Thursday, December 4, 2014

LAD #21: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

In "The Gospel of Wealth," Andrew Carnegie shares his thoughts on the benefits of the perceived unbalance of the capitalistic style of Big Business. Some may say that powerful businessmen such as himself were robber barons of the economy, Carnegie still believed that it is better for the economy to have gaps between rich and poor than to be full of universal squalor. Then, Carnegie proposes ideas that would promote distribution of wealth and improve the administration of the wealthy. He says that it their duty to better the human race with their money, through philanthropy. Carnegie invested his capital in enterprises that would benefit all people, even the poor. This is seen today in the Carnegie Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University, as well as the many libraries he supported.