Today we will continue our series on socialism. What is socialism and how it has evolved as a concept, a doctrine, and a guide to action over a longer historical period.

We need a new system. We need a new society. We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago,

but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. We are excited to have Professor Richard Wolfe join us again for our regular weekly segment

where we talk about the biggest stories related to the economy, the state of the working

class and the crimes of big business.

I'm your host, Brian Becker.

The Socialist Program brings you content several days a week.

Thanks to the support of our patrons at patreon.com forward slash the socialist program.

We appreciate all of your support and encourage you to become a patron today if you enjoy listening to this show.

Richard Wolfe is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. He's the author of many books,

including Understanding Capitalism, which is available at Democracy at Work. He's the author of many books, including Understanding Capitalism,

which is available at Democracy at Work.Info, Professor Wolf, welcome back.

Thank you, Brian. Glad to be here. Well, Richard, we're getting a lot of positive response.

People are listening to our series on socialism. Socialism was a taboo starting in the United States, especially after

World War II at the beginning of the witch hunt, the Cold War. That began to end lift really

significantly in 2016 with the Bernie Sanders campaign, but people are really looking for a

definition of socialism, a label for socialism.

And as you have talked about, there's more than one.

I want to talk today about the different historical phases of socialist development, at least

in the contemporary era.

I mean, Carl Kowdzky in his book, The Foundations of Christianity, tried to apply a

historical materialist method to the rise of Christianity rather than like the source of divinity

...