The nature of the Soviet Union and Maoist China

I was posting here and someone mentioned the expansion of the Soviet Union as a flaw of communism. I decided to post a thread on the matter.<br><br>I think it's important to establish the nature of the Soviet Union and Maoist China as they are often mentioned in this sub, as they are often considered the only instances of the implementation of communism. **I'm not an expert but I've read enough.**<br><br><br>1. Soviet Union<br><br>The Soviet Union, a country that was praised by Marx, was never a communist nor socialist society. In fact, Marx was quite critical of it as well as Lenin. Russia never underwent a capitalist revolution like the United Kingdom, nor were they an industrialized nation. Russia was industrializing at a very slow pace. Marx specified that the working class should have a majority. The working class in Russia was a minority with the majority being peasants, farmers, and laborers who were often exploited. However, that did not stop Marx and Lenin from wanting to bring about a revolution. The Russian Revolution was successful as a result of workers and laborers rising up against the corrupt government. Lenin saw that Russia was unable to undergo a communist revolution immediately. He saw that Russia needed an intermediate phase between capitalism and communism. That was called socialism. He saw the need for industrialization in order to create a working class. Lenin specified the need for imperialism and expansion. This was where his the faults of Lenin come into play. Lenin praised colonialism as he saw it as a way to exploit other countries in order to industrialize. Lenin was also quite critical of the structure of the government. He wanted to disband it. Unfortunately, he died before he could do anything about it. Stalin took control and established a capitalist system masked as communism. Stalin was a nationalist, who killed anyone who disagreed with him. In fact, China's political system, was also similar to the Soviet Union's - both were capitalist systems masked as communist. In fact, China's political system is still capitalist today with a few socialist policies. They have a stock market and corporations. They also have billionaires. China is not socialist or communist and never has been. In fact, people often criticize China and the Soviet Union for their lack of democracy. In fact, both China and the Soviet Union's systems were inherently capitalist and authoritarian. Communism is a system of the people and for the people. It is not a dictatorship. In fact, people often criticized Marx and Lenin for being tyrannical. They were not. They were both democrats who believed in the people's right to vote. In fact, Lenin was anxious when he was in control of the government. He knew the only way to prevent a capitalist system from getting back into power and to make sure the government was truly a democracy, was to disband the government. Communism is not authoritarian where one person has complete control. Communism is a democracy.<br><br>I apologize if you may have found this post long-winded or confusing. I'm not a great writer. However, I hope this gave a good view of the nature of communism. I also hope this clears up the idea that communism is authoritarian.<br><br>**Sources:**<br><br>* Lenin. State and Revolution<br><br>P.S. I'm not a Marxist nor a communist.<br><br>EDIT: Some of my points are not clear, as I'm still learning. Please correct me if I'm wrong.<br><br>EDIT 2: Reposted.