Okay, so we’ve all heard the quote “communism works in theory, not in practice.” But why doesn’t it work in practice? Using Russia's past as an example, here are eight of the main reasons why communism doesn't work.

1. You can't leave

In the USSR people weren’t allowed to leave the country. If someone left, the government would interrogate their whole family. If they returned, the person was jailed indefinitely. Yikes.

2. Western products and ideas aren't allowed

Anything considered ‘western’ was illegal. This included books, music and movies. People would smuggle these into the country. This smuggling, of course, was highly illegal. Fahrenheit 451, anyone?

3. Sharing is caring

Private property didn't exist. Any land was everyone’s land. For example, if someone owned a farm, everyone owned that farm. Whatever was grown on that farm was taken and redistributed ‘equally.’

4. Nobody gets rich

Nobody could get rich. Everyone had to work pretty much the same jobs and earned the same amount of money. Pretty fair, right? At least until someone realized that they could do the bare minimum and make as much as someone working their hardest. There weren’t any incentives to try hard either. No matter what you did, your position wasn’t going to change.

5. We don't make decisions, the government does

Nobody got to choose the job they wanted; they were essentially just assigned a job wherever they were needed. Once again, there was no incentive to work hard.

6. Crazy corruption

There was a ridiculously high amount of corruption. Bribes were required for even simple tasks to be completed. Parents could even bribe teachers to improve their kid’s grades.

7. What freedom?

There was no freedom of religion, mainly because there was no religion that was legal. There weren’t many other freedoms either.

8. Big Brother is always watching. Always.

There was a constant feeling of “Big Brother is Watching.” People that said anything against the government vanished mysteriously. If someone didn't like you, all they had to do was accuse you of hating the government.