Can't really say that I've met anybody who lived under full-on Communist rule

No nation ever achieves economic purity, be it communism, capitalism, fascism or socialism. Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky, Mao, and Castro distorted their 'communism' for their own ends. The U.S. maintains an enormous welfare commitment in the form of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and public education.
Yes: economies are not a zero sum game. But ameliorating hunger, homelessness, sickness and ignorance for all members of society is the responsibility of a national economy of any stripe. Denying that societal responsibility does not qualify someone as a 'free market conservative'; it identifies him as an immoral parasite.