In the article, The Gospel of Wealth, written by Andrew Carnegie, he discusses the importance of the new self-made millionaires to practice the philanthropy of improvement. The philanthropy of improvement encompasses advancing an aspect of society by providing opportunities to climb the ladder of opportunity. Carnegie noted the gap between the worker and employer had grown exponentially due to the industrial revolution and believed that it was up to the wealthy to develop methods of improvement. The gap between the worker and employer resulted in no sympathy for each other between the master and apprentice as well as people beginning to lose hope in the ladder of opportunity. Carnegie realized that there was inequality in America and he did not want to fundamentally change it; Carnegie valued the gap of the rich and poor. But, it was the prosperous’ responsibility through the philanthropy of improvement to help the impoverished maximize their human potential because of “the ties of brotherhood” (Carnegie 198) that bound the poor and rich. Carnegie felt the affluent should dedicate time and their surplus wealth while alive to invest in the community. He was against fortune “left to …show more content…
For example, Carnegie invested his money in public institutions such as libraries. He aimed to fix the problem keeping people from books with libraries. During a time of severe discrimination against minorities like African Americans, it was hard to find a safe place to learn and grow as an individual. The libraries provided a safe haven for people to sit down and learn about themselves and the society around them. The philanthropy of improvement does work for highly motivated members of a community that wish to pull themselves up the social ladder resulting in social reform. Therefore improving a community can lead to better opportunities which can change the view of people in a poverty-stricken
By handing out money to a beggar, you are “only saving yourself from annoyance…” (Pg. 15) Carnegie states that nobody improves by almsgiving for you will only aid the person’s addiction. As an advocate of Social Darwinism, Carnegie believed in competitive natures within his workers. He believed in a definite separation of classes and it was not only needed, but also
The era that marked the end of civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century in the united states of America was coupled with enormous economic and industrial developments that attracted diverse views and different arguments on what exactly acquisition of wealth implied on the social classes in the society. It was during this time that the Marxist and those who embraced his ideologies came out strongly to argue their position on what industrial revolution should imply in an economic world like America. In fact, there was a rapid rise in the gross national product of the United States between 1874 and 1883. This actually sparked remarkable consequences on the political, social and economic impacts. In fact, the social rejoinder to industrialization had extensive consequences on the American society. This led to the emergence of social reform movements to discourse on the needs of the industrialized society. Various theories were developed to rationalize the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Various reformers like Andrew Carnegie, Henry George and William Graham Sumner perceived the view on the obligation of the wealthy differently. This paper seeks to address on the different views held by these prominent people during this time of historical transformations.
In Andrew Carnegie’s “The Gospel of Wealth” he outlines what the rich man’s responsibilities to the public is regarding his wealth. Andrew Carnegie was one of his times wealthiest men and wrote this in 1889. He states that, “Our duty is with what is practicable now-with the next step possible in our day and generation. It is criminal to waste our energies in endeavoring to uproot, when all we can profitably accomplish is to bend the universal tree of humanity a little in the direction most favorable to the production of the good fruit under existing circumstances (Carnegie 23-24).” In his writing he talks about the best way to dispose of the wealth one has acquired. The remainder of this paper will address the
Charity handouts did not necessarily help feed a poor family, but aimed to “... produce most beneficial results to [the] community” (Shi 60). This meant that the wealthy didn’t directly give citizens money, but built free public utilities. Among these free services were libraries and and centers for scientific research. Without a doubt, these buildings do not help put food on the table. They do, however, create a sense of hope for educational and social improvement for the working class.
This is exhibited in document B which contains an excerpt from Carnegie’s book, The Gospel of Wealth. Carnegie’s belief in Social Darwinism leads him to state that the wealth of the rich should be used to help the poor. He illustrates the three ways to dispose of money in his book. Carnegie states that “money can be left to the families of the descendants, it can be bequeathed for public purposes and finally it can be distributed by its possessors during their lives”. The best and only way that money should be distributed (in Carnegie’s view) is by the possessors during their lives. Leaving wealth to family is the wrong form of affection and waiting for death to give away money just states that the possessor would take the money with him if he could. Document C then shows how Carnegie donated millions as he said he would do. Many of the donations went to charities and foundations. The follow through of his principles demonstrates why Andrew Carnegie is a hero who gave all his money to be used for benevolent
On the other hand, Carnegie understands that there exists inequality, but he believes that the superior can cooperate with the inferior to gain equality. In fact, it the document he clarifies, “There remains…only one mode of using great fortunes…in this we have the true antidote for the temporary unequal distribution of wealth, the reconciliation of the rich and the poor−a reign of harmony” (Carnegie, 54). Carnegie does not particularly consider inequality a problem. He understands that in order for wealthy to facilitate the lives of the poor, there must be inequality to establish status, but he also discerns that by helping the poor they are given a chance to reach equality. In fact, Carnegie says, “Individualism will
Social Darwinist William Graham Sumner believed that helping the poor was unwise because it interfered with the law of nature and would weaken the evolution of the human race by preserving those unfit. His ideas gave some during this period a scientific reason for their racial intolerance. Andrew Carnegie believed the complete opposite. In his article “Wealth,” he argued that the wealthy had a responsibility given to them by God to carry out projects of civic philanthropy for the benefit of society as a whole. In other words, he believed that the rich should help the poor for the good of society. He himself practiced this belief by distributing $350 million of his fortune to support the building of libraries, universities, and various public institutions. So,
The life of a late 18th century worker or farmer would have been very hard. Schools were not a necessity for children and cheap labor provided little income to raise a family. The people that endured and overcame these hardships were truly incredible. The selected few who became billionaires were very slim. Trending beliefs like social Darwinism made it difficult to succeed in society where the gap between the rich and the poor was so large. To be fair, Carnegie had an idea called the Gospel of Wealth which encouraged rich, successful men like himself to share their wealth with the lower class by contributing to society. Carnegie sponsored and built many libraries around that nation to give opportunity to those that want education. Regardless
A penny saved may be a penny earned, just as a penny spent may begin to better the world. Andrew Carnegie, a man known for his wealth, certainly knew the value of a dollar. His successful business ventures in the railroad industry, steel business, and in communications earned him his multimillion-dollar fortune. Much the opposite of greedy, Carnegie made sure he had what he needed to live a comfortable life, and put what remained of his fortune toward assistance for the general public and the betterment of their communities. He stressed the idea that generosity is superior to arrogance. Carnegie believes that for the wealthy to be generous to their community, rather than live an ostentatious lifestyle proves that they are truly rich in wealth and in heart. He also emphasized that money is most powerful in the hands of the earner, and not anyone else. In his retirement, Carnegie not only spent a great deal of time enriching his life by giving back; but also often wrote about business, money, and his stance on the importance of world peace. His essay “Wealth” presents what he believes are three common ways in which the wealthy typically distribute their money throughout their life and after death. Throughout his essay “Wealth”, Andrew Carnegie appeals to logos as he defines “rich” as having a great deal of wealth not only in materialistic terms, but also in leading an active philanthropic lifestyle. He solidifies this definition in his appeals to ethos and pathos with an emphasis on the rewards of philanthropy to the mind and body.
In the mid-to-late 1800s there were many social ideas being tossed around. A lot of them were justifications made by people in wealthy positions in what they could do with their extreme wealth while the majority lived in poverty. Darwinism was on the premise that only the fittest should survive. Others were a reaction to needed change. The theory known as the Gospel of Wealth does not give money directly to the poor but gives them the resources to become educated if they work for it. The Second Declaration of Independence worked to give workers some free time and decent wages. The Social Gospel worked to give better housing and unite laborers. Social Darwinism was the least American theory during the Gilded Age and gave an excuse to those with
A great example of this would be The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls which is an Academy for girls in South Africa. She pledged to build this Academy in 2000 when she met Nelson Mandela and 2 years later Oprah, Nelson Mandela, The Minister of Education and Professor Kader Asmal came together to break ground on the location of the Academy, which Oprah donated $40,000,000 of her own money to help create. The school reached its full capacity in 2011 with grade levels 7 through 12 and 380 students’ total. Oprah built this school with a purpose and that was to help the women of this generation become leaders and not only create a better future for themselves but for everyone around them as well which she states perfectly in this quote “When you’re changing a girl’s life it is not just that life. You start to affect a family, a community, a
earn less than 70p a day, and many people rely on farming and cattle -
Income inequality continues to increase in today’s world, especially in the United States. Income inequality means the unequal distribution between individuals’ assets, wealth, or income. In the Twilight of the Elites, Christopher Hayes, a liberal journalist, states the inequality gap between the rich and the poor are increasing widening, and there need to have things done - tax the rich, provide better education - in order to shortening the inequality gap. America is a meritocratic country, which means that everybody has equal opportunity to be successful regardless of their class privileges or wealth. However, equality of opportunity does not equal equality of outcomes. People are having more opportunities to find a better job, but their incomes are a lot less compared to the top ten percent rich people. In this way, the poor people will never climb up the ladder to high status and become millionaires. Therefore, the government needs to increase all the tax rates on rich people in order to reduce income inequality.
In the world today there is a lot of poverty. There is a great divide
Philanthropy, or the act of private and voluntary giving, has been a familiar term since it first entered the English language in the seventeenth century. Translated from the Latin term “philanthropia” or “love of mankind,” philanthropy permeates many social spheres and serves several social purposes including charity, humanitarianism, religious morality and even manipulation for social control.