Z:gnu-www-ja-self-interest--7923eb-As Adam Smith certainly realiz/en

As Adam Smith certainly realized, self-interest will be one of the principal forces organizing economic activities in any society, but that is as true of the most repressive or brutal society as it is of a relatively free and open society. Most of us will not like the results of self-interest untempered by a respect for other creatures. As a recent example, in running their country to the disadvantage of most Soviet citizens, the leaders of the Communist Party and of the Soviet military and intelligence services were advancing their own self-interests, at least as they understood or misunderstood those interests.