>>510373720 (OP)It's largely misunderstood.
Critics of socialism have convinced the masses that socialism is a prescriptive position instead of a descriptive one. They try to convince people that being a socialist means supporting government solutions to every problem when that could not be further from the truth.
The truth is that the issues which face society are complex and require nuanced solutions drawing from a number of approaches, some of which are going to be state-based and some of which require the continuation of the market and private ownership of production.
What the socialist realizes is the nature of the society we find ourselves in. It is owned by wealthy individuals who operate both it as well as the economy in their favor. What the socialist desires is a system and economy which operates in favor of the common people. Sometimes that necessitates direct control by a government that is controlled by the people and which works in their favor. In other instances, it means allowing private businesses to fill the gap, regulated in such a manner where the monied class cannot claw back control over society.
Ideally, it is driven by the working classes. Not by elites acting in their name, but directly by representatives chosen by those working classes.
It's not a perfect system because it's not a system to begin with but rather a question of who governs society itself. And yes, implementations have always been flawed. But the socialist will point out that the wealthy class operates in *exactly* the same way when it has power, the primary difference being that it does so to its own benefit at the expense of the lower classes.