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Carnegie

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Carnegie was a complex and confounding character. In many ways, his internal contradictions reflected the contradictions of capitalism, contradictions we in the world’s wealthy nations still live out, collectively, of course, but also individually – though mainly on a much smaller-scale than Carnegie! [The average yearly income at purchasing power parity of a Haitian is U.S $1,300, compared to an average yearly income at for a New Zealander of U.S $27,900 -Estimates, 2008, source CIA Fact book, retrieved April 2014]. Carnegie’s wealth was accumulated by luck, skill, vision, the exploitation and suffering of his workers, environmental degradation, bribery, lies & deception, monopoly power, industrial espionage, technological advancement, economies of scale and reinvestment, deal making & breaking.
The money was not of importance, in a material sense, to Carnegie for most of his career he had, by his early thirties, achieved significant wealth it mattered only as a measuring stick for his obsessive competitiveness: Carnegie was man who desperately needed to win.
Even at the time, he was equally praised and condemned (both with good reason) for his philanthropy: many could not forgive him for the way his wealth had been accumulated; many were concerned about the power to shape society that accumulated in the hands of such a rich man a power that Carnegie, a great egotist, did not hesitate to use; others praised the increasing breadth of his vision, and the good works and contributions he was undoubtedly making to society as he systematically and carefully disbursed the wealth he had striven so hard to accumulate.
While in business, Carnegie himself seemed to deal with the conditions of his workers by choosing not to know and think about it, lying to himself and others about the on the ground realities. Out of sight, out of mind. He spent most of his time far away from the great steel works and the filthy, poverty-ridden towns around them, preferring New York, Europe, and the beautiful surrounds of his Scottish Castle.
Only after retirement was he willing to face some of the dark side of his industry. In 1908, Carnegie attended a ‘Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources”, where he marshaled a devastating array of facts to show that the industry he had been a key part of for so many years was wastefully exploiting natural resources, and not only that, causing unnecessary loss of human life in industrial accidents. (Carnegie p.xx-xx)
He was a clever capitalist, selfish, scheming, greedy, and ruthless. A lot like Leland Stanford, who founded Stanford University? Stanford made his money by buying off politicians for free land along the Union Pacific Railway (5 miles on either side of the tracts). Later, their guilt and a desire to be remembered for eternity made them philanthropists with some of their money given to or for Universities and Libraries and what have you. Notice there name is always dominantly displayed on the edifice built by their money.
References
Bridging the Urban Landscape: Andrew Carnegie: A Tribute. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2014, from http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/carnegie.html

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