This is the earliest theory if the make up how it came about in a complete form only after these ideas was borrowed. This is however was how things where in communities in older regions in areas. This very far before the actual communist theory was formulated. You also have religious orders that had communions that lived largely in a sharing community of this nature. This was also borrowed from as well as the concepts of the greater good.
The issue is this concept I believe was never formulated to be in a functioning way for a large areas. This may work for religious devotees in a smaller area or like orders or even an area small but it would not work with larger areas I believe. This is where a free market capitalism is best I feel. That is just my perspective is all it had self imposed checks and balances from the market. It is how a larger and wide market will stay healthy in these ways. Only in modern government of some regulation and free market capitalism I feel that a society can reach its full potential is all.
This is due to handy capping the market so to speak and making it artificially weak in areas not growing to be resistant to market conditions enough.