Cuba is probably the best example. Despite decades under illegal embargo and starting off with extreme poverty and inequality, the material condition of the people has drastically improved. The people actually own most of the means of production and distribution through a different and more direct form of democracy.
Beyond that, Cuba is the only environmentally sustainable country and exports medical care to the rest of the world.
I am sorry, but Cuba is not democracy. It is "Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic" (see Wikipedia) which in practical terms means no free speech, no political parties (except ruling communist), state controlled media, internet, surveillance of communication and political prisoners.
That is indeed what the US state and media keep saying about socialist. Consider that perhaps US capitalists have a vested interest to smear any group that opposes capitalism.
That is indeed a fact what socialism under communist party rule is. Those who have never lived under such regimes have not a slightest idea what they are talking about. This is extremely sad that our memory is so short lived and only 30 years after collapse of Soviet Union there are so many people in west thinking that the socialism as designed by soviet communists was something which should be admired now. Or, well, some think that the Soviet interpretation was bit bad, and with a little modern tweaking, it can be made right. Rest assured, that is totally false. The regime is not a cent better than fascist regime, just copy/paste few terms and names.
There are millions of people from nations between Germany and Russia which have spent 50+ years under communist regime, and you can ask them if they ever wanted to return to those times. I don't think you will find many. I am pretty sure same applies to Cuba or Venezuela, as their regimes are built around same Marxism-Leninism ideology.
This idea that socialism is anything at all like fascism is disgustingly chauvinistic. It is based on the notion that only the West could possibly have freedom and anything different elsewhere must clearly be evil. Don’t fall for the propaganda.
I have talked to hundreds of people that lived in socialist countries. There are several surveys of Eastern Europeans on the subject. The vast majority of people (the workers) that experience socialism want it.
I am Eastern European and I actually lived under Soviet socialism when I was an adult already so I experienced it first hand. The number of people died in Gulag in our country was way higher than the number of people died in fascist concentration camps.
Obviously our world views are oceans apart, sorry to learn that.
> The number of people died in Gulag in our country was way higher than the number of people died in fascist concentration camps
Yet when the USSR was overthrown, there were barely any political prisoners to be found.
Your claim has no proof to back it up, unless you mean "The Gulag Archipelago" by Solzhenitsyn. That is widely known by historians to be unreliable fiction.
Beyond that, Cuba is the only environmentally sustainable country and exports medical care to the rest of the world.