Yeah, just like every other communist country. That transitional state is the oppressive dictatorship. The USSR was a transitional socialist state too.

The Cuban government hasn't released any details, but the man has been in declining health for over fifteen years. The press has speculated for a long time that Castro has suffered from diverticulitis, so that's probably the most likely death cause.

You're proving my point. I was arguing against what i perceived to be an utopian interpretation of Marx.

touche good point

It's a meaningless point because no country has ever been able to get past the transitional stage because, duh, dictators don't give up power. In all likelihood there will never be a true communist state because the transitional period is a toilet you can't get out of.

All well and good, but when the real life examples of an ideology are pretty much universal failures at reaching their intended goals then maybe you should rethink your support of that ideology.

That is not at all the point and is a total sidestep.

Because that's how it works in real life. The transitional government that is meant to turn the current state into a communist one ends up going the route of Stalin or Mao or Minh or Castro. Unless they can come up with a workable transitional state then communism will always remain a nice mental exercise and nothing more.

Violent revolutions are retarded in general, communist or otherwise. Having your country be taken over by people who are A.) good at killing ****, and B.) predisposed to being disenfranchised and reacting with extreme solutions, probably is not the best idea in the world.

Marx would've disagreed. From The State and Revolution

"Marx grasped this essence of capitalist democracy splendidly when, in analyzing the experience of the [Paris Commune], he said that the oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament!"
A major role of the state is to defend the interests of the capitalists. The state isn't anti-capitalist in itself.
What about the Paris Commune, run by the workers?