[_heimdall]

Interesting, that's a good rabbit hole for me to go down.

Unpopular opinion, but much of the west is at least partially communist these days. We may not have a communist political structure that looks like a 20th century dictatorship claiming communism but we do have plenty of state-run programs that fit really well under a banner of communism (or socialism, or Marxism if the term communism is too loaded).

[piva00]

What Western country has collective ownership of the means of production?

[_heimdall]

There's a question of degree for sure. Though for one example, the US heavily subsidies certain corners of the farming industry. The industry also has a heavy hand in lobbying and buying politicians so its somewhat up to opinion on which came first and whether it looks more communist or more fascist.

Boeing is another good example in my opinion. Again they aren't technically owned by the state, but the connection between the two is undeniable.

Utility companies in the US are also functionally owned by the state.

My point was never that most western countries are communist. I tried to be really clear in my GP comment that I was talking specifically about state programs that have many characteristics that overlap with communism.

edit to add the obvious one I missed: healthcare. Depending on the country, either the government took over the healthcare industry, the industry captured government regulation, or you have the worst of both worlds in the US where we somehow saw both sides take part in capturing parts of the other (and really ruining the whole system).

[piva00]

Subsidies have nothing to do with collective ownership of the means of production by workers, those are orthogonal. The state owning a few enterprises also isn't a markedly characteristic of communism.

I expanded more on my other reply so I will diverge us to discuss there, I think you misunderstand the terms you are using.

[tharmas]

The roads system. I'd say that works fairly well.

[_heimdall]

That depends greatly on where you are. The US is a very mixed bag, especially when you consider the state of many of our bridges and overpasses.

Even at the state level, Louisiana is an interesting case. They're better now, but for quite a few years their roads went to shit because they refused to increase the legal drinking age and the federal government pulled funding.