Ask /r/socialism Anything

With our relative influx of new users, many of which don't (in particular) know much about socialism, socialist traditions, or this sub specifically, we've decided to open up a thread specifically for getting answers to questions which you haven't seen answered elsewhere, or are just curious about. Feel free to ask the sub any questions you might have, big or small.

As a reminder, r/socialism_101, r/communism101, and r/Anarchy101 all exist for asking basic questions, as do debate subs like r/DebateCommunism. Those are all also fantastic places to go to get your questions answered, and, because this thread is not permanent, are likely to be better resources to consult in the future.

To start us off, here is a frequently-asked question and the answer the sub has developed for it:

What is socialism?

Socialism as a political system is defined by democratic and social control of the means of production by the workers for the good of the community rather than capitalist profit, based fundamentally on the abolition of private property relations.

Socialism is also a sociopolitical movement dedicated to the critique and dismantling of exploitative structures, including economic, gendered, ethnic oppression.

Socialism, as a movement, confronts these different systems of oppression as mutually conditioning, intersectional, and/or dialectically related within the current hegemonic order. It seeks to overcome oppression in a holistic manner without neglecting any particular axis so that it might be eliminated and genuine social emancipation may be realized. We recognize that Socialism cannot be achieved while structural oppression continues and workers are divided.

There are no stupid questions in this thread, but if you are judged to be taking part simply to antagonize our members, your content may be removed.