Everybody always says "communism is a great idea but doesn't work in practice". I am not a communist (in the normal Marxist/Leninist tradition), but my feeling

Everybody always says "communism is a great idea but doesn't work in practice". I am not a communist (in the normal Marxist/Leninist tradition), but my feeling has always been that what I've been presented with as Democracy doesn't really function as such. At the same time, when I complain I keep getting told that "it's an imperfect system but it's what we have". I suspect that would be the same answer I'd get if we had a king. And FWIW, it's really what we are seeing now that the executive branch of the US gov has unified around Trump/Musk. So it actually doesn't seem to be a big difference from where I am sitting. Any time I have interacted with about anyone with any amount of power, I have very much felt like I was beholden to their whims- I get that I am not -supposed- to feel that way, so I don't expect validation for my feelings. I am just reporting an alternative view of the situation. I do believe in democracy, but the kind of thing in Ursula Le Guin's fictional worlds. I believe that kind of consensus is what guides the better small groups I've interacted with, country dance bands, families, small programming companies, etc.