From a philosophical anthropological perspective, learning a second language (and I mean learning it to the point where you can literally THINK fluently in that language), I imagine, would be tremendously important when it comes to allowing you to see man as he is outside of your own cultural background. Looking at other cultures, breathing in other cultures, will give you an outlook on the nature of Man that you could never have by only being immersed in your own culture. No, I am not suggesting being multicultural, where we get a bunch of different cultures and mix them together; that in my opinion destroys culture. What I'm suggesting is leaving your world behind and completely immersing yourself in another culture.
Besides, American culture (where i assume most of us live) is hardly worthy of the name in my opinion. I'd rather go to Italy. A country with almost two thousand years of Catholic thinking would do some good.
And I imagine that if we study other cultures, you will find, Clare, that they also have hierarchies and classes (at least those cultures that do well). So studying other cultures and stepping outside of yourself will make you even less of a communist.