LAD #21: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

A photo of Andrew Carnegie

The administration of wealth was the main problem in Carnegie's day. He thinks the differences between the conditions of the rich and poor should be celebrated and that it's essential to progress that some people have luxury and all the refinements of civilization and it's better than no one having them.

He then poses the question of what the best way to administer wealth would be. He gives three ways to dispose of surplus wealth: leaving it with decedents, left for public purposes (as in a will), or administered by possessors during their lives. The first isn't very fair, as everything is usually left to the first son, and they usually become impoverished because the value of the land falls or they act foolishly. The second mode would only be used if a person was content to wait until they died before it does good in the world, without changing during their actual lifetime.

The third was to let the few rich take care of the problems of the poor even without distributing their own wealth among them, because the surplus wealth of the few would become the property of many, and, passing through the hands of rich people, would further progress more than distributing wealth to all poor people would. Carnegie thought people should see that the enormous amount of money owned by few rich people who spend for public purposes would be more beneficial to them all than if it were scattered throughout the hands of poorer people.

He concludes by saying it's the duty of man to live modestly, provide for the legitimate wants of people dependent on him, and administer his wealth, by his judgment, for the most beneficial result possible in the community.