Marxists pretended to pay citizens and the citizens pretended to work. It was not work ethic; it was a symbiotic relationship of poverty and failure, with no incentive for individual creativity and freedom
Villagers never had an easy life in Eastern Europe. They had to labor for the communist party under ridiculous quotas every season. None of these apparatchiks knew how to run a farm yet they pretended to be experts at everything.
Field production often fell short of the unreasonable expectations and centralized five-year plans; bad weather, floods, unexpected freeze, drought, and insect invasions added misery to the villagers’ tiny share of the crops after CAPs (Agricultural Cooperatives of Production) got their share. It was not enough to feed a family.