Gilded Age - Andrew Carnegie

One of the most generous philanthropists that received his wealth from the industrialization of the Gilded Age was Andrew Carnegie. His philanthropy included bettering society by helping many fund many educational programs. He is best known for his foundation of libraries which he hoped that would let people better themselves. The reason for his work was based on his philosophy. His philosophy, of bettering society, was presented in his article entitled Wealth. In this article, he explains his beliefs of what wealthy people should do with their money.

To introduce, Andrew Carnegie main reason for writing the article was to try to convince other wealthy people to follow his lead. He believed that the wealthy where not spending their wealth correctly. Instead of using the money wisely to help society by funding education, they were wasting the money on what they wanted. He also was against money that was passed down from generation to generation. In the article, he praises British Estate tax, which is a double taxation of property. He states that this prevents selfish millionaires from transferring their wealth.

Furthermore, Carnegie main purpose was to convince wealthy people to spend their money wisely. While he does make his point of them not wasting the money on themselves, he also warns them of the possibility of their money not being properly used in charities. He says that in order for money to be used wisely, charities need to help a person become independent; to be able to live on their own. They cannot just provide for them. This would cause them to be reliant on them. A wealthy person job was to see that their donation would not be used like this.

To conclude, Andrew Carnegie believed that wealthy people should help maintain society. It is their duty, as referring to Wealth, which they need to help the less fortunate and make a better society for them.