I think generally horseshoe theory is silly, but there is too much authoritarianism that leads into missing the point of your goals, it's why I can't stand any version of ML but Cuba, as generally they do have elections and people there are vocally active and they LGBT rights, (while making the best out of their little resources!!!) while China on the other hand has given up on communism and became a capitalist country basically, Russia literally is a "liberal (formerly) 'democracy,'" North Korea is a fiefdom owned by a guy obsessed about power and Macs, and other such failures. I think any ML that wants to be taken seriously and not be seen as a drooling bootlicker of the USSR needs to at least accept that the system they push can fail easily in its goals due to its authoritarianism.