Socialism

I find more value in identifying specific policies that I support rather than looking to strictly define a specific term. When a conservative shouts about something being socialist and a chud asks you to define socialism (even in sincerity) there's a trap deployed. Socialism, communism, anarchism, Marxism, Democratic socialism, Social Democracy, etc are such misused and coopted terms that it will be much easier to inform people of general leftist principals than define strict differences.

I want people to be paid according to what they produce. If I make a bag in one hour and get paid $20 an hour with the bag selling for $120, is that fair?

I want people to have access to health care. If a child gets a treatable disease should society care for them regardless of how much their parents make?

I want people to have access to food and shelter. Should someone be allowed to own multiple houses that sit empty when there is anyone sleeping under a bridge or should markets be allowed to discard excess food in locked dumpsters and trespass people who try to get in the dumpster when there are still people who don't get to eat every day?

I want clean water. Should factories be able to dump their refuse in our waterways?

I want clean air and reliable energy. Should electrical distribution be limited to generation from burning by corporations whose profit comes from inadequate maintenance schedules?

I want an educated populous, a free internet, locally sourced food, bathrooms in public parks, a sky and ocean and world free from advertisements, a store walking distance from my house, safety standards for road designs that promote slower speeds and protected bicycle infrastructure, access to gender affirming care, the ability to love who one wants among consenting adults, safe work spaces, equal say in rule or representation, an end to war, the ability to follow any or no religion so long as it doesn't affect another, the right to not be recorded, the ability to scrub my identity from data sets, infrastructure that is maintained, autonomy and relative safety in drug use, autonomy of self even to the extent of self-exclusive harm, among many other things.

There's not a uniform politic that encompasses all that, but a lot of people will agree with a lot of that even if they're not socialist, communist, anarchist, etc. If socialism is left at something like "the masses control industry and government" you're gonna lose a lot of people who for whatever reason just want to be told what to do. If you instead redirect inquiry to whatever good thing socialism can do for your interlocutor you will actually educate them.

I think you could easily ask the person something like "do you want the simple answer or the nuanced and more accurate answer?" Or start with the simple answer and give her the opportunity to ask for more. The more info you get about why he wants to know more about socialism, the better you can tailor your answer to how it will best resonate.

I focus on market socialism: Socialism is when the people who actually do the work of producing things own and control the tools (factories, equipment, etc.) that they use to be productive. Some socialists have theorized that the best way to get there is to have all the workers own all the means of production through the intermediary of a highly democratic state centrally-planning production, but that's just one extreme. Socialism as a base concept is perfectly consistent with privately-owned businesses in a market economy, granted those businesses are entirely owned by the workers.

I find that people generally find central planning scary, but find co-ops very attractive. Meet the people where they are, and focus on how they could have a greater say in how their workplace operates, and take home more money for the same work.