ABSTRACT
The last dilemma is however closer than the other two to the practical task of achieving socialism; it is located, so to speak, right on the bridge connecting the utopia of today with the reality of tomorrow. The vexing dilemma which each and every socialist utopia-inaction is bound to face is this: socialism means a radical departure from present conditions, but it can be accomplished only if a proper account is taken of these conditions. Moreover, it must be set in motion by factors which have already been gestated and developed within these conditions. The socialist project is therefore caught between a suicidal adventurism on one side and a no less suicidal compromise with ‘realism’ on the other. The fact is that a well-established social structure does not, on the whole, facilitate major revolutionary departures from the existing order; it has, by and large, an in-built mechanism of selfperpetuation.
