"The Gospel of Wealth" was an essay written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 that described the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich. The central thesis of Carnegie's essay was the peril of allowing large sums of money to be passed into the hands of persons or organizations ill-equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with them. As a result, the wealthy entrepreneur must assume the responsibility of distributing his fortune in a way that it will be put to good use, and not wasted on frivolous expenditure. The very existence of poverty in a capitalistic society could be negated by wealthy philanthropic businessmen. Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, a major and widely respected philanthropist, and the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company which later became U.S. Steel. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, time, or effort to support a charitable cause, usually over an extended period of time and in regard to a defined objective. ... Economics offers various definitions for money, though it is now commonly defined as any good or token that functions as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts. ...

Andrew Carnegie effectively softened some of the harshness of the theory of social Darwinism. He preached that ostentatious living and amassing private treasures were wrong. Carnegie professed the virtues of a laissez-faire system in which the government did not interfere with a corporation's right to do as it pleased. His "gospel of wealth" earned much praise, but did not win many converts. Carnegie made it clear that the wealthy were responsible for the recirculation of their money back into society where it could be used to support the greater good. He claimed that, in bettering society and people here on earth, one would be rewarded at the gates of Paradise. Social Darwinism in the most basic form is the idea that biological theories can be extended and applied to the social realm. ... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Carnegie based his philosophy on the observation that the heirs of large fortunes frequently squandered them in riotous living rather than nurturing and growing them. Even bequeathing one's fortune to charity was no guarantee that it would be used wisely, since there was no guarantee that a charitable organization not under one's direction would use the money in accordance with one's wishes. Carnegie disapproved of charitable giving that merely maintained the poor in their impoverished state, and urged a movement toward the creation of a new mode of giving which would create opportunities for the beneficiaries of the gift to better themselves. As a result, the gift would not be merely consumed, but would be productive of even greater wealth throughout the society. A charitable organization (also known as a charity) is a trust, company or unincorporated association established for charitable purposes only. ...

Carnegie put his philosophy into practice through a program of gifts to endow public libraries in cities and towns throughout the United States, with the idea that he was thus providing people with the tools to better themselves. In order to ensure that his gifts would not be wasted, he stipulated that the municipality must pass an ordinance establishing a tax to support the library's ongoing operating costs after the initial grant provided the costs for building and equipping the library. After several communities squandered their grants on extravagant buildings, Carnegie established a system of architectural guidelines that mandated simplicity and functionality. When it became obvious that Carnegie could not give away his entire fortune within his lifetime, he established the Carnegie Foundation to continue his program of giving. Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library A public library is a library which is accessible by the public and is often operated by civil servants and funded from public sources. ... A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (for example, tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements). ... This article is about the built environment. ... The Carnegie Foundation (Carnegie Stichting in Dutch) is a organization based in The Hague, The Netherlands. ...

== Wikisource ==yea

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gospel_of_Wealth

External Links

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01053245&id=q5ALvRp61wgC&printsec=titlepage