Communism

At the end of WW2 there were 50 communist countries and communism was on the rise around the world. Khrushchev said in 1956 referring to the United States, we will bury you. Today Khrushchev's son is now an American citizen living in Connecticut and there are only five countries left under communism. Most countries in the western hemisphere have economic systems that are part capitalism and communism. First a definition. Under socialism the people own the means of production and under communism the government owns the means. Today in the United States we are almost exclusively a free market capitalist country. The VA and Medicaid are run by the government and thus represent communism in America but Medicaid is partly paid for by local government so it is not a true form of communism. Medicare is administered by government but people paid into this program and services are provided by private companies. Social security is run by the government but beneficiaries paid into this program so it is more like insurance. Other western countries are similar to the United States but have more government programs most notably national health care. North Korea comes as close to communism as any country were private property ownership is forbidden but even there some exceptions occur.