[jennyp]

I think communism fails because it is an inherently unstable monoculture. All it takes is for one evil person to take advantage of the system.

Your article mentioned that the communes split up after they reach 150 people. There's a lot of research that shows that the average person can keep track of relationships with at most 150 people. Above that size, an organization becomes too bureaucratic, and too many of the interactions become arms-length & impersonal, which erodes the constant, personal sense of being accountable for your actions. This is why large-scale communism can never work. IMO.

[Dan Evans]

Yes, I assumed they split up (they call it "branching") was because the land couldn't support more than 150 people. But maybe what they do is buy land that can support 150 people because they know that they can't manage more than that many.