Anyone know where in the world this idea ever worked?
This idea has been in existence long before the birth of Christ.
One of Plato’s most famous works is called The Republic, wherein he puts forth his political philosophy.
Plato did not believe in rugged individualism. He felt that everyone needed to be part of the state and a contributing member of the state. He felt that citizens were cells within a body politic, and that the jobs and responsibilities that people held were to be determined by the state. Plato conveniently assigns classes, or more accurately castes, within which citizens will be organized. Given his chosen profession, it is not a surprise that Plato made the Philosopher class the highest on his societal totem pole. The Philosopher class will rule the state, the Warrior class will protect the state, and the Producer class will serve the state with goods and services and skills.
Plato would also have children taken away from their parents and raised in state-run foster homes supervised by the Philosopher class. He believed that the state could do a better job raising (and indoctrinating) children than could their own parents. He also believed in no private property. This applied only to the Philosopher and Warrior classes. The Producer class, the manual laborers and the workers, could keep their kids and their meager possessions, because they did not really matter in any area other than what they could contribute.
Oh, yes, Plato not only believed in community property, but also the communal sharing of wives! Plato’s “ideal” hardly sounds ideal to modern ears, yet nevertheless he remains one of the three great sages of antiquity. And just as Socrates mentored Plato, Plato in turned mentored Aristotle.