I accept that correction. I was speaking loosely and do really hate the idea of blaming the victims of either communism or colonialism for what they suffered under.

The more rigorously stated point is that communist central planning artificially depressed what should have been most of the global economy. That made oil artificially cheap in the west. That led many American cities to grow in an environment of limited fuel constraints. The result is that American cities are distorted towards car use from what would have happened without communism in the East and South.