Absolute material equality is not a necessary goal of socialism. Plenty of mainstream facets of the civilized world like social security, universal education, labor laws, 40-hour work weeks, aid to the disabled among other things were brought about in part through socialist agitation, and all were decried by the reactionaries of their day as the greatest of socialist evils.
Socialism is also perfectly capable of recognizing and embracing natural differences among people in terms of ability and talent. Maybe some strains reject it but it's not an axiom of socialism that people must be regarded as uniform in intelligence, ability or anything else. This is an old and lazy straw man.
Socialism is also perfectly capable of recognizing and embracing natural differences among people in terms of ability and talent. Maybe some strains reject it but it's not an axiom of socialism that people must be regarded as uniform in intelligence, ability or anything else. This is an old and lazy straw man.