That's an incredibly complex question, and if you aren't well-versed in economics, politics, sociology, etc then I promise you, you aren't going to be able to walk away satisfied from a Lemmy conversation. The best answer is that the USSR came with a ton of good, and a lot of difficulty in being the first Socialist state, including a great deal of bad, unfortunately. Additionally, there aren't really any states currently in the same conditions and predicaments with the same limited access to modern technology as 1917 Russia, so we can't make a 1 to 1 comparison even if we tried. The USSR was planned almost entirely by hand using good old pen and paper for its entire existence, and never fully embraced computers, which contributed to struggles as the economy got more complex, as an example.

I recommend you check out my reading list, and read the two books in section 1. Well, the essay and the book in section 1. Principles of Communism is very short and can help with terminology, and Blackshirts and Reds is a historical analysis of both fascism and Communism as they have existed, and their adversarial relationship.

Alternatively, I recommend the "Yellow Parenti" lecture in section 1 from the same author as Blackshirts, though I won't stop you from reading and listening to all 3. I invite you to read them with a critical eye and question whatever seems off.

I apologize if this is unsatisfactory for you, but analyzing AES properly takes a great deal of myth dispelling and contextualization in a world dominated by the US, which has material interests in slandering AES states at every single opportunity. That does not mean AES states are perfect, but that they are real, and come with real problems and real victories.

Hope that answers your question in a semi-satisfactory way, at least! You can also ask questions in the linked thread, which would selfishly be beneficial because common questions can be answered in one space that I plan on linking whenever it's relevant, and having readers capable of seeing questions answered in the comments I think would be a good thing for my list 😉

I really did put a lot of thought and effort into picking works that answer questions just like yours right off the bat, this is like iteration 5 or 6 of the same initial list, finally ready for release after a lot of feedback from comrades around the world, designed to be accessible as possible with the inclusion of audiobooks for every work (except 1 for now) and a focus on intersectionality, decolonialism, LGBTQ+ rights, history, and more.

You'll find that some of your questions are likely already answered there (among the jokes and jests from fellow comrades).