Can anyone recommend a good biography of Vladimir Lenin?

[CFH]

For what? Arguing with people who are wrong or enjoying freedom, liberty, and a better socioeconomic status than all of the average people living in communist countries?

Why does everyone being LOWERED to the same level sound so good to some people

I don't mean to derail this fine thread, but in my personal construction of socialism its about everyone having something, not about everyone having the same standard. I'm all for competition and wealth etc., but I'm also for raising the quality of life for those in society who have the least. That's all I'll say on the subject because I don't want to spark a debate here.

Optimistic much

Trust me, there are enough people who take advantage of the system in place in America already. There are plenty of people, able bodied, lazy adults, who get by without having ever done a day's work in their life.

They take advantage of the system, get multiple welfare checks a month, etc...all of which people who are working have to pay for. The richest people in America already support the country with the taxes they pay. Granted, it still gets a bit gluttonous near the top, but the rich are always going to remain rich because the more you raise their taxes the more ways they will find to divert money so they wont have to pay them.

Communism is a "noble" ideology but has zero real world application unless run by a dictator or totalitarian government, which will always end up in extreme corruption and a high level of atrocities.

No system is perfect, but America's faux-democracy is pretty close to the top any way you look at it.

I'll say the same thing to you that I said to Lyle. I respect your opinion but I strongly disagree with what you wrote. However, I have no wish to engage in a protracted argument on here. Not because I do not feel strongly about my beliefs or because I cannot intelligently articulate them, but because I find these types of argument on here to be frustrating and redundant.

I would also like to state that I am not, nor have I ever been, a communist and I do not believe in the practicality of the communist ideology. My political beliefs, though they are diverse, generally speaking are those of a social democrat and I feel this is an easily defensible ideology which, in some instances, has been proven extremely beneficial. I doubt you have any familiarity with the Canadian political system, but to put them in the local (Canadian) political context, I most frequently vote for the NDP. I hope that contextualized things.