What Shall We Do by Leo Tolstoy audiobook.

Genre: philosophy

A vivid description of wealth and poverty in Russia in Tolstoy's day, an inquiry into the root causes of economic inequality, and a vision of a more just way of living.

Tolstoy recounts his own disturbing encounters with extreme poverty in Moscow, his initial idea of making the problem disappear by generous financial contributions, and his subsequent realization that the problem of poverty was much more intractable than he had imagined. He concludes that poverty is fundamentally linked with the luxurious lifestyle to which he and his class were accustomed, and that both are detrimental both to the rich and to the poor. He goes on to investigate the roots of power imbalances, both in the state and in markets, and to make suggestions for a fundamental social and economic reform in the interest of justice and well-being. Both his social critique and his proposed reforms are grounded in a deeply held and somewhat unorthodox religious faith, as well as in a vigorously applied but somewhat unconventional view of science.

Unfortunately he also expresses some views on the role and duties of women and the use of birth control which some readers may find offensive. This material is mostly contained in Chapter 40, the last chapter.

For ad-free listening try our premium subscription

Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 00

(00:02:59) Chapter 01

(00:11:34) Chapter 02

(00:26:02) Chapter 03

(00:39:32) Chapter 04

(00:46:08) Chapter 05

(00:55:13) Chapter 06

(01:02:15) Chapter 07

(01:08:47) Chapter 08

(01:21:29) Chapter 09

(01:27:34) Chapter 10

(01:39:39) Chapter 11

(01:46:30) Chapter 12

(01:56:06) Chapter 13

(02:12:19) Chapter 14

(02:26:31) Chapter 15

(02:40:26) Chapter 16

(02:51:38) Chapter 17

(03:12:41) Chapter 18

(03:42:49) Chapter 19

(03:56:53) Chapter 20

(04:25:25) Chapter 21

(05:02:03) Chapter 22

(05:13:44) Chapter 23

(05:21:47) Chapter 24

(05:49:46) Chapter 25

(06:10:42) Chapter 26

(06:28:00) Chapter 27

(06:46:00) Chapter 28

(06:57:29) Chapter 29

(07:14:56) Chapter 30

(07:35:30) Chapter 31

(07:50:05) Chapter 32

(08:00:44) Chapter 33

(08:07:02) Chapter 34

(08:30:44) Chapter 35

(08:34:22) Chapter 36

(08:54:21) Chapter 37

(09:10:06) Chapter 38

(09:55:07) Chapter 39

(10:31:12) Chapter 40

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices