A RealClearPolitics opinion piece published July 16, titled "Communism Hasn't Been Done Right. (Yeah, That's It)," revisits debates over the theoretical versus practical implementation of communist economic systems.
The article argues that previous attempts at implementing communist principles failed to achieve their stated goals due to various factors including authoritarian governance structures and economic mismanagement rather than flaws in the underlying ideology itself.
This framing positions the piece within a broader tradition of political theory discussions about whether certain ideologies can be successfully realized under different conditions or with reformed approaches.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative commentators have widely mocked the "real communism hasn't been tried" argument, characterizing it as a thought-terminating cliché that shields ideological commitments from empirical critique.
Republican legislators have used similar arguments to oppose expansion of government programs, warning that incremental moves toward greater state control historically lead to expanded government reach.
Many conservative intellectuals argue that human nature itself—individual ambition, creativity, and self-interest—makes centrally planned economies inherently unstable and prone to authoritarianism as a corrective mechanism for economic failures.
The piece has been cited by some on the right as evidence of ongoing ideological ambitions among progressive politicians, framing policy debates over healthcare, education, and wealth redistribution as steps toward broader transformation of the American economic system.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive commentators and Democratic Socialists have largely rejected this framing, arguing that historical communist states consistently demonstrated that the concentration of economic power in state hands leads to authoritarianism regardless of initial intentions.
Senator Bernie Sanders has long argued for democratic socialist policies while explicitly distinguishing them from Soviet-style communism, stating that he believes in democracy as an essential component of any equitable economic system.
Critics on the left note that the "it wasn't real communism" argument has been used repeatedly throughout history and ignores substantial evidence that concentrated state control over production leads to poor outcomes for ordinary citizens regardless of theoretical intentions.
Progressive economists have pointed to Scandinavian democratic socialist models as examples of successful wealth redistribution achieved through democratic means rather than authoritarian state control.
What the Numbers Show
According to data from the World Bank and IMF, countries that have implemented centrally planned economic systems have historically underperformed market economies on metrics including GDP per capita, life expectancy, infant mortality, and personal freedoms.
The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom consistently shows negative correlations between state control over economic activity and overall prosperity measures.
Stanford economist John B. Taylor's research on economic growth patterns demonstrates that countries with stronger property rights protections and less government intervention in markets tend to experience higher long-term growth rates.
Data from the Soviet Union's seven decades of existence shows living standards that never approached those of Western market democracies, despite initial rapid industrialization driven by forced extraction of agricultural surplus.
The Bottom Line
The RealClearPolitics opinion piece represents a particular perspective within ongoing debates about economic organization and the role of government in society.
Whether framed as "real communism" or democratic socialism, policy proposals inevitably engage with questions about the appropriate balance between state action and individual liberty that have defined American political discourse since the nation's founding.
Voters will ultimately decide these questions through elections, with the 2026 midterms approaching and economic anxiety remaining high among many Americans.