Re-read that essay “I, pencil”. Realize not one of these “central planners” knows how to make a pencil.
It’s worse than that.
These central planners loathe not only the production of “the pencil,” but also loathe that the people want and use “the pencil.”
Their real end-goal is to determine what the people should have and to direct who shall be the producers and distributors of that limited set of goods and services (to each according to his needs, from each according to his abilities).
That they fail in the production and distribution of “the pencil” is secondary to their goal of obtaining control over the manufacture, distribution, ownership, and usage of “the pencil.”