People discrediting socialism by bringing up the USSR should reconsider. Socialism is the proletariat owning/controlling the means of production and "state socialism" is the complete opposite of that...it was controlled by an appointed State apparatus, one which received benefits and privileges that weren't readily available to the working man. Some socialists even go as far to say that the USSR was state capitalist, but I personally think that's not the case. Workers had some control via workers' councils. Socialism isn't about a rise in living standards, it's about a society democratically run by the people who live in it, worker control, etc. As far as I'm concerned, that wasn't the case with the USSR.