I'd say socialism works in small communities because there is little complexity. Without division of labour, in small communities it becomes fairly easy to manage things, although the fact that there is some governing body will prevent any real growth, and people doom themselves to low standards of living.
In terms of special interests and government corruption though, things are far more complex than a simple farm community. The sheer amount of different lobbyists representing varying special interests, all going against each other at one moment, and then spontaneously organising coalitions the next - this is something you could equate with dvision of labour and specialisation, perhaps? It seems fairly akin to the market economy (including concepts such as opportunity costs in dealing with one special interest instead of another due to limited funding).
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."