others and where knowledge is just a click away, the sense of solidarity that drives people to build communities and form networks is in danger of fading away. That is why it is important to return to working together, reaping mutual benefits and fostering social growth.
Therefore, before charity can exist, we must return to an attitude of solidarity among different people and communities, from which the act of giving can then emerge as the culmination and highest expression of the human spirit.
Article by Andrea Mariani