All of the leftists I have known have been living very troubled lives because they make terrible choices.
Socialism works on the short term every place it it is attempted, for one reason and one reason only _ the government gets to keep all the guns, and those who resist are eventually executed, in ever-increasing numbers.
Eventually, the population gets tired of the one-sided deal they have been given, and armed with weapons other than guns, they seize control of the government again, hanging the former despots from nearby lampposts.
Witness Italian despot Mussolini or Romanian despot Ceausescu.