And it's not like radicalism staying true to its radicalism has - at least in North America - gotten anyone anything except self-righteous.

This is true.

At the Toronto one, there was a lot of talk about remaking society, songs about revolution, anti-capitalist signage and so on. I don't think it's the message that's unfocused—there's a message, and it's not a bad one, but it's certainly one that could benefit from understanding the successes and failures of previous struggles.