You are right about leftists. I read they have a special term now "European socialism' meaning they are going to wait for parliamentary change, t.e they want to be elected and they promise to people something they cannot delivery, which is just demagogy.

But as far as communism, we never had communism yet. The USSR as well as all socialist countries in Europe had the first stage: socialism. Socialism is a transition stage when there is still government and money but the difference is the ruling class is working people and later the bourgeois form of government and money are supposed to be naturally eliminated.