Communism is a political structure whereby one party rules a country. Socialism is an economic system by which the government owns the means of production and determines how goods and services are distributed. I think I have those definitions correct. Socialism leads to communism at some level, because it is impossible to have a "state" controlling the distribution of good and services and changing political power on a regular basis.

Modern socialism is defined as an economic system which blends socialism with capitalism through a combination of taxes, entitlements, and regulations, which California does more than most states. Very few "pure" socialist countries can survive for long before the implode, so capitalism is tolerated but only to a point.

We are not quite a communist state in California (but we are getting there), since it is still possible no matter how unlikely for Republicans to become a viable competing party at the state government level.