Communism is the dream of a good society, one that is based on kindness, cooperation, sharing, and love; one in which none go hungry, and none grow rich off the labor of others 1/x

As Marx and Engels remind us, because all existing history is the history of class struggle and exploitation, such a society has never before existed. This begs the question, how do we get to this society? How do we even approach it?

Comrades, there has been a lot of good thinking about this in the Marxian tradition, and the general consensus is that no society can simply drop its regime of exploitation and survive as a nation. Not in a world dominated by capitalist imperialism

So what then does a country do? How do you keep power, economically develop a country, reduce poverty, increase the economic status of the most vulnerable (each of which is difficult enough on its own) -- & most daunting, produce a society the likes of which has never been seen?

Now, there are some differences of opinion here, to be sure, but the basic idea is that there must be a transitionary period, where economic structures are changed, yes, but many other things need to change as well socially and culturally, before a society is ready for communism

This transitionary state has been called the dictatorship of the proletariat, and it has also simply been called socialism

The transitionary state is the best anyone has done anywhere, but is it the grand ultimate final goal of Marxism? I don't think you will find a serious Marxist anywhere who would claim so

Now some say that we should reserve the term 'socialism' for when a society has achieved a classlessness, statelessness, abolition of exploitation, abolition of the value form, etc. This would represent a break with the existing literature, and what end would it serve?

We would then require another term for the transitionary state which would allow us to attain socialism. I personally do not see the gain in that

Perhaps I am a traditionalist, but I am comfortable with the idea that communism is the grand dream, and socialism (or if you like, the dictatorship of the proletariat) is the vehicle which we take to get there

Will there be difficulties, will there be complexities along the way? Will one's revolutionary principles be tested? Will there be compromises? Absolutely

But that is the reality of trying to do something new. Should we abandon the effort, and accept that class exploitation is our future, as well as our present and our past?

You tell me

Stalin's address to the 17th congress is worth reading in its entirety, but here are some relevant quotes
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1934/01/26.htm