Yes, it's romantic but I think it's also romantic to expect that, because the world found a scapegoat, they all would magically start going along just fine.
The reason I wanted everyone to come to his sense is because I think for the world to progress everyone must bear the guilt and help carrying the cross. Noone is enterely innocent here. Instead... in opposite to sharing they chose to divide. Lelouch got the blame, the others got the cross. Mind you it's a cross they would have bore anyway. Even if Lelouch had stopped acting from Ep 19, Xing-Ke and all the others would have continued with the rebellion to Britannia and the federation. They weren't geassed. Even if Lelouch had never showed up they would have continued rebelling. They probably wouldn't have accomplished as much. Would this have been better or worse?
We don't know. Without Lelouch Ougi's group would have likely died in Shinjuku, the battle at Narita would have likely been lost (resulting in Katakase and his men's death), I guess Toudo would have ended eventually being captured and exectuted.
Euphemia likely wouldn't have ended up killing people... but since we don't know what the others would have done this doesn't necessary meant the body count would have been smaller. Clovis would have still been alive and maybe, to search for CC, he might have ordered the massacre of the whole tokyo settlement. It's a guessing game of course.

I don't think however he planned to give the weight of his sins to someone else.
I think he believed it would simpler for the Black Knights to deal with the world after what he did. If he were to repent his sins all of sudden he would have probably ended up getting a death sentence anyway... but this might have caused more mess than help.
If he were to repent people might have argued he didn't deserve to die, and others might have felt guilty for taking his life if they were to guess what he planned to do.

I don't even think he searched for redemption. For him it's retribution, the price he had to pay. He didn't try to be forgiven in fact he let people believe he was a monster.
There's no God in the Christian sense in the world of CG after death. He did what he thought was best and paid the according price. He's not really apologizing for what he did just taking responsibility.

Talking would have been good but not IC. From when he was a small child he learned to live in hiding, faking his identity, trusting no one because his own father betrayed him.
... and really people didn't seem willing to listen him in Ep. 19 or 21 so I don't know if talking would have worked.

As for the Geass... he tried not to use it on the ones he loved. He used it on Kallen when he basically didn't know her, with Shirley to garant her peace of mind (she was almost insane with grief and guilt... Mao himself said his mind was a mess or something along the line), on Suzaku and Euphy by incident and on Nunnally... when he'd already decided he wanted to be despised by her too.
Basically the real problem is Lelouch's psychology. We aren't talking of a well balanced adult but of a traumatized teen. He might be smart but this doesn't mean he's capable to do always the right choices.
Shneizer is smart also and older and it's possible he lived through a less traumatic life and all he aimed was world domination through fear, ready to use people like Nunnally, Euphy and Cornelia who trusted and loved him, who were part of his family.
Really, Lelouch could have done better... but maybe this was merely the best HE could do.