Which language to learn?

I know that this has to be a quite frequently asked question, but a group only gets more valuable members by helping people who want to learn. Currently I'm sort of proficient with DOS commands. Obviously you cannot create a complicated graphical program out of DOS. I've heard all over this board that Python sucks, which ironically is the one language most of my friends recommended learning. What language can I learn that is actually useful?

I come to /prog/ for you guys are the only assholes on the internet that will bash other languages if they do suck. Forums have to be 'unbiased' and 'neutral'.

I've heard that C is the next step. People have said things about Visual Basic but I'm not sure of what that is. No one would ever elaborate on what it is...