Favoring fundamental change in society. Traditionally radicalism has been identified with the left, but radicals can be on the right too. Often in twenty-first century America, both left and right regard each other as radical. People on the right, for example, tend to see President Obama as a radical ???socialist??? who wants to increase the role of government in people???s lives, while those on the left see the conservative agenda as a radical attempt to reshape society and undo the entitlement programs people have come to rely on. Radicalism has a long history in Europe from the eighteenth century on; in America it was advocated by Tom Paine.