And the historical context behind Lenin’s words was that in a early state of socialism (like the beginnings of the Soviet Union) it needs tons of immediate forced labor to industrialize to come to a point where it can provide the basic needs for all people (to eventually advance into full communism.) In other words, things were pretty dire. To quote the full text:

“The socialist principle, "He who does not work shall not eat", is already realized; the other socialist principle, "An equal amount of products for an equal amount of labor", is also already realized. But this is not yet communism, and it does not yet abolish "bourgeois law", which gives unequal individuals, in return for unequal (really unequal) amounts of labor, equal amounts of products. This is a "defect" according to Marx, but it is unavoidable in the first phase of communism; for if we are not to indulge in utopianism, we must not think that having overthrown capitalism people will at once learn to work for society without any rules of law.” (Chapter 5, Section 3, "The First Phase of Communist Society")

You can’t say the same thing to the US, which already has an advanced economy with most agricultural/industrial production being heavily automated or offshored, and where a large portion of people are working unproductive bullshit jobs in order to just have a living wage.