Totally. That is why I don't consider "communists" to be Marxist. That is why I give pushback on people suggesting that USSR, China, and the rest are "Marxist." in common parlance, the term "Marxist" is just another way of saying "I haven't ready anything by or about Marx, but I don't like authoritarians."

Dude isn't an easy read, so I get not wanting to take the time. but it is frustrating that a good theory has become a straw-boogyman. I'm with the constitutional peasants. do you know of an Anarcho-syndicalist commune I could join?

Yeah, the USSR got rid of the actual Marxists pretty quickly once the "communist party" got power. Authoritarianism is the antithesis of everything Marx wrote about.

is funny/sad how many people think that because nations label themselves "communist" they are practicing Marxism. But nobody considers North Korea a "democratic republic" even though they call themselves the DPRK.

Most folks who cry about "Marxism" haven't actually read any Marx, or communist literature. they just react to the ghost stories told to them by their parents, preachers, and favorite pundits.