I think you can say that Communism has failed, in the sense that we know it, as having evolved into unyeilding dictatorships in Russia and Eastern Europe, but the principals of Marxism, I think are very much alive.
               In Latin America and China, for instance, where they have allowed Marxism to adapt to markets. In Chile, in particular, where they went through a "free market" experience with a Ronald Reagan kind of fellow, they have now come back to a more controlled system.
               Maybe the real problem with the concept of "free market" is, it's not free at all. What we are experiencing now is a monopolistic economy where the people with the most capital run things to their advantage. If you could get rid of the scare factors, like religion for instance, it would have a better chance, but it's still a slave to human greed.