I believe that in soviet times, less wealth flowed to the top, but that’s mostly because there was less wealth to start with
Wealth inequality in Tsarist Russia was infinitely higher than in Soviet times, and the country was much poorer. So no, that’s not the reason. The reason was ideology and politics.
People suffered and lived in poverty
People in the tsarist empire up to 1917 died at the ripe age of 28. By the 1960s, life expectancy had risen to almost 70 years of age. The country went from being a feudal backwater composed of 80% peasants in 1929, to being the second world power by the 1970s, with universal healthcare, free education to the highest level, the abolition of unemployment and homelessness, and the least wealth inequality the region has ever seen. The GDP levels reached by the late 80s weren’t recovered until the 2010s in most post-Soviet republics, and even now some of them like Ukraine never fully recovered from the devastation of the return to capitalism.
Wealth inequality in Tsarist Russia was infinitely higher than in Soviet times, and the country was much poorer. So no, that’s not the reason. The reason was ideology and politics.
People in the tsarist empire up to 1917 died at the ripe age of 28. By the 1960s, life expectancy had risen to almost 70 years of age. The country went from being a feudal backwater composed of 80% peasants in 1929, to being the second world power by the 1970s, with universal healthcare, free education to the highest level, the abolition of unemployment and homelessness, and the least wealth inequality the region has ever seen. The GDP levels reached by the late 80s weren’t recovered until the 2010s in most post-Soviet republics, and even now some of them like Ukraine never fully recovered from the devastation of the return to capitalism.