Andrew Carnegie was a poor immigrant from Scotland turned millionaire who came to symbolize the American dream. In his essay "Wealth", he depicts the correct way of distributing money to help educate the less fortunate. Carnegie also talks about how in the past, the apprentice and the master where very much alike in their status quo. Another interesting topic he talks about is the law of competition, where in order to succeed in life you must be able to compete with the rest of the world. Furthermore, Carnegie concentrates in one focal point and that is the distribution of money. The three main ideas Carnegie has on distributing wealth are, leaving the money to the family of descendent, also become available for public purposes, and finally the processor can administer it in its lifetime. .
The first idea that Carnegie focuses on is leaving the money to a family member. Carnegie claims that it "is the most injudicious" by this he means the least wise of the three ways of distributing wealth. It is a common practice in western Europe to leave the first son all of ones money. This is a "misguided affection" and a bad idea according to Carnegie, because one cannot have the same style or strategies as his own father no matter how hard he tries. Also when the child is born, he is given anything he wants and when ever he wants. Therefore, the child will not appreciate the value of the land or the money that he is given. Carnegie also states that the son may not be sensitive to all that is necessary during the process of developing a country. Therefore, the child will lose the land causing great catastrophe to his country or empire. Carnegie goes on to say " It is not suggested the men who have failed to educate their sons to earn a livelihood shall cast them adrift in poverty" thinking that an education is more important to a son then just leaving large sums of money. In spite of this, leaving money to their son or daughter, one can rest in peace knowing that their child is not deficient with money.
