That's a key phase of communism as prescribed by Marx.

1. Violent revolution to overthrow bourgeois democracy.

2. Centralised control, redistribution, re-education.

3. Implement glorious and free democracy again.

They keep getting stuck at 2 for some reason. It's almost like power corrupts or something.

I don't think so. The Dutch Republic (17th century) is widely regarded by economic historians as the first capitalist economy in practice. It was wildly successful and generated massive quality of life improvements across the nation. Industrial revolution followed soon afterwards, which marked the transition in Britain to "modern capitalism." This saw the greatest leap in technological innovation, lifespan, food, medicine, etc, in human history.

No system is perfect and one could point to many imperfections, but I see few notable systemic failures of capitalism along the way. It seems to rarely give rise to dictators and famine, as we see with states which attempt communism. On the contrary. Capitalist nations tend almost universally towards increased rights for women and minorities, democracy, and scientific pursuits.

To steelman your position, a notable exception could be the Weimar Republic. However I would credit their hyperinflation to unsustainable debt burdens placed on them by other nations following WW1, forcing them to print currency unsustainably, thereby hyperinflating the Papiermark.