In other words was the lack of motivation the main reason it failed?
When did the economic problems start?
This whole conversation is mindboggling. Never once was there equality of pay in the USSR. Managers made significantly more than their workers, but the differences were determined by the government, not by the owners of capital.
(Since nobody responded to my highly opinionated, highly confusing, stream of conscious post (I don't blame you), maybe I can make some of the same points through a hypo)Imagine we lived in a communist country. All jobs pay the same. If one job is more strenous than another job they are compensated by having to work less so that a coal miner would work 1/4th the amount of time as a lawyer and ideally his extra free time would compensate for the tougher nature of the work. To sum up all jobs are equally desirable. What role does affirmative action have in such a society?