Vasili sees himself as an exceptional person, better than essentially everybody he knows. He operates with a sense of a invincibility and that greatness is going to be measured by his wealth. And when he looks on his son, he sees his heir. Ah, what's wrong with that? I mean, ok, so vacillis little but materialistic.
Physician and careful reader Richard Gunderman of Indiana University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how Adam Smith and Leo Tolstoy looked at greed. Drawing on Tolstoy's short story, "Master and Man," and adding some Thomas Hobbes along the way, Gunderman argues that a life well-lived requires us to rise above our lower desires. Join Gunderman and Roberts for a sleigh ride into a snowy blizzard, where you won't find your way by following rules, but rather by recognizing what needs to be seen.