LAD #21: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

Read Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth - summarize

Carnegie begins by declaring that there is an issue in the economic association regarding the relationship between classes. There was a substantial gap between lower and upper (poor and wealthy) classes, especially due to the economy changing. Essentially the economy was based on the desires of the primary race, yet a state of wealth was scarce and it was given to very few people. The few people that the government allotted said wealth to, was a small group of citizens, rather than sharing the wealth and spreading it to all. Carnegie stated that in an effort to remove, or belittle surpluses of wealth, methods such as giving to charity, personal spending, inheritance (passing it down to the next generation), or donating the money for public uses, could not be viable options. Because he disproved of these methods, he then suggested imposing death taxes as a means to provide state proper share of the fortune, while at the same time allowing many people to have a lot of wealth. Andrew finishes in declaring that is the responsibility of the upper class to set good examples and do what’s best for the people and the economy.

This is a picture of Oprah Winfrey, because she is a philanthropist and an individual who belongs to the upper class, much like Carnegie. Carnegie stated that is the responsibility of the upper class to practice philanthropy, and Oprah Winfrey fits his image very closely.