"I get your point," Hank said. "The United States was handed the wealth of the world on a platter. But that's only part of it." "Yes," Loo agreed. "Also to be considered is the fact that for more than a hundred years you have never had a serious war, serious, that is, in that your land was not invaded, your industries destroyed." "That's to our credit. We're a peace loving people." Loo laughed abruptly. "You should tell that to the American Indians." Hank scowled over at him. "What'd you mean by that Loo? That has all the elements of a nasty crack." "Or tell it to the Mexicans. Isn't that where you got your whole South-west?" Hank looked from Loo to Paco and back. * * * * * Paco brought out cigarettes and tossed one to each of the others. "Aren't these long Russian cigarettes the end? I heard somebody say that by the time the smoke got through all the filter, you'd lost the habit." He looked over at Hank. "Easy my friend, easy. On a trip like this it would be impossible not to continually be comparing East and West, dwelling continually on politics, the pros and cons of both sides. All of us are continually assimilating what we hear and see. Among other things, I note that on the newsstands there are no publications from western lands. Why? Because still, after fifty years, our Communist bureaucracy dare not allow its people to read what they will. I note, too, that the shops on 25th October Avenue are not all directed toward the Russian man on the street, unless he is paid unbelievably more than we have heard. Sable coats? Jewelery? Luxurious furniture? I begin to suspect that our Soviet friends are not quite so classless as Mr. Marx had in mind when he and Mr. Engels worked out the rough framework of the society of the future." Loo said seriously, "Oh, there are a great many things of that type to notice here in the Soviet Union." Hank had to grin. "Well, I'm glad you jokers still have open minds." Paco waggled a finger negatively at him. "We've had open minds all along, my friend. It is yours that seems closed. In spite of the fact that I spent four years in your country I sometimes confess I don't understand you Americans. I think you are too immersed in your TV programs, your movies and your light fiction." "I can feel myself being saddled up again," Hank complained. "All set for another riding." Loo laughed softly, his perfect white teeth gleaming in his black face. Paco said, "You seem to have the fictional _good guys and bad guys_ outlook. And, in this world of controversy, you assume that you are the good guys, the heroes, and since that is so then the Soviets must be the bad guys. And, as in the movies, everything the good guys do is fine and everything the bad guys do, is evil. I sometimes think that if the Russians had developed a cure for cancer first you Americans would have refused to use it."