If collectivism failed only once, we might blame the circumstances. If it failed twice, we might blame the leaders. But it has failed 122 times over four hundred years.
It failed at Plymouth Colony, when the Pilgrims tried common ownership and nearly starved — until they switched to private property and thrived.
It failed at New Harmony, Indiana, when Robert Owen's utopian commune collapsed within two years.
It failed in the Soviet Union, which declared victory for 74 years while producing poverty, terror, and collapse.
It failed in Maoist China, where the Great Leap Forward killed tens of millions.
It failed in Cambodia, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela.
It fails everywhere it is tried. Every time. Without exception.
If 122 experiments produce the same result, the result is not an accident. It is a law.
Those who propose the 123rd experiment are not optimists. They are either ignorant of history or they believe they are smarter than everyone who came before. Neither is a good foundation for policy.
A Note on the Number
This number is drawn from my research across four centuries of collectivist implementations — from Plymouth Colony (1620) through Venezuela's ongoing collapse. The count includes national systems, regional experiments, and intentional communities — every attempt to organize society on collectivist principles, each producing the same outcome. The full documentation appears in Freedom Manifesto and in my ongoing work.
A Note on Collectivist Defenses
"But what about China? What about Soviet achievements in space and military?"
These are the questions defenders of collectivism always raise. I have heard them many times.
I have answers — detailed, documented, and drawn from lived experience and careful analysis — why concentrated resources in the military and space do not prove systemic success. Why post-Mao China is not the counterexample it appears to be. Why apparent achievements mask deeper failures.
The answers exist. You will find them in my books. They are waiting for you.