The debate on what’s “authoritarianism” and what’s truly “democratic” is irrelevant.
People on this sub have frequent arguments about authoritarianism. And what it really is. neoliberals/libertarians would argue that government overreach and taxation and wealth redistribution are all “authoritarian”. Socialists would argue that wage slavery and a lack of democratic ownership of property is “authoritarian”.
The idea of “democracy” is also something that both systems struggle with. In liberal countries rich oligarchs who own companies and land often control the outcomes of elections, and the people they elect do undemocratic things, like get involved in illegal wars or use violent suppression of dissent. In socialist countries similar things happen where elections are usually a lot more limited and elected leaders do undemocratic things like punish dissenters or violently shift production.
Ultimately neither system is really democratic. And both are authoritarian. People should stop arguing about that and instead focus on why they support capitalism or socialism and explain how their own experiences have lead them to supporting which ever.
Also yes decentralized forms of socialism exist but those would cause extremely negative effects for humanity. Like mass loss of scientific knowledge, more war, and ultimate degradation of quality of life. Decentralized capitalism is also terrible and leads to slave societies.