You make the Communist party sound as if it's some super-elite club. It's not. My girlfriend's a member and, while she's intelligent and well-educated, she didn

You make the Communist party sound as if it's some super-elite club. It's not. My girlfriend's a member and, while she's intelligent and well-educated, she didn't have to do a whole lot to get in. I suspect a decent education is enough. Nor does being a member of the party suddenly make you a member of the "leadership class". For her, it's like a club membership, she pays some small dues every year and in return she can put it on her resume when she wants to. It also helped her avoid some prereqs in college. I guess if she wanted to dig further and start attending meetings regularly she could use it for networking. In short, being in the party != being a member of the ruling oligarchy which calls the shots here. If you want to do that, marry into the family of someone who has a good government post.