Leon Trotsky, of all people, had a theory of "uneven and combined development" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uneven_and_combined_development
Essentially, this says an under-developed area has an opportunity to leapfrog the most develop areas, producing an entire new paradigm of development.
By the time African villages directly contact the West, they may have an entirely different form of capitalism we may be emulating...
Instead of reading HN you should watch Fox News. No quotes of stupid ppl like Lenin and Trotsky there...
The same applies to Trotsky, if you read that wiki page you will see Trotsky's idea is actually pretty damn good.
He is obviously expressing surprise at who it was. Just because the person may have not been a role model or the brightest person in general, however, does not mean all of their ideas must be thrown out. If you disregarded the ideas of anyone who believed or did something you disagreed with, you´d only have yourself to look at.