Living standards in Russia rose faster before the revolution, if anything socialism stunted their growth. That being said, someone had to depose the Tsar, or at least his powers (though killing the kids was despicable). if Russia had become a regular constitutional monarchy or republic with a Liberal government it could have been just as wealthy as most first world nations by now.
Russia was headed towards constitutional monarchy under the Tsar. What Russia needed was not a 1917 but gradual reformism combined with perhaps a few more 1905's. (This is similar to how China would have been better off under the Qing.) The twenty years leading up to 1913 witnessed an extraordinary amount of economic growth. This was lost, not so much because of Lenin, but due to Gavrilo Princip.
Lolno. Nicholas II was even worse than Lenin, though not as bad as Stalin by a longshot. He was a reactionary idiot, and any reforms that would've come would have only been to save his own ass only.
And to Lenin's apologists, yes, Lenin did oversee a rise in living standards, but he was a murderer nonetheless who killed his own people out of merely a desire to solidify his grip on power.
