On Mondays I travel to Brooklyn (Kings Highway and Coney Island Avenue) to teach English to recent Russian emigres.

They are an attentive group who are trying to improve their speaking and reading skills. Among them are physicians, physicists and teachers. The news of the day is always discussed and I am occasionally surprised at the Russian take on some issues of current interest.

At one session I asked them what they had seen and done over the past weekend. Each of them had gone to either the ballet, a museum, the aquarium or some cultural event. I was amazed at their seeking out intellectual experiences in the New York City area.

Because they grew up under Stalin's totalitarian Communist state, they are almost totally ignorant about religious and biblical subjects. They knew Shakespeare, but the Old and New Testaments are a blank.

They are slowly but intensively trying to understand the ways and laws of America. At a recent session, I was confronted by this question: "Why do the rich people in America pay less or no taxes?" I was shocked and startled by the query and by the intensity of how it was asked.

My first response was "This statement is not true!" I explained that all wage earners pay their share of the tax bracket into which they fall. The class answered that in Russia everyone pays a flat 13 percent of their salary or income, even the wealthy.

"Americans used to have three obligations," I said: "1) Military service; 2) To pay tax on their earnings; and 3) Jury duty. Since the draft was abolished, taxes alone are a citizen's obligation." I stated, "Further more, there are rising brackets in income tax, real estate taxes and investment taxes. Very rarely does someone escape without paying the Internal Revenue Service its due. Even the 'high and mighty' fear the IRS audits"

My other major point was that the government gives encouragement to starting businesses, entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators of all sorts. Brainpower and nerves are national assets. These people must be helped to form potential benefits to American society. These are the ground roots of capitalism.

Reluctantly, the questioner saw my point. Growing up under Socialism made it difficult for one to comprehend the inner workings of a system called Capitalism.