That is the whole point but the social contract in a communist society is one that you can't really get ahead through working harder / smarter - at least not as

That is the whole point but the social contract in a communist society is one that you can't really get ahead through working harder / smarter - at least not as dramatically so as one can in a capitalist country. Though that's not to say that no one gets ahead in communist societies, just that those who do tend to get ahead on their ability to amass political power. And there's a nugget about income inequality here - Cuba has reduced income inequality by making people more similarly poor. Doctors and managers live side by side with laborers and cooks. Maybe that's good for society, but the average Cuban lives like an American at the federal poverty line. Americans are unequally rich - our poorest are poorer and worse off then the average Cuban but the median American is richer than the median Cuban and the average American is much better off then the average Cuban. It might be too utilitarian for humanitarians but I don't think income inequality matters on its face. My life wouldn't be worse if there were 10x as many billionaires, in fact, it'd probably be better because those billionaires would have created great things to earn their fortunes - if they earned their fortunes giving humanity cheap power and better health care and tastier, more nutrious food we'd be much better off. I think the KPI to target is poverty - I simply want fewer poor people to be poor. There's a role for a better safety net, and probably some tweaks to laws that infringe upon the right to work, but historically redistribution works once in society and then you run out of other people's money.