The reason that socialist governments have so much appeal there is that centuries of authoritarian rule by right-wing oligarchies simply have done nothing to help the bulk of the people. Most people there don't know what socialism is and don't care. All they know is that the governments they have and that we tend to support are intolerable. They are ready to try anything.

The oligarchies stay in power by providing relative freedom and prosperity to a small middle class that they rely on to administer these regimes and manage their economies. Fascism is the dictatorship of the middle class.

Marxist governments wind up with wealth and freedom for an even smaller upper class, and bare maintenance for everyone else, if that. While I don't support thugocracies any more than I do communism, the former have generally had higher overall standards of living than the latter, assuming that's the criteria of measurement.

The key statement is "most people don't know what socialism is, and don't care." This is what I would like to see changed. The historical and philosophical education in this area, even in our own country, is abysmal, and more people are likely to come out of a college in the U.S. (never mind Europe or elsewhere) thinking collectivism is a great idea, rather than the other way around.