What I am interested in learning is how society would operate and function under socialism / communism.
Keep in mind that any hypothetical or actual example of a socialist project or society must account for the fact that it will be built in essentially wartime conditions in direct confrontation with capitalism/imperialism from its very beginnings. Therefore, much of how it functions will inevitably be intertwined with the question of how to defend itself from covert sabotage and overt violent destruction from capitalist/imperialist reaction. We should look at history and at ongoing modern attempts at constructing socialist societies and projects, as well as all projects/societies which confront imperialism, in order to have a more comprehensive view of the actual outcomes and possibilities under various conditions. For these reasons, someone new to socialism generally should also be studying history along with learning theoretical concepts.
I second the recommendations of the Blowback podcast as a way to learn some history about the worldwide confrontation with imperialism. You may also be interested in the videos and articles of Geopolitical Economy Report, he mainly covers current events but he does cover historical events as well. I also recommend ProleWiki, which will give you a fairly standard Marxist-Leninist view on a variety of topics and you can also look at the various cited sources for jumping off points of your own research. You may be interested in the book Socialism With Chinese Characteristics: A Guide for Foreigners by Roland Boer.
Keep in mind that any hypothetical or actual example of a socialist project or society must account for the fact that it will be built in essentially wartime conditions in direct confrontation with capitalism/imperialism from its very beginnings. Therefore, much of how it functions will inevitably be intertwined with the question of how to defend itself from covert sabotage and overt violent destruction from capitalist/imperialist reaction. We should look at history and at ongoing modern attempts at constructing socialist societies and projects, as well as all projects/societies which confront imperialism, in order to have a more comprehensive view of the actual outcomes and possibilities under various conditions. For these reasons, someone new to socialism generally should also be studying history along with learning theoretical concepts.
I second the recommendations of the Blowback podcast as a way to learn some history about the worldwide confrontation with imperialism. You may also be interested in the videos and articles of Geopolitical Economy Report, he mainly covers current events but he does cover historical events as well. I also recommend ProleWiki, which will give you a fairly standard Marxist-Leninist view on a variety of topics and you can also look at the various cited sources for jumping off points of your own research. You may be interested in the book Socialism With Chinese Characteristics: A Guide for Foreigners by Roland Boer.