Andrew Carnegie's and John D Rockefeller's Perception on The Distribution of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie, was an industrialist and philanthropist throughout the Gilded Age. He founded Carnegie Steel, wrote The Gospel of Wealth, and made a fortune within his lifetime. The Gospel of Wealth, states that the wealthy should use their money for the betterment of the society and not just for themselves. Although Carnegie believed that the unequal distribution of wealth was a temporary matter, it is very much permanent making the gap between the rich and the poor prominent to this day. Industrialists and entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller and Mark Zuckerberg help fill the void by giving back to the people who need it the most. The unequal distribution of wealth is ongoing to this day due to the wealthy’s hierarchy of power within the business industry.

Andrew Carnegie’s, The Gospel of Wealth speaks on the large gap between the rich and the poor due to industrialization, and Carnegie’s beliefs on why the wealthy should distribute their money to the less fortunate. Carnegie believes the society will better as a whole if the rich were to do this, and will mend the gap between the rich and the poor. In order to fix this void, Carnegie explains what wealthy men could do with excess money, and how they can use this surplus wealth to benefit the society and the less fortunate. Carnegie explains how the extra money should be “ left to the families of the decedent’s; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes; or finally it can be administered during their lives by its possessors” (Carnegie). Although Carnegie believes giving away surplus wealth will benefit the community, he describes how it will only be beneficial and right if deserving people attain this wealth. He believes that if you are wealthy, you have worked hard to reach that level of success, and if you are not, you must not work hard enough to be rewarded. He explains that distributing of excess wealth is only effective and beneficial to the well-being of the society if its given to people who are worthy of receiving the money whereas given to somebody who doesn’t deserve it. This relates to our world today because there is still a large gap of wealth between the rich and the poor.

Although Andrew Carnegie believed that the unequal distribution of wealth was a temporary matter, it is very much permanent and the gap between the wealthy and the poor will remain. Just like Andrew Carnegie, people like the industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, distribute their wealth in order to works towards closing this gap. John D. Rockefeller was a captain of industry of his time, meaning that he is a entrepreneur whose fortune had a positive impact on society. Rockefeller influenced America industrially by his Standard oil Company. Due to his extreme wealth gained from his company, he became a philanthropist. This meant that a large portion of his earnings went to charitable organizations, which had a beneficial and positive effect on the community. In 1913, The Rockefeller Organization was established “to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world” (Rockefeller). To this day this foundation is still running and solving issues around the globe, relating from economic mobility, to power or health; having an immense impact on the world. As a whole, Rockefeller donated more than half a billion dollars to various educational, religious and scientific causes. This relates back to our world today because there is still a prominent gap between the rich and the poor. Rockefeller tried filling this gap by using his access wealth to give back to them.

Entrepreneur, Mark Zuckerberg, distributes his money due to his surplus wealth, just like Carnegie and Rockefeller. Zuckerberg influenced the world technologically with his invention of Facebook. It was an easily accessible way of communication, which made it much simpler for people to connect with one another, worldwide. Soon enough, Zuckerberg became one of the world’s wealthiest men alive, “His net worth is around $74 billion… which means he’s amassed an average of $5.97 million per day” (Wells). Zuckerberg pledges to give 99% of his facebook shares to charity, due to his surplus wealth. Him and his wife also began the Zuckerberg Initiative which is an organization that “aims to create education reform, biomedical advancements, immigration reform, and housing affordability” (Sheffer). Just like Carnegie and Rockefeller, Zuckerberg uses his wealth to help fill the lasting gap between the wealthy and the poor by giving back to the community through his organizations.

The unequal circulation of wealth is still an ongoing problem to this day due to the wealthy’s hierarchy of power within the business industry. Many of the wealthy, captain of industries of both our time and the gilded age, are philanthropists and share some of their earnings to the people who need it most. Although Carnegie believed that the unequal distribution of wealth was a temporary matter, it is very much permanent making the gap between the rich and the poor prominent to this day.