What would it take to go from reforms within the capitalist system to a democratic socialist society?

The following is adapted from a talk given at Jacobin’s fifteenth anniversary conference, “Socialism in Our Time,” held on September 13, 2025, in New York City. Donate here or become a lifetime subscriber to support the next fifteen years of Jacobin.

Many of us on the Left today joined because we were inspired and got organized on the basis of Bernie Sanders’s program for a “political revolution.” The essence of that program is by now very familiar, and it is the de facto program of the democratic socialist left today. It includes Medicare for All, a Green New Deal to address the climate catastrophe, new labor laws to enable a surge in union density, and more. Not only is it the de facto

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