Question

Compare and contrast Andrew Carnegie’s views about wealth and inequality with the life of the average coal miner. What impact does Carnegie’s background have on his views and how have his views influenced the United States in both the Gilded Age and the present. Based on your reading of the life of the average coal miner, are Carnegie’s views ethical? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Answer:

Andrew Carnegie was extremely wealthy having built a personal fortune from steel. He was a philanthropist and believed in giving back to the community but he still maintained control of where and how to donate. The kind of projects he prioritized did little to directly help the class of people who struggle daily like coal miners.

Explanation:

Andrew Carnegie was known as a philanthropist, he felt it was his duty or obligation to give back to the community as a wealthy person. But he was also the wealthiest man in the world in 1901 when he retired. There is a big disparity between his life and the life of  average coal miner who had to struggle in the mines and risked their health and lives because the earnings were a bit higher than other options for the poorer or working class at the time, particularly where there was coal mining in the Appalachians and around Pittsburgh, for example. This philanthropic view was not ethical because it was the wealthy man himself who still decided where the money was to be donated or invested and in the kind of services it would provide. Carnegie donated to museums and libraries in the Pittsburgh area for example, and while valuable in themselves they do little to improve the quality of life for working class people directly, like coal miners. Although Carnegie did respond personally to some families in the Harwick Mine Disaster for example,  having medals privately minted for the families of two miners who gave their lives trying to save the others. Carnegie also gave $5 million to establish a Carnegie Hero Fund (note how the gesture was branded in the sense even in giving it carries the Carnegie name). But 181 people died in that accident that was indicative of other sacrifices many countless other coal miners made to help amass his personal fortune.