Andrew Carnegies Gospel of Wealth

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that The Gospel of Wealth happens to be one of the most profound writings of the 19th Century. This is more so the case owing to the timeless relevance of the subject matter. However, before delving deeper into this great piece of writing, it would be prudent to first familiarize ourselves with Andrew Carnegie, the author of the said text. In brief, Carnegie was a steel tycoon who later on embraced philanthropy after having made a fortune in the steel industry. Before his death, Carnegie had given away millions to charitable causes. On this front, therefore, we could come to the conclusion that Carnegie was uniquely qualified to delve into the subject of philanthropy which is exactly what he did in this popular piece of writing.

In basic terms, the piece largely advances the ideal or notion of distributing ones wealth back to the society prior to exiting this planet. To a large extent, Carnegie summarized the whole subject matter of the essay in one of the quotes therein: the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced. In essence, he argued that an individuals extra wealth should be assigned a trust fund whose administration ought to be inclined towards the wellbeing of the society. It is important to note that extra wealth is on this front used to indicate any personal wealth over and above what a family or household would require to fulfill its needs. This particular assertion appears to be a departure from the generally held viewpoint that wealth ought to be passed down generations. It is clear from the essay that Carnegie was deeply disturbed by the great divide between the wealthy (i.e. those who had amassed and decided to hoard great fortunes) and the poor. It is for this reason that he suggested that wealth be administered in efforts to bridge this gap. Indeed, in his essay, he was against the notion of wasteful utilization of wealth or resources i.e. in terms of imprudent indulgence or extravagance. For instance, in his opinion, it was inappropriate and inconsiderate for wealth persons to be merely focused on the collection of private treasures. He was clearly in favor of a modest lifestyle.

According to Carnegie, the disposition wealth could take three routes. The first route happens to be that embraced by most...

…wisdom on wealth creation. For instance, a keen reader would make an observation to the effect that wealth creation is driven by the ideals of perseverance and hard work. This essentially means that persons who are lazy and possess the inability to live disciplined lifestyles are unlikely to accumulate any meaningful wealth to give away in the first place.

In the final analysis, it would be prudent to note that there are numerous billionaires today who appear to have followed in the footsteps of Andrew Carnegie. Names that promptly come to mind on this front include, but they are not limited to, Warrant Buffett (of Berkshire Hathaway) and Bill Gates (of Microsoft Corporation). Both are amongst those who have signed what has come to be known as The Giving Pledge, i.e. by committing to give back a significant portion of their wealth to various causes and initiatives. These business leaders appear to have fully embraced Carnegies assertion in The Gospel of Wealth, i.e. the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.

In the final analysis, a worthy parting shot from this amazing reading would be: these who, would administer wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the…