[t0mpr1c3]

I don't think statistics are the issue, or what the exact definition of a communist is. For what it's worth, self-described communists are still in charge in all of the countries I mentioned, with the obvious exception of Soviet Russia.

Let's step back for a moment. I think you should acknowledge that you have constructed a world in your head where communists do battle with capitalists, and capitalists are the good guys.

That idea is outdated and increasingly ridiculous. Clearly it is a narrative that serves the interests of billionaires in West Palm Beach. I don't know that working people buy it. It wasn't communists who put them on a zero hours contract.

[anonymousiam]

I do not see it as a battle or war. I pity the poor subjects of every totalitarian regime, and at the same time I feel blessed to live where I do. No system is perfect, and most of the people of the world live in fear of their government (including many in the USA).

The USA is rich for a reason, and that reason is the freedoms that this system of government allows. The likely outcome of any US shift toward socialism or communism is the destruction of wealth. We are seeing it happen today in places like California and New York City. Both places have recently moved toward socialism and they are now less desirable places to live than they once were. By any index, the quality of live in those places is worse today than it was 10 years ago.

[t0mpr1c3]

The FRED house price index has roughly doubled in both states in the last 10 years, which does not speak to wealth destruction.

As it happens I have visited places where people actually had socialist governments, and freedom was curtailed. East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Belarus, and Vietnam.

I have also lived in West Germany and the UK, countries in which politicians like AOC and Mamdani would be considered mainstream or even centrist. This is entirely compatible with being freedom-loving democracies.

To me New York remains the city of Gordon Gecko. Silicon Valley remains the playground of venture capitalists.

But I respect your belief in whoever informed you that socialists have taken over and that millions of Americans are impoverished and oppressed.

So can you give me $3000? I am helping veterans pay for dog surgery.