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Horatio Alger Ragged Dick Greed Quotes

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Michael Moore once said, “Capitalism is an organized system to guarantee that greed becomes the primary force of our economic system and allows the few at the top to get very wealthy and has the rest of us riding around thinking we can be that way too - if we just work hard enough.” Had Horatio Alger met Michael Moore, he would have agreed with his sentiments about greed being a dangerous force in a capitalist society. He also would have supported the fact that Americans are hard working, but Alger, in his book Ragged Dick, paints a more optimistic view of the “respectable core” of hard working magnanimous people who made his 1860’s society work. In Alger’s depiction, holding on to respectability and disavowing greed, in addition to hard …show more content…

When Dick takes Frank around New York, it seems like every five minutes that he’s pointing out another swindler on a street corner or a “swindlin’ shop” with “[men] that are regular cheat[s].” (27) Most of these people appear to be of the same class as Dick, and determined as much money as possible, no matter the consequences or negative effects it may have on those around them?. However, Alger also shows that large corporations can be greedy cheats as well. Dick says “Some of these mining companies are nothing but swindles, got up to cheat people out of their money.” (33). Dick also consistently comments on how he has all of his money tied up in shares of the Erie railroad (4), which is an infamous example of “watered stock” in which the stocks were oversold and people could continue to buy these stocks, despite them becoming almost worthless. Finally, Alger even includes examples of/ Dick even has experiences that depict the upper class as being cruel and greedy, desperate to protect however much money they

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His work, The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy, allows readers to see a more picture perfect outlook on what the lives of these men entitled. Morris’s book was published in 2005, which allows readers to get a perspective from a long period of time and closer to reality rather than other historians writing on this era. The last author that allows readers to view the Robber Barons in a different manor is James Nuechterlein in his journal article Gifts of the “Robber Barons.” Nuechterlein wrote this article in 2007 allowing readers to view the men through historical resources that he uncovered. His stance shows a more balanced approach to the Robber Barons rather than saying one or the other was a better man than the other.

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Robber barons, specifically Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and John D. Rockefeller, a philanthropist, were the chosen, elite members of society according to the doctrine of Social Darwinism. Darwinism is when evolution occurs and the strongest organisms of an ecosystem survive and reproduce to outnumber the weaker, less fit organisms of an ecosystem. Similarly Social Darwinism follows the same concept, but in a capitalist sense of thought. Those who were able to exploit the Gilded Age’s laissez faire economy to their own benefit, like the robber barons Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Steel and J. D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, were the fittest members of society because they were able to survive in the grueling and ruthless free economy. By usurping all of the fresh yet unfit immigrants that were flowing into the States due to the rise of urbanization, these two men integrated these easily-manipulated people into their factories to augment their profits.

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After the Civil War, the Second Industrial Revolution was established due to America’s rapid growth for industry and economics. Capitalists during the industrial period of 1875-1900’s were either accused of being a robber baron or a captain of industry. Some capitalists leaders who were accused of being a robber baron or captain of industry included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. A robber baron is a business leader who gets rich through cruel and scandalous business practices. The captains of industry is a business leader who wants to better the companies in a way that it would be positively contributing to the country.

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At the end of the 19th Century, as the United States was experiencing rapid industrialization, a reconfiguration of the social order yielded opposing visions of social progress. Andrew Carnegie, wealthy businessman, and Jane Addams, founder of Chicago’s Hull House, put forward different methods to achieve such progress, where Addams focuses on creating social capital in a seemingly horizontal manner while Carnegie advocates for a top-down approach. While both of them seem to reap a sense of purpose from their attempts to improve the nation, their approaches vary depending on their vision of the composition of the population they want to uplift. First, Carnegie and Addams’ desire to improve society is partly self-serving. For Carnegie, improving society is the role of the wealthy man who, “animated by Christ’s spirit” (“Wealth”), can administer wealth for the community better than it could have for itself (“Wealth”).

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This quote illustrates that Dick, being raised in a well environment, also had some faults. He could not achieve his American Dream due to lack of money that his family did not

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In the year of 1852, the industrious skill and dedication of a young twelve-year-old boy named Andrew Carnegie captivated Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1 Awed by his diligence, Scott immediately hired and made Carnegie his personal telegrapher.2 With a “rags to riches” background that inspired others to work hard for the American Dream, Carnegie knew exactly how the less fortunate felt when they were compared to the wealthy. Noticing how society achieved social, economic, and political equality before industrialization, Carnegie shared his intake on America’s momentous shift from an agrarian society to an industrial society in the late

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In his famous Cross of Gold speech, Bryan uses a religious element to discuss the labour theory of economics and to illustrate the moral decline of the government. The true Americans are the “hardy pioneers who have braved all the dangers of the wilderness, who have made the desert to blossom as the rose- the pioneers away out there who rear their children near to Nature’s heart”. Not the … “few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world”(811). This is what Bryan considers a problem in the United States. The true businessmen, the farmers and miners, who use their God-given talents, muscle and brain, to create wealth are being overlooked by the capitalists who call themselves businessmen.

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From his research and through my personal experiences, I agree with his overriding thesis that the wealthy dominate all facets of American culture. One of his primary arguments revolves around the lifestyle choices of the American elite. For example, social clubs, including country clubs, are one of the luxuries only offered to the American upper class. Personally speaking, my family never joined a country club due to the intimidating annual and initiation fees associated with such clubs, despite my love for golf and tennis. My family’s social class dictated our ability (or inability) to properly finance our greatest pleasures.

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Grand industrial and economic growth, as well as personal opportunities for monetary success, were never higher than in the Gilded Age. The founding Industrial Fathers such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, to name a few, were the pioneers of the Gilded Age and without them, the United States would not resemble even a fraction of what it does today. Without question, these men were the driving force behind the industrial boom, but the debate rages on as to whether these corporate magnates were sagacious business men seeking to debauch the United States for the procurement of monetary superiority or if they were a benevolent force seeking to bring America to the highest level of economic success ever seen

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At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was booming with new industrial innovations because of new technologies, and it was becoming one of the leading economies in the world. This economic boom came to a sharp halt as events such as the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl hit, causing millions of Americans to face economic struggles. “The Strenuous Life,” a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, displays the ideas of American work ethics that led to economic growth in the early 1900s. These ideals of work ethic not only prompted the cause of the Dust Bowl, but were continued on into the lives of the affected farmers as Americans displaced and in poverty from this event continued to participate in migrant work with awful living

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For instance, Carnegie presented his library named Carnegie Library, he considers this “the best kind of philanthropy” (Ernsberger). By this he indicates the correct way a wealthy individual should live,is by giving back to the community. On the contrary, Richard argues this as negative affect to the company due to the loss of income. Richard believes that Carnegie shouldn’t have spent his money on helping the community instead, he should have continued to invest it on the steel industry. Overall, Richard views Carnegie as “little capitalist who urged presidents to do right things in Philippines, Panama and international diplomacy [but] had never done the right or moral thing as a businessman,” (Ernsberger).

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Spending their wealth on luxurious items was seen to be disrespectful to God and as a result people expected to pour their earnings into their callings. This has close ties with the capitalist ethic. From this ethic, according to Weber, a system of capitalism emerged that no longer required ascetic values to sustain itself. These became the capitalist spirit. Working hard and worshiping, activities held in high regards by Protestants contributed to what we seen in contemporary society as being the capitalist ethic.

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The pearl became evil through all the greed in humanity; therefore, bringing bad luck to anyone who touches it. Throughout the course of the story, I felt annoyed at Kino’s greed and selfishness. After I read the book, I learned that too much greed can lead to suffering, violence, and one’s downfall. Before, I never really knew the consequences of excess greed, but after reading “The Pearl" by John Steinbeck, now I know that I should never let greed take control over me. “He looked into his pearl to find his vision.

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