What I want to learn

Although, I may know a lot about Capitalism and Communism, there are still things I'd like to learn. A main point that I do not know is, why do some people believe that Soviet Russia is not a true communist state, while others believe it is?. The United States do have some laws that regulate corporations, but they are not enforced, does that make the US capitalist? The Soviet Union, never released there employment records so no one truly knows if they had more jobs during the Cold War then the US, so how can we tell who lost the Cold War? Another major thing I do not know is, do the people of communist states approve of there government? I would also like to learn who controlled the hearts and minds of their people more, capitalist countries or communist ones? Some of the communist countries may have been successful if not invaded by the US, do you think its fair for the US to simply say they would have failed anyway?