Cornel West & company explain why they are socialists..

[Starry Messenger]

18. "So our elected officials would set the social agenda, right?"

Not entirely no. They'd voice the viewpoints collected from the organization/district they represent. If you've ever been in a union (a good one, anyway), there is a similar set-up. Goals and needs are discussed and collected, and then representatives can present them in a body in a collective to discuss how to implement them. That's one scenario.

Hopefully we wouldn't need many Halliburtons, but they'd probably run much the way they do now, without the large executive class and (hopefully) Wall Street directing the goals. I don't know why the other people involved in any given organization couldn't stay where they were already working.

There are many public systems in the US that are "in the hands of the people"--they are public. They are run just like companies are, but not private. We already do those things.