"Are you saying there is such a thing as a fascist economic system?" I said surprised.

      "Of course there is, just ask Heather. She has become an expert in detecting fascism. Greed based economics is a fascist system. It is as much a form of rape as you had committed at your dinner party with Antonovna. Also, I don't think that there would be any political fascism in the world today, if there wasn't a fascist economic system preexisting, and that wouldn't exist if there weren't a personal 'fascism' at the root of is, prior to that. The end result of that train of thinking is threatening civilization today, is rape built upon rape upon rape, on all levels. The end result is a total void of generosity. Nor are we any closer of curing the rape of the political fascism today, than we ever were. We are still in danger of a nuclear war, and remain so, until we address what lies underneath the rape that happens everywhere, that is built on emptiness, on a lack of generosity, or more correctly, a denial of the divine generosity that is a native element of our being. Without generosity, everything is doomed to disintegrate. Heather says that we can see the evidence everywhere, if we are willing to open our eyes. She says that fascist systems simply don't survive, nor will the people survive that serve them."

      I reached my hand out to Ross. "Thanks for telling me what a fool I have been. I had no idea. In fact, considering my poverty in this regard, I don't see why you and Heather stuck with me for so long."

      Ross just laughed. "Pete, I've been just as big a fool in this regard as you have been, haven't you noticed? We are two birds of the same feather. We have been living a mile apart from each other, maybe a mile and a quarter. How long did it take us to build a road between our two houses? Ten years? There hasn't been a shred of generosity in me that I have acknowledged. Heather once told me a long time ago that generosity is the blood of life. It didn't hear any of it. It went in one ear and out the other as people say. It is only because of Heather's great and wonderful generosity that she didn't walk out off us both. She is the most generous person that I have ever met. Maybe that is what I had treasured in her all along, without really knowing it."

      "That goes for me too," I said quietly. "Apparently, Antonovna is in many ways like Heather. Except, where does this leave us? You say, Anton is coming here? Would you have fared any better, had you been in my shoes in Moscow that day?"

      "I wouldn't have lasted half as long, Pete. She would have walked out on me before the dinner was even served. I am professionally trained to be devoid of generosity. I am a soldier. Soldiers are not allowed to feel generosity. How else could they kill? It's their job to kill and die. I'm sure, you had the same kind of training too, as a diplomat. Your job is to read the rulebook and repeat the words exactly as printed. Your job is to squeeze whatever advantage you can squeeze out of your opponent. You would be useless to the system if you had a highly developed generosity. You would be on the unemployment line so fast, that it would make your head spin. In fact, our country wouldn't need a diplomatic service if generosity were the rule in international relationships. I guess our girls didn't have this 'wonderful' training on their back as we have."

      "Knowing all that, Ross, how do we get ourselves out of this predicament?" I asked. "Knowing everything that you know now, what should I have done different twelve years ago, when I met Anton for dinner that night at the tower restaurant?"

      "Everything should have been different," said Ross. "For starters, you should have addressed her by the name that she treasured. Her name is Antonovna, not Anton. Second, you should have brought a candle along, with a candleholder and a lighter. You should have set it up and lit the candle, and explained that its light represents the light of generosity which illumines everything it touches. Then you should have extinguished the flame and explained how dark the world is without it. Then you should have lit it once more and explained that it is your greatest desire to bring light into the world, where there is so much darkness today. You might have given some examples of your accomplishments and your failures, even your frustration. You should also have explained to her that it is your desire, just as much, to bring that kind of light also into her world, to uplift it to some degree, whatever that might involve. You could explored on this basis the dearest aspects of her Soul, her unfulfilled hopes, her fears, her anguish, and uplifted her spirits in all of these areas. I think, this is what it means that we enrich one-another. I also think this would have developed into a rich and bright evening for both of you. I can guarantee that if you had done this, you would have shared the entire night with her in an atmosphere of ever greater intimacies."

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Stories about  Love from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche