ABSTRACT
I I shall first set out what socialism is and what it hopes to achieve. I shall then weave this account in with a critical examination of James P.Sterba’s Justice for Here and Now. My central effort there will be to show-its genuine insights, generosity of spirit and well-meaning initiatives notwithstanding-what Sterba’s account leaves out in saying what a decent and just world would be and, independently of Sterba, to articulate the conditions necessary for its realization or approximation. I will end by arguing what must be done if we are to have such a world. The prospects for it are pretty dim and seem at least to be growing dimmer. But let us remind ourselves of Antonio Gramsci’s slogan about the pessimism of the intellect and the optimism of the will.
