Plutocracy with Polls

Real Democracy might only be achieved with lotteries, as the Athenians did it.

That might lead to better communism too.

What we have in USA is a Plutocracy with Polls.  Rule by the moneyed elite is given a popular gloss.  The moneyed elite virtually control which candidates are available and which are selected, largely through media which is how most people learn about everything.  They control what the issues are, and which topics are avoided.  The moneyed elite and their supposedly private media work alongside state institutions, shaped by and for their behalf, such as law enforcement and Intelligence Services, which all work to maintain the status quo, with them on top.

The current system, in all its many manifestation (including education, work, and religion) reinforce the "There is no Alternative" mindset.

That is a key impediment.  It's ridiculous to call for 'Revolution!' when minds have been shaped to be so conservative, so opposed to the principles of Communism, so determined to be manipulated and exploited by the moneyed elite if perhaps slightly different ways than at present.

That means the key revolutionary task at this time is Education.  The time is ripe for it too.