The Philosophy of the Industrialists

Thomas Jefferson  Spoke of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”  Contrasting ideals of freedom lead to clash in the “Gilded Age”  Pursuit of happiness vs. Pursuit of Property  Why did so many Americans view corporations as evil entities that destroyed the dream of “Pursuit of Happiness?”

Does this help you understand?  No analogy in the past  Individual achievement and Protestant “work- ethic” basis  New corps de-emphasized human element  Corporations were artificial creations  Agreement between legislators and businessmen  Corporations threatened free competition  Healthy competition benefits consumers and producers

Reconciliation  Are corps. beneficial to “happiness?”  Justification:  Social Darwinism- Suvival of the fittest (rich=fit, poor=lazy)  Old ideal: hard work makes one (as well as nation) strong  Profit Incentive ($) as human motive

Social Darwinism  Herbert Spencer (English Philosopher, coined term ‘survival of the fittest’)  Human society modeled after nature  Humans should not interfere with nature  Nature selects only the fittest for survival  Welfare, state schooling, systematized health care interferes  Allows the “weak” to survive; damages “purity”

Self-Adjusting Economy  “Invisible Hand”—Adam Smith (Scottish philosopher, econ. theorist )  People are naturally selfish  People go into business to gain wealth/power  Called for no gov’t interference (laissez faire)  The activity is good for all society More production and trade More Competition Competition helps all with more goods/lower prices This creates jobs/spreads wealth

More on Smith  Political Economy ruled by unchanging laws (think laws of nature or God)  Self-Interest is natural and beneficial  Free competition is a necessary law of economics  Government is inefficient and should not be involved with economic matters

Gospel of Wealth  Essay written in 1889  Carnegie- wealthy must prove they are moral/responsible  Philanthropy is the key (he gives millions to build public libraries across USA)  Poverty is a consequence of a Cap.society but giving $ to poor will alleviate poverty  Excessive spending by rich is wrong, what will get you into heaven is helping the poor  Carnegie Foundation- today gives $ to fund education

Fewer Control More  Businesses try to control industry with mergers – buy out competing companies  Form monopolies – control production, wages, and prices  John D. Rockefeller founds Standard oil Company, forms trust  Trust - separate companies run as one giant corp. The monopoly, represented by a pig, is trying to steal the world away from the poor man through the control of major industries such as mining, railroad, telegraph, telephone and others.

Fewer Control More  Rockefeller and the “Robber Barons”  Rockefeller profits by paying low wages and underselling others  When he controls the market, he raises prices Chart shows the comparison in the number of billionaires from 1865 through 2004

How rich were the “robber barons” compared to Microsoft founder Bill Gates?

The millions made by the robber barons is at the expense of the workers