The myth of the western society
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The myth of the western society
The following is an essay on the myth of the western society concerning how the westerners regarded their society and the truths, which pertained to that society. if you are schooling in New York, Chicago or London, the esay is of great importance to you. The society thereby developed the kind of perception that the rich took advantage of the poor as they used to do in the previous centuries. However, the reality of the twentieth century is that even the wealth contributed to the welfare of the modern society. Andrew Carnegie, a self-made industrialist of the twentieth century, shows this.
Andrew Carnegie who himself was a great industrialist and owner of the factors of production was one of the fellows who contributed to the evolution of the modern society. He did not believe in absolute accumulation of wealth by one individual. That is the reason why, to disburse his wealth to the masses, he created trusts or foundations whose sole work was to disburse the surplus wealth to the poor people who would have been untransformed if he only gave out handouts to them. These trusts were to donate to the universities, construction of hospitals and libraries.
There was the myth that the son of poor people will always be poor. People became more enlightened and took advantage of opportunities, which came their way. Andrew Carnegie achieved great wealth through hard work and gaining the cooperation of other people. The improvements in the various industries, which brought the great difference, have been brought about by the advent of invention of steam engine brought about trade. This is because; both goods and people would move from one place to another in the sense that this was practically hard as movement was a privilege of the rich. The railway or the invention of steam engine was the first telecommunication miracle because it opened areas, which were behind technologically. This explains why Carnegie said the Indians too had started to civilize although they lagged behind in their advancement.
The reality of the rich being of great help to the society is now availed by how Carnegie used trusts to assist the poor members of the society. The struggle between the rich and the poor is therefore lesser than it were in the nineteenth century because; everyone has an opportunity to improve their lives. He said that the employees felt that they were exploited by the employers' feelings that Bellamy had, when he talked about how the rich maintained their wealth by having trusts, which they used to pass on their wealth from one generation to the other.
The reality of the twentieth century is contrary to the myth that the yester years were better than the current times. However, according to both Bellamy and Carnegie they concur that the modern society is as if heaven compared to the savage society. Bellamy describes how moving from one place to another was tedious and annoying because there was no proper means of transport.
The people in the twenty first century were also fanatical about government regulations in the industries as they felt that they had no option in regulating the massive industries. However, Carnegie opined that with a liberalized economy more people would have chances of competing and thereby offer quality goods and services to the consumers. It is ironical that he would look for such a world yet his industries dominated the steel market of the twentieth century. The contrast between the two thinkers is crucial in showing those who are in the twenty first century where we have come from.