the Gospel of Wealth

[nemo137]

The Gospel of Wealth

Has anyone else read this? It's Andrew Carnegie's essay on what should be done with money. He discusses 3 possible ways of distributing wealth, and concludes that the best way is for a man who accumulates wealth to consider his surplus as a trust fund for the public good.

It's pretty neat. Does anyone know what became of any of this?

[IrateCitizen]

1. Carnegie was a heartless bastard

Remember that this is the same Andrew Carnegie that basically wrecked the town of Homestead, PA when he had his lackey, Henry Clay Frick lock out the steelworkers and demand them to take a wage cut of around 50%.

This is the same Andrew Carnegie who extolled the virtues of "honest poverty" as his justification for refusing to participate in ANY kind of direct charity. He once commented on a friend giving a beggar $0.25, "That quarter dollar did more harm to that man than he could ever know."

But, grudgingly to his credit, he was a member of the Anti-Imperialist League, and he also refused to pass any of his wealth on to his progeny -- saying it would "dull their creative drive".

But in the end analysis, he was still a bastard. I wouldn't pick him out as some paragon of virtue.

[Mairead]

2. He was probably no worse than the general run of robber barons

Though he was certainly no better! A very grasping man.

To his credit, though, after he sold up and became the wealthiest individual in the USA, he spent the rest of his life endowing public libraries in the US, Canada, and Scotland, spending most of his fortune doing it.

Approximately 1/2 of all public libraries in the US exist because of Carnegie's generosity.

"The man who dies rich, dies disgraced."