50 pages • 1 hour read
Andrew CarnegieThe Gospel Of Wealth
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1889A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Duty and Moral Responsibility
In this article about the importance of philanthropy, Carnegie seeks to send a message encouraging others to follow his example and pay attention to the duty and moral responsibility that comes with affluence. Throughout the article, Carnegie employs an authoritative tone to express his beliefs and to communicate his recommendations for all affluent American citizens. Carnegie’s certainty that he is right about his beliefs and recommendations may stem from his own, deeply personal and powerful feelings of duty towards the less fortunate: he feels that, as a man of wealth, he and others like him have a moral responsibility to give their money back to the society who helped to shape them into the successful men that they are.
The strength of Carnegie’s feelings is apparent in his use of religious allusions and terminology, which suits a discussion of moral responsibilities to care for the less-advantaged. The article is not simply a treatise or an essay; it is a gospel, which is a word typically associated with Christian teachings. Carnegie’s use of the word in the title can be taken further in one of two ways: a reading of the article that criticizes the patriarchal tone of Carnegie’s authority could suggest that Carnegie, as the deliverer of the gospel, might feel himself on the same level as Jesus Christ. Another reading of the article may suggest, instead, that Carnegie, as the communicator of the gospel, simply believes the issues at hand to be as critical to the progress of the human race as anything Jesus Christ might have said to encourage positive interactions among Christians. It is worth noting that the article’s original title was, simply, “Wealth,” and that it was first published in the US. The title was then changed to “The Gospel of Wealth” later, by an English publication.
The American Dream
Though the term “The American Dream” was coined in 1931 by historian James Truslow Adams, eleven years after Carnegie’s death, this set of ideals still applies to Carnegie’s personal history and the effect it likely had on his writing and personal philosophy of philanthropy. When Andrew Carnegie and his family set sail from Scotland, they likely had in mind the dreams of many an immigrant seeking a better, more prosperous life in America. Carnegie’s father was a weaver and his mother’s trade was sewing, so Carnegie had firsthand knowledge of what kind of life the working classes led, and he perhaps imagined himself in a different situation than that of his parents. (His father, once stateside, was unable to find consistent work, as industrialization took away the jobs of the majority of weavers. Carnegie himself, ironically or not, made large portions of his fortune via inventing new industrialization techniques.)
With his working class background in mind, it is easy to see how Carnegie personifies the classic rags-to-riches story that often characterizes seekers of the American dream. After all, his family was far from wealthy and he started his career with very little formal education, making his fortune through luck and hard work. Carnegie is the epitome of the self-made man, an individual who required only his own shrewdness and talent to succeed, which is the status sought by all who seek to pursue the American dream.
Capitalism and Inequality
The themes of capitalism and inequality interweave throughout the article in interesting ways. At the start of the article, Carnegie acknowledges the financial inequalities that exist in his society, but instead of denigrating them, he celebrates them as proof of the success of capitalism. Carnegie explains that though capitalism does not allow social and political equality between all members of society, both the poor and the rich benefit from the gains made in a capitalist society.
Admittedly, social and political equality did exist when individuals in the roles of apprentice were able to advance themselves to the role of masters; however, and as Carnegie points out, as soon as manufactured goods became the norm, such working relationships were no longer necessary. These relationships between apprentice and master became obsolete as the Industrial Revolution gained momentum; thus, the social and political equality such a societal structure permitted also became outmoded.
The individuals who create and manage the systems that produce necessary and sought-after goods deservedly earn more than the workers who follow their directions. According to Carnegie, the businessmen in charge are uniquely qualified, and as these talented businessmen rise to the top, social and financial inequalities naturally emerge. To Carnegie, such social hierarchy is to be expected, not feared or criticized; in fact, the hierarchy can actually be a sign of social health. As the businessmen grow wealthier, there is more potential for them to use their wealth for the public good, which only benefits the less fortunate.
