I post this every few years because people have a short memory and generally refuse to learn from history.

The Plymouth colony was originally set up to be a Christian commune. This was not some random weird choice on their part, but was based on their reading of the Bible and Plato, both of which suggested that communism was a good and proper system to live under. As governor Bradford related in “Of Plimoth Plantation:” (also available on Project Gutenberg)

1. The adventurers & planters doe agree, that every person

that goeth being aged 16. years & upward, be rated at 10li.,

and ten pounds to be accounted a single share.

2. That he that goeth in person, and furnisheth him selfe

out with 10li. either in money or other provissions, be accounted

as haveing 20li. in stock, and in ye devission shall receive a

double share.

3. The persons transported & ye adventurers shall continue

their joynt stock & partnership togeather, ye space of 7. years,

(excepte some unexpected impedimente doe cause ye whole

company to agree otherwise,) during which time, all profits &

benifits that are gott by trade, traffick, trucking, working, fish-

ing, or any other means of any person or persons, remaine still

in ye comone stock untill ye division.

4. That at their coming ther, they chose out such a number

of fitt persons, as may furnish their ships and boats for fishing

upon ye sea; imploying the rest in their severall faculties upon

ye land; as building houses, tilling, and planting ye ground,

& makeing shuch comodities as shall be most use full for ye

collonie.

5. That at ye end of ye 7. years, ye capitall & profits, viz.

the houses, lands, goods and chatles, be equally devided be-

twixte ye adventurers, and planters; wch done, every man

shall be free from other of them of any debt or detrimente

concerning this adventure.

[29] 6. Whosoever cometh to ye colonie herafter, or putteth

any into ye stock, shall at the ende of ye 7. years be alowed

proportionably to ye time of his so doing.

7. He that shall carie his wife & children, or servants, shall

be alowed for everie person now aged 16. years & upward, a

single share in ye devision, or if he provid them necessaries,

a duble share, or if they be between 10. year old and 16., then

2. of them to be reconed for a person, both in trasportation

and devision.

8. That such children as now goe, & are under ye age of

ten years, have noe other shar in ye devi~ion, but 50. acers of

unmanured land.

9. That such persons as die before ye 7. years be expired,

their executors to have their parte or shaff at ye devision, pro-

portionably to ye time of their life in ye collonie.

10. That all such persons as are of this collonie, are to have

their meate, drink, apparell, and all provissions out of ye comon

stock & goods of ye said collonie.

In short, the land was to be worked communally, and the produce distributed equally. Two centuries before Marx, this was a perfectly valid description of “communism.”

How’d it turn out? Well… in 1623, Bradford wrote this:

The experience that was had in this comone course

and condition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst

godly and sober men, may well evince the vanitie of

that conceite of Platos & other ancients, applauded

by some of later times; that ye taking away of

propertie, and bringing in comunitie into a comone

wealth, would make them happy and florishing; as if

they were wiser then God. For this comunitie (so

farr as it was) was found to breed much confusion &

discontent, and retard much imploymet that would

have been to their beneflte and comforte. For ye

yong-men that were most able and fitte for labour &

service did repine that they should spend their time

& streingth to worke for other mens wives and chil-

dren, with out any recompence. The strong, or man

of parts, had no more in devission of victails & cloaths,

then he that was weake and not able to doe a quarter

ye other could; this was thought injuestice. The aged

and graver men to be ranked and [97] equalised in

labours, and victails, cloaths, &c., with ye meaner &

yonger sorte, thought it some indignite & disrespect

unto them. And for mens wives to be commanded to

doe servise for other men, as dresing their meate, wash-

ing their cloaths, &c., they deemd it a kind of slaverie,

neither could many husbands well brooke it. Upon ye

poynte all being to have alike, and all to doe alike,

they thought them selves in ye like condition, and one

as good as another; and so, if it did not cut of those

relations that God hath set amongest men, yet it did

at least much diminish and take of ye mutuall respects

that should be preserved amongst them. And would

have bene worse if they had been men of another

condition. Let none objecte this is men’s corruption,

and nothing to ye course it selfe. I answer, seeing all

men have this corruption in them, God in his wis-

dome saw another course fiter for them.

In the end, it was found that communism bred not plenty, but famine. If you get your share whether you bust your ass in the fields, or just laze about all day, pretty soon people are going to realize that they are being played for chumps if they actually go and bust their asses in the fields all day. And the result of that will be a massive drop in productivity; and in a razors-edge colony on the far end of the map, this is a recipe for disaster.

As a result, the colony rethought its communist ideology:

All this whille no supply was heard of, neither knew

they when they might expecte any. So they begane

to thinke how they might raise as much corne as they

could, and obtaine a beter crope then they had done,

that they might not still thus languish in miserie. At

length, after much debate of things, the Govr (with

ye advise of ye cheefest amongest them) gave way that

they should set corne every man for his owne per-

ticuler, and in that regard trust to them selves; in all

other things to goe on in ye generall way as before.

And so assigned to every family a parcell of land,

according to the proportion of their number for that

end, only for present use (but made no devission for

inheritance), and ranged all boys & youth under some

familie. This had very good success; for it made all

hands very industrious, so as much more corne was

planted then other waise would have bene by any

means ye Govr or any other could use, and saved him

a great deall of trouble, and gave farr better contente.

The women now wente willingly into ye feild, and

tooke their litle-ons with them to set corne, which

before would aledg weaknes, and inabilitie; whom to

have compelled would have bene thought great tiranie

and oppression.

The result here was that going from collectivism to private ownership resulted in a massive increase in productivity and the end of the famine. With the assistance of the Indians in matters agricultural, the colony went from a dying group of starving commies, to a prosperous group of feasting private property owners. If you’re of a mind to believe in God, then the deliverance from Communism is certainly something to be thankful for. The Pilgrims lucked out… a more typical story would have the totalitarian government maintaining the communist ideology until complete disaster struck. But the colony was too thinly populated for a Pilgrim-KGB to maintain order through force.