The gospel of wealth by Andrew Carnegie
Rhetor: Andrew Carnegie
Credentials:
philanthropist and entrepreneur
a self-made steel tycoon
wealthiest businessman in the 19 th century
philanthropic work- established of Carnegie-Mellon University in 1904.
Founder Advancement of Teaching in 1905
Writer- The Gospel of Wealth
Presuppositions
It is the responsibility of the rich in ensuring that their wealth trickles down to the poor and the needy for the benefit of all society membersthe rich should share their wealth with the poor and less privileged in society.
He advocated competition for provision of quality products and the strategies in which the gap between the poor and the rich can be mitigated using accumulated wealth.
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the wealthy in the community should be active in offering philanthropy because the rich have enough resources piled up for their use.
The rich should be willing show willingness in the distribution of their resources to the poor to bridge the gap of inequality. Failure to use wealth will have no impact on society.
wealth should be restricted to a few in the society which can be distributed for the benefit of many instead of wasting resources through inheritance
vast fortunes accumulated over time should be well administered as wealth inheritance and its passage to heirs from the rich is a disgrace because the recipients end up being wasteful.
More investments should be made in public purposes and be the leading players by making decisions on how to best use the resources
The wealthy people are in a better position to administer their money and ensure its effective use in society compared to others
the problem of inequality can be addressed without interrupting the economic laws which govern competition and wealth accumulation for the good of the poor in society.
Audience
Andrew Carnegie essay on wealth was first published in theNorth American Review in 1889. Being one of the most foremost and highly subscribed to magazine and provided content which focused on building the society and elevating cultural practices. Therefore, Carnegie original and intended audience for the essay were the well-educated and the wealthy population of the nation with the goal of sensitizing them on administration of their wealth.
Presuppositions
The wealthy are unwilling to share their wealth with the poor
Most preferred to leave their wealth to their heirs
The inequality in wealth between the rich and the poor is due to lack of proper distribution of wealth.
Few of the wealthy engaged in philanthropic institutes and charities for society progress.
Purpose
Carnegie purposein his writings is to convince and persuade the wealthy of
the duty of the rich to help the poor increase the wealth of society as a whole. He claims that encouraging competition for the production of better-quality goods will decreasing inequality as well as discouraging wealth inheritance which leads to resource wastage is the sure way to bring peace on earth and increase goodwill among humanity. Society development with the wealthy in the community utilizing wealth for the greater good is the true Gospel of wealth.
Exigency
The Gospel of wealthaddress the dispersion of wealth in societies and describes the duties and responsibilities of those who have it. Carnegie concerns and worthy goals for the community are clearly outlined in his arguments for those who have achieved excess wealth.
Analysis and reflection
Having grown in poverty and rising to become the world richest man in the century, Andrew Carnegie developed the desire to encourage distribution of wealth for equality and to uplift the less privileged in the society. The arguments of the essay could also have been fueled by guilt being the owner of a steel company and the common experience with workers as theystrived for better payment. The essay was his way of trying to reduce the disparity as he engaged in building education facilities such as universities, libraries and parks for public use.
