We’re not stupid animals, there are plenty of historical examples of societies allocating resources based on need rather than economic capability. We’re just living under the wrong system, and we need to evolve past that system towards something with actual democracy, where the people can decide democratically how the economy works and how the resources are allocated, where the workers aren’t under the orders of a dictatorial power structure 8 hours a day 5 days a week, but instead they collectively make the decisions and take the profits from the companies they own collectively.
We didn’t choose the system. I wasn’t handed a ballot when I was born, were you? Capitalism developed in specific historic and material conditions not by popular choice but by the logical consequences of those conditions.