Well first of all I can list a million reasons why they aren't socialists

And just because they call themselves socialist doesn't make them socialist

They even adhere to principles of marxism-leninism, and their policies are socialist policies.

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-there-is-no-communism-in-russia

Marxism Leninism isn't socialism

There ya go

It's not merely marxism-leninism, they're officially a socialist party.

By name

Exclusively by name

By practice they're nothing but corrupt oligarchs

I can agree with that, but I think all socialist governments are like that.

Socialism is democratic, socialism is communal, socialism is not a dictatorial government doing whatever they want with the economy

Well yeah because every socialist government based itself on Russia's model

With one exception that I know of which is revolutionary Catalonia

But that was overrun by fascists in the Spanish civil war so

I agree with that but so what's your idea of socialism and having a socialist government?

I, along with anyone who's not some sort of Stalin apologist, would probably support a purely democratic government and an economy that is truly owned and operated by the workers

And how would it be owned and operated by workers?

Well one was is Syndicalism, it's like a republic flipped upside down

Representatives don't represent, they take orders

Way is*

And your business or whatever you call it would operate itself, send a representative to a local trade union, which would coordinate the economy on a local level, which would then send a representative to the syndicate to organize the economy on an even larger scale, which would then send a representative to the Bourse du Travail which consists of syndicates working together on the basis of mutual consent

So your union would represent something like a small town, your Syndicate would operate something like a state, and the bourse du travail would operate the nation, only instead of the national level having the final say/authority it's the people

Something like this

Alright, but who can start a business and hire employees?

You can come together as a group to form a business-like entity

But undemocratic private ownership is precisely what this system seeks to abolish

And replace

So one person can't own a business alone, or run it as he wants.

if you own it alone, you would have no one working for you

^ Why?

Well if it works out how Catalonia did, no one would be willing to work for you

Why wouldn't anyone be willing to work for me?

Because why would you work under the economic equivalent of a dictatorship when there's a shiny new democracy across the street

Not only would you then have a say in the business your income and possibly your life depends on, but you'd also be able to directly advocate for workers rights and your needs as workers

Just look at how effective things like unions are at advancing worker rights and pay

Unions are a modern failure now that businesses can afford to send workers to technical schools and butt unions workers out of the loop. They only get government contracts now and usually only state or federal projects.

Or at least that's my observation from the side of metal working and electrical unions.