It could simply be true. When given a chance, people will serve each other for reputation and for the simple satisfaction of serving their community just like with open source software. What you need is a paradigm on how to organize decision-making and how to acknowledge reputation and the work of those who serve.

The current system, the employer-employee paradigm which is the core feature of capitalism, is the way “payments” are mostly decided except for government services which are considered “socialist”. The result is that this system of employers have “decided” that 26 people in the world will have as much wealth as half of the world’s population combined, some 3.5 billion people https://www.newsweek.com/26-rich-wealth-poorest-50-percent-report-1299345. In other words, half the world can indeed have EVERYTHING FREE if we can find a system that distributes wealth more equitably. The second and third tiers of the super-rich can probably pay for all the rest of humanity.

If only there was a more efficient and equitable system … it just so happens that the top 3 most productive countries are the most socialist having very high progressive taxes and with plenty of free stuff like healthcare, education at all levels, generous retirement, generous unemployment and so on and this free stuff is beyond the control of the employers …