Andrew Carnegie Essays - Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel Of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie A man of Scotland, a distinguished citizen of the United States, and a philanthropist devoted to the betterment of the world around him, Andrew Carnegie became famous at the turn of the twentieth century and became a real life rags to riches story. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835, Andrew Carnegie entered the world in poverty. The son of a hand weaver, Carnegie received his only formal education during the short time between his birth and his move to the United States. When steam machinery for weaving came into use, Carnegie?s father sold his looms and household goods, sailing to America with his wife and two sons. At this time, Andrew was twelve, and his brother, Thomas, was five. Arriving into New York on August 14, 1848, aboard the Wiscasset from Glasgow, the Carnegies wasted little time settling in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where relatives already existed and were there to provide help. Allegheny City provided Carnegie?s first job, as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, working for $1.20 a week. His father also worked there while his mother bound shoes at home, making a miniscule amount of money. Although the Carnegies lacked in money, they abounded in ideals and training for the ir children. At age 15, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy in Pittsburgh. He learned to send and decipher telegraphic messages and became a telegraph operator at the age of 17. Carnegie?s next job was as a railroad clerk, working for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He worked his way up the ladder, through his dedication and honest desire to succeed, to become train dispatcher and then division manager. At this time, young Carnegie, age 24, had already made some small investments that laid the foundations of his what would be tremendous fortune. One of these investments was the purchase of stock in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company. In 1864, Carnegie entered the iron business, but did not begin to make steel until years later. In 1873, he built the Edgar Thomson works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, to make Bessemer steel. He established many other steel plants, and in 1892, he merged all of his interests into the Carnegie Steel Company. This act from Carnegie is fitting with one of his most famous quotations, ?Put all of your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.? This firm became one of the greatest industrial enterprises in America. Carnegie later sold it to J.P. Morgan?s United States Steel Corporation in 1901 for $400 million, which would be a little over $4 billion today! After retiring, Carnegie?s fortune was estimated to be as large as half a billion dollars. From that time on, with the philosophy that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their money, he devoted himself to philanthropy. Although ironic, this man of great fortune strongly believed in the merits of poverty for the development of character and work ethic, and determined that wealthy men should not leave their fortunes to their children, but should give it away, claiming ?The man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced.? The picture of community service, Carnegie is quoted as saying, ?Pittsburgh entered the core of my heart when I was a boy, and cannot be torn out. I can never be one hair?s breadth less loyal to her, or less anxious to help her in any way, than I have been since I could help anything. My treasure is still with you, and how best to serve Pittsburgh is the question which occurs to me almost every day of my life." Colonel James Anderson, who Carnegie believes to be his childhood benefactor, established a public library in his hometown of Allegheny City. This library was the first opportunity for Carnegie to take advantage of free information, and he developed a vast interest for knowledge, checking out at least one book a week, and developing himself as a young boy. With Colonel Anderson?s generous contribution to his society molding Carnegie?s childhood, and his beliefs on how large fortunes can be used for the betterment of society, it becomes obvious that Carnegie would focus particularly on promoting education, establishing 2,811 free libraries in all. Of these, 1,946 were located in

Ethics and corrections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics and corrections - Essay Example For example if a correctional officer have to use force to subdue a inmate, does he use excessive force or the least amount necessary, as it will be difficult for a outsider to determine if the officer have acted ethically, but the officer himself will know if he have acted in good faith or abusive. Correctional professionals are also required to keep the inmates' personal information and reasons for incarceration confidential even though this may pose a danger to other inmates. So the dilemma in corrections can be seen as decisions and actions that needs to be taken in order to facilitate due process of rehabilitation, and in certain circumstances doing good will result in bad consequences, in others implementing negative or bad will have positive results. This correctional professionals have to make ethical decisions each day, facing dilemmas that goes against there morals, believes or value system. This may impede on their ability to make certain decisions or implement certain actions that could have resulted in a positive outcome or prevented a negative outcome. To be able to propose an ethical approach that can be used by correctional professionals we first need to evaluate the current system in use. In the world today many ethical systems are used in several unrelated fields such as business, environment, animal rights, medical, technological and criminal. In the criminal justice system Normative Ethics is the fundamental system used for making decisions. The idea behind Normative Ethics is that persons should act morally and take reasoning into account when making decisions or implementing actions. "Essentially, ethics, in prescribing certain standards of conduct, gives us a way of making choices in situations where we are unsure about how to act," (Cindy Banks, 2002, p7). Within the Normative Ethics system the Utilitarian Principals seems to apply most fittingly to correctional personal. Within the utilitarian concept the Rule Utilitarianism aligns with their responsibility and functions, and the Harm Principal to their behaviour. "Rule Utilitarianism: An act is right if and only if it is required by a rule that is itself a member of a set of rules, the acceptance of which would lead to greater good for society than any available alternative. Harm Principle: Society is justified in coercing the behavior of an individual in order to prevent her or him from injuring others; it is not justified in coercing her or him simply because the behavior is deemed immoral or harmful to herself or himself." (John Cleese, 2005). Even with this ethical system it is not always clear what action is the correct one, as when a person is facing a dilemma where an unmoral action will result in a positive outcome. People's value system they developed normally guides their ethical behaviour. Some of these values are; respect, responsibility, trust, truth, courage, faith, dependence, interdependence, etc. So how will a correctional professional be able to make sure his or her behaviour is ethical, even when facing a difficult dilemma Ethical Approach for Correctional Professionals Every person have to make ethical decisions from day to day, just deciding to help or not to help a old lady over the street is a ethical decision. A person can also decide not to make a decision

Egypt and Mesopotamia before 3000 BC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Egypt and Mesopotamia before 3000 BC - Essay Example Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were ruled by kings at a time before 3000 BC; they were also ruled by priestly castes during this period. The powers of ruler ship were shared amongst a few erudite elites. The economies of these two civilizations were slave-driven as slaves formed the major manpower for their productions. Their societies were formed into status groups as they formed castes based on status and it was the privileged people that were at the upper end of the caste system. The religious edifices and palaces of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia civilizations were constructed for governmental and ceremonial purposes. Division of labor was also the basis of production of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Ancient writings of Mesopotamia and Egypt also influenced modern day writings. 1 In the political system of the two civilizations, the Egyptian civilization was ruled by a powerful centralized government, while Mesopotamia was ruled by the governments of regional city-states. The literary tradition of the Mesopotamians was greater than that of the Egyptians. In architecture, the Egyptians built more monumental structures than the Mesopotamians and this was also due to the belief of the Egyptians in the afterlife as they built these structures to honor the dead.