6 reasons potlucks are terrible.

The patriarchy
(i will concede that this is in practice, not intrinsically part of the conceptual idea of a potluck.)
8 out of 10 things that are brought are brought by women. of the two that were brought by men, 1 of them was made or procured by a woman in that man’s life. Other men just show up empty handed, eat, and leave. Which brings us to...

They foster resentment
the people who bring elaborate homemade dishes that took a long time resent the person who just brought a box of cookies, and over time this degenerates into people putting in less and less effort and talking about folks behind their backs.

They discourage attendance
Some people who can’t afford the time or money to contribute end up staying home.

They make it harder to acomodate different dietary needs
Unless everyone has the same type of diet, it’s very hard to crowdsource a menu that accommodates vegans, vegetarians, gluten free folks, nut allergies, etc….people with special needs end up eating only what they brought. super fun! 

They can wreak havoc at the last minute
people calling in at the last minute saying "i know i said i’d bring tacos but i ran out of time so instead i am bringing napkins."

They are an administrative / communication nightmare
the back and forth of ‘what can i bring?’ ‘i can’t bring that’ ‘i don’t think i’ll be there on time’ and ‘how many people’ and …. is WAY more exhausting than planning and executing the food centrally.