The Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie was an author back in the late 1800’s. He was very stern and opinionated when it came to making sure that what he believed in was heard. He became well known after he began writing The Gospel of Wealth. The Gospel of Wealth was a book that he created for that the people of wealth should consider all revenues in excess of their own needs to be “trust funds” used for the good of the community (Brinkley, 2014, p. 408). Why would he include in the title of the book the words “The Gospel”? Maybe it is because of the way that he plans on addressing the strategies on how to stay successful and what problems some may encounter.
“The Gospel of Wealth are Carnegie’s ideas on how the government should deal with the new wealth of the world. He became known as the second richest man in the world and he strongly felt as if men in his stature should spend their money responsibility and wisely. Such as, giving to the poor and helping them when needed”. (http://study.com/academy/lesson/gospel-of-wealth-definition-summary.html). Many aspect of Carnegie’s philosophy came from personal experiences that he encountered throughout his lifetime. He really wanted individuals to learn how to be financially stabled and have information to pass down to their children and other generations to come. For example,
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It was very impossible to ignore the fact that the main problem that was surfacing was the difference between poor and rich. From time to time, all of Carnegie’s work has become into practice. Most people agreed and some disagreed, but the most important aspect of his philosophy was to get a positive message across to people in America through his article. As Carnegie stated “When these apprentices rose to be masters, there was little or no change in their mode of life, and they, in turn, educated in the same routine succeeding
Andrew Carnegie, a late 19th century steel magnate, was immensely successful during the Gilded Age. He kept wages low while eliminating competition, so that workers had no choice but to stay in Carnegie’s company. The Gilded Age is so called because the top appeared to be gold (i.e. the richest people were doing extremely well) but on the inside there were insurmountable wealth inequalities (I.e the rich succeeded at the expense of the rest of the nation). Andrew Carnegie was a large causer of wealth inequality . In his “Gospel of Wealth” he justifies the trend by stating that in an ideal world the rich would give to the poor, but unfortunately our world is impossible.
Andrew Carnegie believed that money from wealthy men should be used for projects that would benefit the society. As a power of major business was growing, the difference between rich and poor was great concern for the government. He emphasized that giving money away to the poor will not bring any benefit to people in need, but if you use this money to build schools, libraries, or parks, then it will improve the overall lifestyle of the underprivileged. It would improve their thinking abilities and improve their general condition. Andrew Carnegie always had an eye to bring change that will be the permanent solution for the ongoing issue.
Carnegie thinks it is better to build public institutions than give charity to the poor because the poor need to have the “desire to improve” and find help in these public institutions. (Carnegie 30). He believes that rather wealthy “Men who continue hoarding great sums all their lives” can find the proper use for their money, which is to help the community. (Carnegie 29). By just giving money to the poor the wealthy are doing all their work and instead the poor should find the assistance they need to improve their lives.
The distribution of wealth has always been a conflict of interest between those in an industrial society. Many times, we find the all the poor being grouped as oppressed, and all the rich being grouped as oppressive. But this is not the most accurate way of thinking. We see Andrew Carnegie as part of the rich being grouped as oppressive, or a villain. Given the fact that he saw his success in the height of the American Era of Industrialization, Carnegie got a lot of backlash for the issues surrounding the poor that worked for him.
Greed – the extreme, selfish desire to acquire what is beyond average necessities. Whether greed applies to wealth or power, mankind is prone to exemplify the cupidity. Humans may never become truly content with what they are given, allowing them to desire superfluous objects. The development of greed, as shown in repeated history, eventually leads to the ruination of characters, one particular character being Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie, the leader of the steel industry in the 19th century, epitomized the concept of greed by yearning for supplementary profits within his company; this greed greatly affected the lives of many, including Carnegie himself.
The life of a coal miner is not so different from the views of Andrew Carnegie. In the Gilded Age, a lot of youthful boys and men would work endless hours to only get from sixty cents to a dollar every day. Carnegie would focus on how the upper class would misuse their money for selfish needs. These young coal miners would work more than these rich “snobs” and still get a salary of less that 200 dollars a year. That is what Carnegie was stressing in his Gospel of Wealth.
2.The three of these platforms have a wide range of views on poverty and the best course of action to eliminate poverty for good or at least get people on their feet. For starters, The gospel of Wealth written by Andrew Carnegie takes the viewpoint of the Wealthiest men in America. In his writings, he makes sure to explain that the reason that people are homeless and on the street is because they lack a good work ethic. The wealthy men are, “skilled and intelligent,” and view that being in “Poverty is a kind of character flaw.” Though he clearly does not feel sorry for these people because he believes it is deserved, the main point of the gospel is that the Wealthy should give back to the people.
In this essay, I’ll be telling you my opinion on whether Andrew Carnegie was a hero or not. Andrew Carnegie, known as the king of steel, grew up poor, but became one of the richest and most successful business owner during the 1800s and 1900s. Much of the world regarded Carnegie as the most famous living American during his time. Andrew Carnegie was not a hero because he showed off his money, treated his workers poorly, and was selfish. First of all, Andrew Carnegie flashes his wealth.
He believed that if the wealthy don't give back some of their profits to the community, they are living a dishonorable life, and although I didn't necessarily agree with this radical viewpoint at first, I now am a firm believer in Carnegie's argument about wealth.
Andrew Carnegie makes it clear that people in society with wealth should help those who deserve the financial help. If those in need of help put in their effort, then why shouldn’t they be helped by those who don’t need it? In the Life of the Average Coal Miner, the harsh conditions that children faced is revealed. Children would work for hours in a crucial and dangerous environment and be rewarded with very little money that did not equal to the amount of work they put in. It is unfair to those who worked in the conditions in the Life of the Average Coal Miner.
The captains of industry believed that the poor people were inferior to the rich people. The rich were superior because they had “wisdom, experience, and the ability to administer”. The duty of a rich person was to help out a poor person which was what was said in the Gospel of Wealth. The Gospel of Wealth is about how the rich person's responsibility is philanthropy. Carnegie believes in charity work so he would donate to libraries, and universities and schools and etc.
During the late 19th century, there was a growth in industrialization. This brought new opportunities for the poor and the rich. For example, Carnegie helped build the steel industry in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, which made him one of the richest man in the world. As Carnegie gained more wealth, he questioned who money should be given to. Carnegie was both a Robber Baron and a Captain of Industry.
It did so little for them.(Clara Lemlich document.) Because of this, things like the “Social Gospel” and “The Gospel of Wealth” were brought to people’s attention. “The Gospel of Wealth” was an essay written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 that described the responsibility of philanthropy, which is the desire to promote the welfare of others. It was expressed by the donations of money to good causes, by the rich. The idea was that each individual work for himself in gaining wealth.
Underpinnings and Effectiveness of Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” In Andrew Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth”, Carnegie proposed a system of which he thought was best to dispose of “surplus wealth” through progress of the nation. Carnegie wanted to create opportunities for people “lift themselves up” rather than directly give money to these people. This was because he considered that giving money to these people would be “improper spending”.
One of the many Gospel of Wealth advocates was Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, who was an industrialist who emigrated from Scotland to American in 1848 (Wall, ANBO). Carnegie’s “Wealth” written in 1889