Eastern European communism created a much more equal society, but it's difficult to argue that people there enjoyed a better quality of life than we did in the West.
I question that assertion. The problem is that in communism, (not unlike our financiers in capitalism) the people closer to the resources or decision-making process were inherently more well off - in fact, probably closely modeling a power-curve.
Part of this is human nature, the other part is lack of technology for transparency.
You can't compare anywhere on earth to the 'West' because the 'West' started out ahead of everywhere else in the world in the 1900s, partially a result of colonialism and various conquests.
Communism created some of the fastest growth rates in history, albeit at a cost, and of course as time went on, corruption became a problem.
If you want to see how poorly capitalism can function, go visit a 3rd world country. Most are capitalist, and they fail because of massive corruption, and anyone with a brain simply flees for the West.