The Gospel of Wealth
|
|
"The Gospel of Wealth" was an essay written by industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1889 that described the responsibility of philanthropy of the new upper class of self-made monopolists. The central thesis of Carnegie's essay was the peril of allowing large sums of money to be passed into the hands of persons or organizations ill-equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with them. As a result, the wealthy entrepreneur must assume the responsibility of distributing his fortune in a way that it will be put to good use, and not wasted on frivolous expenditure.
Andrew Carnegie effectively softened some of the harshness of the theory of social Darwinism. He preached that ostentatious living and amassing private treasures were wrong. Carnegie professed the virtues of a Laissez-faire system in which the government did not interfere with a corporation's right to do as it pleased. His "Gospel of wealth" earned much praise, but it did not see many converts. Carnegie made it clear that the wealthy were responsible for the recirculation of their money back into society where it could be used to support the greater good. He went as far as to say that in bettering society and people here on earth, you will be rewarded at the gates of paradise.
Carnegie based his philosophy on the observation that the heirs of large fortunes frequently squandered them in riotous living rather than nurturing and growing them. Even bequeathing one's fortune to charity was no guarantee that it would be used wisely, since there was no guarantee that a charitable organization not under one's direction would use the money in accordance with one's wishes. Carnegie disapproved of charitable giving that merely maintained the poor in their impoverished state, and urged a movement toward the creation of a new mode of giving which would create opportunities for the beneficiaries of the gift to better themselves. As a result, the gift would not be merely consumed, but would be productive of even greater wealth throughout the society.
Carnegie put his philosophy into practice through a program of gifts to endow public libraries in cities and towns throughout the United States, with the idea that he was thus providing people with the tools to better themselves. In order to ensure that his gifts would not be wasted, he stipulated that the municipality must pass an ordinance establishing a tax to support the library's ongoing operating costs after the initial grant provided the costs for building and equpping the library. When several communities squandered their grants on extravagant buildings, Carnegie established a system of architectural guidelines that mandated simplicity and functionality. After it became obvious that Carnegie could not give away his entire fortune within his lifetime, he established the Carnegie Foundation to continue his program of giving.
External links
- Full text of essay. (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~DRBR/wealth.html)