system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why did the Soviet Union have such a hard time feeding its population.

Russia, especially, seemed to have a lot of money, plenty of farmland, and a decent infrastructure. So, why did it have trouble filling its grocery stores with food?
gpt
Because at every level, the incentives were all in favor of people making decisions contrary to the public good.  It was a logistical structure built around the premise that people would simply obey their masters because their masters worked for the 'public good'.

On the one hand, working harder and innovating didn't yield any rewards.  On the other hand, cheating the system *did*.  So all up and down the system, you had people who were either withholding the full measure of their capabilities or turning those capabilities to graft.

In contrast, an American farmer works harder because he makes more money.  He doesn't under-report his production because it wouldn't make any sense to do so - he won't get paid for anything he doesn't report.  Similarly, the people transporting, distributing and retailing the food are all primarily interested in getting the most they can to the customer so they can get paid.