the dankness if you read the whole wiki story on socialism u know that its filth,,,,dony just put the line that concurs with wat u say put the whole article up and this thread will be done,,,,because it will answer your question in its entirety,,,the one line i put up on response #4 answers your question
If for once we put down the bong long enough to turn a page and closed our youtube tabs, maybe we would be exercising more critical thought regarding this whole socialism thing.
It is not controversial to say that Russian "Communism" was tyrannical, oppressive, and essentially state-capitalist. State run Capitalism is still Capitalism and if you haven't been paying attention, Capitalism fucking sucks. This is not to say that competition sucks - it doesn't always suck. I am also not saying that market economies have no place on Earth. But Capitalism, a system of domination, coercion, and exploitation, has no place on Earth.
Socialism is just a container for a bunch of different economic and political systems whose aims are usually justice for the oppressed and the environment. There are many, many different types and some of them have enjoyed amazing popularity and success.
As an anarchist I oppose authority which I feel causes domination, coercion, and exploitation. These behavior patterns I feel are responsible for much of the world's grief.
Anarchism is a collection of principles and the sum of theoretical discourse on liberty and cooperation. There are many many strains of anarchism and they can all be read about at Wikipedia pretty much.
Communism was not the cure, but Capitalism is still the disease.
I do not trust market economics and I think their complexity is largely unnecessary for a fairly sophisticated civilization to exist.
I favor anarcho-syndicalism, cooperatives, communes, mutual-aid associations, collectives, anarcho-communism, participatory economics, participatory democracy, gift economies (permaculture blitz parties and the Open Source Software movement), DIY sustainable cottage industry, but I wouldn't decline to join an anarcho-mutualist bank. Anarcho-mutualism is a form of anarchism that still has competition, market economics and of course a currency. I highly encourage people who call themselves Libertarians to check out anarcho-mutualism.
You can learn a lot by reading the Anarchist FAQ at
http://www.infoshop.org/faq/index.html
It contains sharp criticisms of authoritarian marxist-leninism and also "free market" capitalism.
During the Spanish civil war, there were three anarchist economies operating simultaneously and they all were interwoven. I believe diversity is desirable and I believe it requires liberty - liberty to mutate current ideas into something new, liberty to participate in the ones we want to, and liberty to explore all available options as long as they do not violate consent, coerce, dominate, or exploit anyone.
Of note regarding anarcho-syndicalism is the abolition of unemployment.
Here are some links to more information:
http://www.zabalaza.net/zababooks/dl_analysis&critiques01.htm
http://www.zabalaza.net/zababooks/dl_organisation01.htm
http://www.zabalaza.net/zababooks/dl_economics01.htm
http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/posters/remprob_e.pdf
http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/posters/poster_workers_councils.pdf
http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/posters/poster_bosses_world_or_anok_world.pdf
Here's a cool article from a great anarchist magazine:
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22021
It starts out, "Inspired by the participatory planning model outlined in Parecon, this essay intends to suggest a tentative initial proposal concerning the creation of an internet portal website for producers and consumers to come together and engage in a variety of services including trade that will be used as a medium to strengthen the alternative workplace movement, the long term objective being to remove the dependency on the market and guide us along the path toward a participatory economy."
P.S. - participatory ecnomics == parecon
From Canada to Mexico, intentional communities run by consensus decision making with organic sustainable gardens, permaculture and urban foraging interest groups, and documentary presentation groups and student movements, and radical democracy union movements are all on the rise on this continent.
I think this is the way to go and I think everyone should check it out for themselves, consider it carefully, and research it as much as you would anything else, or more so!