Perhaps the universal appeal of Marxism is that it (at least in theory) doesn't exempt any economic class from its control, and because the dictatorship (at least in theory) is in the hands of the proletariat, not the bourgeosie or the aristocracy. People who are actually subjected to Marxism soon become disenchanted with it, as the residents of Cuba and Eastern Europe will heartily agree. But those residents of the third world who have only experienced their local version of capitalism are obviously ready to try any alternative to it.

As for the appeal for the intelligentsia and the leisured classes of the West to Marxism, I can only testify to my own observations and thought. Capitalism is a system full of contradictions and ripe for potential abuse, and it has been this way throughout history. The appeal of Marxism to those who should know better comes from those wise enough to know this, but foolish enough to not realize that opposites are not necessarily different.

Capitalism works for us because we've tamed it with democracy. We've harnessed its dynamism and freedom and efficiency with compassion and restraint and control. The social welfare and regulation conservatives so object to is precisely what has made capitalism work so well for us. America has always been the leader in the world for government policies designed to exploit the virtues of capitalism while minimizing its abuses, ever since the days of Teddy Roosevelt and Upton Sinclair. This is what the American experience was during the late 19th and early 20th century, the humanization of capital. American liberal social and welfare and regulatory policies allowed capitalism to survive into the 21st century. Without them, the western world today would be either Fascist or Communist. Or both.

And another thing, there is competition in every maketplace, especially the marketplace of ideas. Without the competitor of Communism, capitalism has been busily and callously trying to establish a monopoly on social organization. Since the end of the Cold War, capitalism has made no effort to compete, and like any business would under those conditions, it's gotten lazy and greedy. The nostalgia we see for socialism in the third world now is because of that. It's that simple.