Socialism Informs the Best of Our Politics - Michael Harrington

American democratic socialist, writer, political activist, and political theorist Michael Harrington (1928 - 1989) speaking in Boston in 1977. 

“... Is social­ism rel­e­vant to the late 20th and 21st cen­turies? And if so what does one mean by ​‘social­ism’? In any case, why iden­ti­fy as a social­ist in the Unit­ed States where the very word invites mis­un­der­stand­ing, at best, and a fran­tic, igno­rant rejec­tion at worst? Final­ly, giv­en all of these prob­lems why build a social­ist orga­ni­za­tion in this country? First, the social­ist cri­tique of pow­er under both cap­i­tal­ism and Com­mu­nism is not only sub­stan­tial in and of itself; it also makes a sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tion to the cause of incre­men­tal reform as well as to a rad­i­cal restruc­tur­ing of society. ...”

In These Times

2016 May: The Other America  (1962)