Philosophers point out the deep irony of Solidarity's origins. It was a genuine left-wing, working-class uprising directed against a self-proclaimed 'workers' state.' The strikers did not initially seek to restore capitalism. Instead, they demanded genuine democratic control over their workplaces and lives. It was an attempt to rescue the idea of socialism from the bureaucratic, authoritarian state that had hijacked it, highlighting the eternal tension between state power and human autonomy.