"Everything authoritarian communists want to achieve that isn't already done can be achieved within the oppressive legal & regulatory structures already built."

Things can still get a lot worse... I'm just saying we are much farther along the path to communism than most people would believe. The govt has unilaterally fired people & shut down businesses. The govt has violated property rights in so many ways that all supposed limits appear to be gone.

Communists are never actually happy with the results their policies produce. Happiness is never actually the goal, their motivation is almost always just to tear down anyone who is happy or successful, or who simply has more than them, until the only people who have more are govt authorities they fear.