LAD/Blog #22: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

In the beginning of his speech, Carnegie discusses how civilization has changed and revolutionized within the past hundred years in that the homes, lives, and possessions of the wealthy have advanced drastically beyond those of the common laborer. However, he states that the economic inequality is actually a good thing, for it provides for the development of art and the advancement of "civilization", which effects not only the wealthy but also the common laborer. This standpoint reflects subtle hints of a popular philosophical concept at the time called Social Darwinism, defined as the application of the evolutionary concept of natural selection to human society, or more simply, survival of the fittest. As is evident, Carnegie was a major proponent for laissez-faire economics because he believed in the natural circulation and equilibrium of wealth distribution.





Carnegie's philanthropic beliefs remind me of members of the Republican party because they believe in reduced economic regulations reflective of laissez-faire policies, opposite of the democratic party which wants to take money from the wealthy.