servo75

It is interesting that you avoided the trap of conflating "communism" with "authoritarianism", and in fact separated the two. You treated communism as an economic system instead of a political system. So, I will point out that communism does indeed work in small communities1, tribal affiliations and clan groups. The problem is that communism does not scale well. As the population in a communal group increases, the need for "administration" raises it's ugly head. Administration implies authority, and authority implies power, and we all know that "Power corrupts". And that is where governments arise which are labeled "communism" but which are simply dictatorial administrators who have enough power to dictate the distribution of wealth. And that dictatorial power structure is called "communism", when it is truly just corrupt authoritarianism. 1. Please note that communism and community have the same roots. Communism reared its ugly head in 1917. And what do you define as "extreme" capitalism? Capitalism at its core is the principle of economic freedom and free trade without government interference. So I say the more the better. The only times the US has suffered economic depression is when capitalism was distorted or subverted. The U.S. is a mixed economy. We are a mostly capitalist system with a social safety net. Scandinavian countries are HEAVILY capitalist with very generous social services (paid for by very high taxes). They are not examples of socialism as idiots like Bernie Sanders would have you believe.

Communism is an evil ideology bred out of envy, feeling that everyone has the right to other people's possessions. I don't know where you live in the world, but it is an ideology completely and absolutely antithetical to the principles of the United States. There was a time during the McCarthy Era when being (properly) labeled as a communist would essentially blackball you from civilized society. We need those days back. It is such an evil and destructive and fundamentally anti-American system, that in my opinion, anyone associated with a communist or socialist party in the U.S. should be forever banned for the remainder of their life from serving in any position of public trust, including but not limited to any elected office at a Federal, State, or Local level, any government agency, or any government supported educational institution including all public schools, colleges, and universities. You mention you're not talking about places like North Korea or the USSR, but I am. Add in Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Venezuela... the fact that those countries end up in brutal dictatorship and are also communist/socialist/Marxist regimes is no coincidence. It is the inevitable result of the belief that people do not have the right to their own property, ideas, and wealth. Is that enough of an answer?