If socialism is so good, then why don't socialists CLEARLY explain how a socialist society would function?

[Joe Cree]

try learning something about the world outside your borders

Canada is a socialist society that not merely functions, it outdoes the US in terms of life expectancy, crime rate, education and even the value of our dollar

[IrateWatcher382]

Socialism has been used as a blanket term for a wide range of ideologies. The one idea that unifies them is the use of the collective power of the people (the government) to address economic inequality and pursue objectives aligned with the ideals of social justice.

I disagree with your assertion that social democracy is not socialism. Socialism doesn't mean putting an end to free enterprise. As a socialist there are plenty of things that I believe the market can do better than the government. Social democracy shares the same goals as other socialist systems but it is more open to the means by which they are achieved. The main difference is that it favors democratic reform over revolution.

I think MLK jr said it best when he referred to a "person-oriented society"

"We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."
— Martin Luther King Jr.

[Ravenwolf_mn]

socialism has its origins in the French Revolution of 1789 and the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas The appearance of the term "socialism" is variously attributed to Pierre Leroux in 1834, or to Marie Roch Louis Reybaud in France, or else in England to Robert Owen, who is considered the father of the cooperative movement. Socialism has worked well all over the world, including Milwaukee Wisconsin from1892 to 1960. Socialism is an economic system based upon production for use and the direct allocation of economic inputs to satisfy economic demands and human needs (use value); accounting is based on physical quantities of resources, some physical magnitude, or a direct measure of labor-time. Goods and services for consumption are distributed through markets, and distribution of income is based on the principle of individual merit/individual contribute.As a form of social organization, socialism is based on co-operative social relations and self-management; relatively equal power-relations and the reduction or elimination of hierarchy in the management of economic and political affairs.The ownership of the means of production can be based on direct ownership by the users of the productive property through worker cooperative; or commonly owned by all of society with management and control delegated to those who operate/use the means of production; or public ownership by a state apparatus. Public ownership may refer to the creation of state-owned enterprises, nationalization or municipalisation. The fundamental feature of a socialist economy is that publicly owned, worker-run institutions produce goods and services in at least the commanding heights of the economy. Management and control over the activities of enterprises is based on self-management and self-governance, with equal power-relations in the workplace to maximize occupational autonomy. A socialist form of organization would eliminate controlling hierarchies so that only a hierarchy based on technical knowledge in the workplace remains. Every member would have decision-making power in the firm and would be able to participate in establishing its overall policy objectives. The policies/goals would be carried out by the technical specialists that form the coordinating hierarchy of the firm, who would establish plans or directives for the work community to accomplish these goals. Under socialism NO ONE is a "slave" to the government. Also National Socialism in NOT socialism, it's FASCISM, and Socialism is NOT synonymous with Communism. You need to learn before you criticize