The fact that Gorbachev, who was basically a self avowed socdem, was able to become fucking General Secretary tells you all you need to know

yep yep yep. It was a slow process of rot followed by sudden collapse. Had the structures of state been sturdier and not rotten away with liberalism the situation would have been different. The "hardliners" at least had some communist cadres they could call on and some military officers who were still true believers. But who the fuck was going to help Gorbachev? George HW Bush? The EU? he purged everyone who actually cared about the Soviet Union's continued existence and replaced them with western educated liberals who wanted to line their own pockets