Andrew Carnegie's The Gospel Of Wealth

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The publication of Charles Darwin’s book The Origin of Species gave forth to attempts to attribute Darwinian precepts to humans in society. Commonly known as Social Darwinism, these ideas generally propagate the idea that “survival of the fittest” occurs not only in animals, but also in human societies. Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy businessman in the late 19th century, too believed in Social Darwinism. In his essay “Gospel of Wealth,” Carnegie identifies three main Darwinian precepts: the idea of the survival of the fittest in every department of human life, the idea of the classification of mankind as inferior and superior, and the idea that society could evolve as a whole after the “inferior” have been successfully eliminated or converted into …show more content…
While it is ethically wrong to classify the less wealthy as inferior to the more wealthy, it is true that much could be done to improve the lives of the less wealthy today. Currently too many families around the world have been confined into low socioeconomic statuses for generations with no means to escape. Occasionally, stories of how some people from these confinements escape and rise in socioeconomic status occur in the news. A significant amount of these success stories could be substantiated by some of the public amenities proposed by Carnegie. Some of the wealthy today practice Carnegie’s ideas about how best to dispose of “surplus wealth.” Numerous public libraries, parks, public buildings, and resources exist today as a result of assistance from the wealthy. Perhaps the most effective assistance that the wealthy could have on the success of the less wealthy is the donation to the financial aid program for college students. Many countries around the world lack a robust financial aid system, but in America, these programs could provide the most effective way for the less wealthy to reach for the highest education without economic pressure and
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