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Communism vs capitalism
Compare capitalism to communism
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Communism vs capitalism
Compare capitalism to communism
Communism vs capitalism comparison
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
We are in an era of great wealth and prosperity in America, but there is a dark secret to this period of economic growth. Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould are two of the most influential railroad barons of the time, but their business practices are anything but honorable. Vanderbilt and Gould use their immense wealth and power to create monopolies and exploit the railroad industry for their own gain. They manipulate the stock market, bribe politicians, and use intimidation tactics to ensure their success.
Captains of Industry or Robber Barons? “What do I care about the law? Ain’t I got the power?” This is a quote from the business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was the leader of the railroad industry during the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was a superficial period in the US History, in which the economy grew at a suprising rate.
Justification of this is seen in Document 3, as Andrew Carnegie writes, “The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich and poor in harmony.” Surely, a manipulative man would not believe in such fair distribution of wealth. Carnegie is also famous for large charitable donations, meaning his business methods were not enacted solely for his own benefit. This statement highlights Carnegie’s compassionate side and proves that he is not completely a “robber baron.” Similarly to Carnegie, Rockefeller’s compassionate side is also portrayed in Document 7.
The extent to which this occurred makes Andrew Carnegie the best, or worst, robber baron of all. As I mentioned earlier, Carnegie was not born into a family of wealth and privilege. Instead, he was born in Scotland in 1835 to a weaver and shoemaker. As their jobs were replaced by the advancement of technology, the Carnegies moved to the U.S. in 1848, where Andrew Carnegie got
Morgan, Rockefeller, and Carnegie all had their times when they acted like robber barons but the things they did as Captains of Industry over power what they did wrong which shows they did more good than bad. For example Carnegie donated more than $350 million to further public education, and build over 2,500 libraries. He did have times when he had his workers work long hours with little pay but his good, overpowered his bad. Another example was made by Rockefeller, in 1913, The Rockefeller Foundation was officially established and Rockefeller transferred $235,000,000 to it by 1929. He donated his money and proved he was a captain of industry.
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.
Entrepreneurs controlled the Gilded Age creating a growing economy with booming businesses and yet this has not changed over the years. John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie can be compared to those with the names Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Multibillionaires, who know what the consumers desire, is what these men are best at. They knew and now know business well enough to be able to control our country’s’ economy. However, these successful business men do not do it together.
The Robber Barons’ Climb to Success The Robber Barons came out of the 1850’s when the people of America were torn on what values their country ought to entertain. With the Civil War on the brink of erupting the country became divided over what their future should be. A few select men took advantage of this time of ambiguity and confusion to make a profit.
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.
Part of a captain of industries duty were to make sure that whatever he does whether it is “trust funds in which he administered”, it would have to benefit the community (DOC 2). Andrew Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is the belief of the “survival of the fittest.” You are rich because God is rewarding and you are poor because you aren’t working hard
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”).
The economic elements of the Progressive Era revolved mainly around the trusts that had a hold of the economy, as well as the trust-busting that Roosevelt took part in at the time. Big companies started taking over the economy due to the building monopolies and Roosevelt became determined to break up the damaging trusts. For example, oil companies such as Rockefeller’s and Standard Oil had basically dominated the whole oil industry during this time by driving out smaller business and intimidating railroad industries to transport their oil. Previously mentioned companies like Rockefeller’s proposed that their trusts allowed for economic advancements such as oil management and steady jobs for men, but most trusts threatened the public interests
The Business aspect thrived but was faulty. The term “robber barons” was coined to describe men who’d utilize malevolent tactics such as fraud, intimidation and networking to amass wealth and be at the top of the throne competitively. Men that fit the categorization of robber barons include Carnegie and Rockefeller. They were able to build monopolies and but contrary to a robber baron they did practice philanthropy. In addition to this, was also social Darwinism defining the classes.
Along with parallels in the rise of technology, the sensationalism in media, and the economic consequences of the two it is my belief that we have entered into a second gilded age. Today we can see our economic situation becoming more and more “gilded”, that is on the outside there is grand technological, medical, and societal progress, however, looking deeper, we can find a darker underbelly of our social and political reality. As in the gilded age, the focus of concern is a disparity of power and wealth. According to Forbes (Adams) only 18% of people trust business leaders to do the right thing and only 15% trust business leaders to tell the truth. These statistics shows a great divide between those who have power in today’s society and their reputation as honest and hardworking people.
History should remember the entrepreneurs of the 1800’s and 1900’s as Captains of Industries or Robber Barons. These entrepreneurs