Although this might seem strange to many, Communism (as an way to organize the economy) did work, to a point, in the Soviet Union. Everyone had efficient health care. Everyone had holidays, culture was easily accessible, nobody was hungry. (I am talking about the later Soviet Union, say of the 70's). They were very close to the US in technology. That is to say, the poorer people in the Western world were much poorer, much less educated, and had to work quite more. People did not work as hard as in the United States, but simply because they did not necessarily felt the need to have three cars for each household.
What did not work, and badly so, was the freedom of speech. Too many people ended in the Goulag. (but the number of people to be found there did not exceed the number of people to be found in America's jails). Making good art was often frowned upon, and of course, criticising the system was forbidden. These are the cause of the ultimate downfall of the USSR. Not its economy. Nationalists from every Republic claimed independence, and got it.
What I say about the Soviet Union has been told to me by people who visited the country, or lived there. I am not making stuff up