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It was that sweet and slightly pudgy Chinese fellow who came up with the Great Leap Forward.

That grandiose social experiment to turn China into an industrial power from an essentially agrarian country ended up costing about 45 million lives in the resulting famine. But hey, Chairman Mao never missed a meal.

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Neither will Stephen Lewis miss a pension cheque if his much-loved Leap Manifesto ever comes to pass. The grand old poobah of the NDP — front and centre at last weekend’s Edmonton convention — likely bags a handful each month, courtesy of the various government troughs he’s slurped at over his illustrious career.

But that’s today’s socialist for you: as far removed from the concerns of the ordinary workingman or woman as their soft hands are from calluses.

No, these days, the likes of Lewis the Elder, along with his sidekick son, Avi, have long since moved beyond the concerns of ordinary folk. That’s too passe for this lot. Now, they want a task commensurate with their egos — saving planet Earth.