We’ve never seen communism work; but does that mean it could not work in the future?
In the very early Church Christians shared everything in common (See Acts 2:42-47). There was no buying and selling within the Christian community. And if a serious offence was committed, the elders did not enforce any punishment apart from excommunication. So the excommunicated person was completely free to start their own business or work for anyone who would employ them outside the Christian community. (Chuck Edwards explains how Christians could be excommunicated in the following lecture. A Postmodern Bible Study)
Now that sounds great. But what the early Christians were practicing was not communism (see “Christianity and Privilege” in Rodney Stark’s The Triumph of Christianity). Under communism, the state controls the means of production, the price and quantity of all goods, when and where everyone works and lives, as well as enforcing laws and punishments.
George Reisman claims such a system is completely unworkable.
"Socialism, understood as an economic system based on government ownership of the means of production , positively requires a totalitarian dictatorship." (Taken from the lecture below by George Reisman.)
That’s a very broad claim. Perhaps we can imagine a situation where government ownership of the means of production could work to such a degree that most people were happy to live under communist rule.
Let’s suppose 50% of a country were devout Christians who regularly put the needs of others before their own. And let’s suppose that the most benevolent of all of them was made the leader of that country where all the citizens willingly chose to live under communism (so freedom of speech and freedom of religion were allowed).
Would it work?
It would not work because of the problems associated with price controls. In the Soviet Union a central body determined the prices of over 20 million products. This inevitably led to over pricing or under pricing. This led to incredible waste (far greater than anything we see in capitalist societies today.) If prices were too high people did not buy those products and they rotted in the warehouses. When prices were too low people bought more than they needed which led to shortages. Over pricing and shortages led to a very large black market, corrupt officials, and severe punishments. (For examples of the massive waste in Soviet Russia see Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell.)
If a benevolent leader was not prepared to become a totalitarian dictator in the newly established communist state, the country would be on the verge of collapse within 10 years. If the leader did become a dictator enforcing cruel punishments for small crimes (such as making and selling a pair of shoes) it would ensure that the state remained a communist one; but the vast majority of people would be very unhappy (you'd be unhappy too if you had to regularly wait in massive queues for basic items).
But what if everyone in the communist state were committed Christians? Would it work then?
No it would not.
As long as there was any form of buying and selling it could not possibly work. And as long as there was any form of punishment apart from expelling a person from the country, it would not work. (Even if it was a one world government where everyone were Christians, it would not work; this, as already mentioned, is because of the associated problems with price controls.)
Now you still may have some unanswered questions as to why communism can never work. If so I highly recommend the interview "What Makes A Marxist? | Dr. Paul Kengor," reading The Government Against the Economy, and listening to Reisman's lecture below. For a communist state to function for lengthy periods of time it must be totalitarian by nature.
The Government Against the Economy
George Reisman on why communism positively requires a totalitarian dictatorship