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The Gospel Of Wealth By Andrew Carnegie Capitalism

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In the novel The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie capitalism is portrayed as a positive influence on society. Carnegie states his thoughts on capitalism at the beginning of his writing when speaking on the law of competition, “while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures survival of the fittest in every department” (4). If you are rich, you have already made it and are surviving, however, if you are poor, you have to put more effort into working harder so that you can prosper instead of dying off in a sense and becoming a part of society that uses money for self interest rather than for the good of mankind. Carnegie also shows his position on capitalism through the statement, “the surplus …show more content…

If dispersed into the hands of the poor, the money might have been used for food or other necessities which helps out the person who spent the money to get those good or services, but it fails to have an influence on the race as a whole. The way money is spent is a capitalist environment is also able to be pictured through the sentence, “It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than so spent as to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unwealthy” (16). Through Carnegie’s perspective, if the money from the wealthy were not able to go to a good cause for the entire race to benefit off of, it would be better that the money is thrown away or not used at all rather than being a handout given to the less fortunate. If the poor and drunken part of the community wishes to spend money on things that they need or believe that are a necessity, even if they are not, those people must work for their money instead of using the money that was given to them from the …show more content…

In the novel The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair, Sinclair expresses through multiple occasions that capitalism brings worry and suffering towards the working class and especially immigrants. Sinclair views capitalism in a negative manner as shown through the lives of Jurgis, Ona, Maria and the rest of their families while living and working in Chicago. The first place Jurgis and his family had was a place that was shared with other families where they pay rent every single month for poor living conditions. Jurgis’ family decided to buy a house instead of continually paying rent for the rest of their lives. After paying the downpayment for the house, Jurgis’ family went to consult with another immigrant family in

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