You are taking debate to a high level but most members are only interested in condemning repeatedly in different ways. Yes Plato indeed gave the similar advice as Marx.  Karl Marx wrote Das Capital based on actual observations and data and brought out effectively how people are exploited to their great benefits by capitalists. Implementation was and is wrong by communists and thus they did not succeed.

Plato's theory of communism was flawed and also very limiting because he allowed some ( artisans ) to own property . His thoughts on family and women was definitely unhealthy for society because he felt family and relationships were stronghold of selfishness. No wonder his kind of communism never worked and cannot be considered as an ideology . Plato no doubt made a lot of contribution to the world in the field of philosophy but some of his views were controversial..." Love is a serious mental disease" 

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/political-science/platos-theory-of-communism-including-2-forms-of-communism/40134/

Utopian ideas are for discussion and better understanding. It is well known they cannot be implemented in practice because average humans are indeed selfish. The kibbutz system in Israel did work for sometime however.

vijay wrote:

Utopian ideas are for discussion and better understanding. It is well known they cannot be implemented in practice because average humans are indeed selfish. The kibbutz system in Israel did work for sometime however.

What appears Utopian today may be realized tomorrow. Our aim should be noble and high even if not realizable. If your direction is good, you will definitely accomplish something noble. Success may not be 100% but even if you get 20% success, this is worth. The idea of communism and the efforts of communists have definitely contributed a lot in labor welfare and protection of workers' rights. Today what ever you see in labor legislation and practice- maximum working hours, minimum wages, accommodation facilities, safety provisions, workers' participation in management- have been attained mainly owing to communist thought. There are many politicians and thinkers who are non Marxist but their policies are also influenced by Communism. There are non Marxist socialists as well. Pt Nehru was also influenced by Marxist though but he was not a Communist. But his idea of socialistic pattern of society and five year plans were no doubt attributable to Russian revolution. The social democratic parties in Europe are also an offshoot of communism. They are not Communist but also do not want reckless exploitation of labor. If there were no communist, there would also not be liberal democrats and non Marxist socialists like Nehru and Dr. Lohia. 

Any organisation or ideology is bound to have some pros but in communism it is more cons than pros that led to its downfall worldwide...One can also see how in India's context how our erstwhile leaders like Nehru were perpetually in a confused dream world thereby making a mess of the nation and communalising it because of their failed policies which were neither communistic nor capitalistic nor wholly socialistic !!!

How much venom needs to be  poured  everyday against those whom you do not like. Seems to be now becoming pathogenic.

All the venom proves to be inadequate to throw away  this communal party in to Bay of Bengal.

With the Indian context, Communist party leaders were pulled in different directions because of fractionalism with a section supporting Russian model of Socialism and another supporting Chinese model . This became a major issue during the Indo Chinese war with the section that supported China going to the extent of criticising Indian role and taking sides with India. The problem with Indian communism has been clarity of thought and direction with regard to their country and party, often leading the masses to question their patriotism !

Why flog a dead horse. Communism has failed. It could not rise above human greed which capitalism rewards.

I remember an incident that took place long back which was later discussed by some magazines then. EMS Namboodripad the scion of communism in Kerala also one of the first CM of Kerala , and AK Gopalan another equally famous communist party leader of Kerala attended a party meeting and later had to attend the thread ceremony of his nephew. There are such contradictions because one cannot disassociate the norms and traditions of the society we live in. With all that communism was looked up by the masses during that period because of the commitment show by the then leaders which is definitely not the case now..