Trump is much more of a Communist than any leftist politician...

[markodochartaigh]

6. I think that the corruption is usually by outside forces

I don't think that the egalitarian socialist economic system has ever been fully realized. Certainly in a country like Western European states where capitalism competes with socialism it would be difficult for the entrenched capitalist powers to be completely overturned in favor of the less wealthy socialist powers in a country. In the formerly communist Eastern European countries certainly the corrupt authoritarian power structure was not optimal for the realization of the egalitarian socialist economic system. But that was because of the authoritarianism, not the socialism. It is much same in the US today. The social safety nets are stripped to provide tax cuts and other benefits for our oiligarchs. And state assets such as NASA, federal lands, anything of value will be sold off to oiligarchs for pennies on the dollar. But that is because of authoritarianism, capitalism simply makes the privatization of the commons more efficient.