The History Channel runs a series entitled:
The Great Men of America, every so often. After watching a episode, on Mr. Carnegie,
which I thought quite interesting, I did a few hours research on him and found The
Carnegie Corporation of New York was founded in 1911 by him. It has finished its hundred and third year,
marking it’s centennial year with the motto: "To do real and permanent good in this world." The
corporation was the last of the more than twenty trusts, institutions, and
organizations Mr. Carnegie created in the United States and abroad. Even though
its name sounds as if it is simply another Wall Street corporation, Mr.
Carnegie had run out of names to use in establishing his foundation. Having
reached the latter part of his life, Carnegie generously gave the bulk of his
fortune "to the public.
Many years ago, as a thirtyish, I visited the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the time, I was too preoccupied with my interests to think about the great act of generosity that made such a wonderful library. I did not realize the story behind the Carnegie libraries nor did I know anything about Andrew Carnegie or the wealth he amassed and gave away to build libraries like these.
Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant to the United States, represents the classic tale of rags to riches that is the quintessential reflection of the American dream. Ingenious, shrewd, and visionary without any formal education beyond grade school, Carnegie became the richest man in America during the "The Gilded Age" of the late nineteenth century. Riding the wave of rapid development from the Industrial Revolution, Carnegie became the king of industry, first of railroads and then of steel.
But Carnegie's was a mixed legacy, I learned on another television special entitled American Experience: "Andrew Carnegie: The Richest Man in the World.” While he amassed fortunes, his workers languished for pennies in what is described as one of the darkest chapters in American labor history. While he may have been less ruthless than some of his other industry contemporaries, by today's ethical standards for laborers, Carnegie was brutal in his demands for long hours of labor with very little pay.
The more I began to pay attention to Carnegie's life and legacy I see he is an oft-cited inspiration for many of the richest men in the world today who have pledged to give their money away in their lifetime. Two examples are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Gates and Buffett cite an oft-quoted refrain from Carnegie: "The man who dies rich dies disgraced... And besides, it provides a refuge from self-questioning." Perhaps some of Carnegie's own "self-questioning" came from the way in which he made his money, seeking efficiency and profit at the expense of worker wellbeing. I hope so! Whatever the case, the richest man in the world believed that money made from society should be given back to society. From Carnegie's example, Buffett and Gates go and do likewise with their own fortunes.
I take the liberty to interpret capitalism, at its heart, as being about multiplying and advancing capital. But what is to be done with immense profits? Perhaps, in the example of Andrew Carnegie, despite a mixed legacy, one might recognize that wealth production should include social capital—namely, that great gains financially can indeed be used to achieve "real and permanent good in this world." I really think that wealth can bring profit not just for individuals, but for communities, cities, and regions all around the world. Like the biblical notion of being blessed to be a blessing, I who am wealthy in all sorts of ways, other than money, can allow caritas, or charity, to guide me in bringing blessing for others. My small wealth—time, treasure, and talent—can be used for the sort of profit that is more than just individual, capital gain.
Today we have a candidate seeking the presidential office of our country, using his own wealth for expenditures in his bid. Quite commendable, I assume. The more I study Jesus's instruction on wealth, it is but an illustration of His concern for the whole and not merely for personal gain or an isolated cause. He instructed his followers to "go and sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure where no thief comes near nor moth destroys," so He says in Luke 12:33. This means: as one commentator, John Sheila Galligan said, on Luke's gospel points out, that "possessions in themselves are neither good or bad; it is the choices that one makes concerning them that determines their significance...The proper use of material goods that are non-essential to the disciple is to be manifested in the positive act of helping those in need."
Heavenly Father, I thank you for what You have provided me
with. The talent, time, treasure
recognized this morning, and received only from Your gracious hand. Thank You for teaching me through Jesus’
words that wealth creates profit, but the kind of profit my treasure creates is
up to me to decide. And where my wealth is, there will my heart be also. May I ever listen completely to Your sweet
Holy Spirit in this matter. Amen
