What surprised you the most?
What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
I was surprised to hear how logical the conclusions were that made him into a Robber Baron, Gilded Age capitalist. He treated it like a tax- that each of the people were giving up small portions of their money in exchange for his using of the fortune to fund the building of many institutions such as schools, libraries, technical institutes, and buying organs for churches so the people can enjoy music. Often such a negative connotation is given to these capitalists but it almost seems good what he ended up doing. I most admired the charitable side of Carnegie. On the other hand, I did not like the side of Carnegie which led him to fire Henry Clay Frick and surround him with bad press by pointing out that he was prone to passionate temper tantrums. Carnegie was social and well-mannered but he saw himself as so righteous that he would emphasize the bad of anyone else, publicly. Carnegie faced hard times getting his business through depressions but his ruthlessness and unwillingness to compromise with unions got him through it. He made sure costs were as low as possible in the good times so that in bad times the company could make it through. Now that the US Government has stronger control of the economy however, I don’t believe the same would have to be done today.
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What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
Carnegie’s competencies were an eye for quality and his focus on efficiency. He developed his eye for quality likely through reading and his striving for self-improvement. His efficiency was learned at a young age as he always wanted to be the best at his job, no matter how menial in order to be recognized and promoted to earn better money for his mother.
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Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
None of it was confusing to me, Carnie was a logical agent differentiated by his temperament and personality, but he was in many ways predictable.
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If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
I would ask him what he would think of democracy today and if he thinks the increased government control of the economy is, on net, better for the People- if Synthetic Philosophy still applies as well. I would also would want to know what his long-term goals are considering that until his death during WW1 he was striving to coax his powerful political connections to work for world peace.
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If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
I would ask him what he would think of democracy today and if he thinks the increased government control of the economy is, on net, better for the People- if Synthetic Philosophy still applies as well. I would also would want to know what his long-term goals are considering that until his death during WW1 he was striving to coax his powerful political connections to work for world peace.
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What do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
What do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
Carnegie did not believe in hard work, he believed in being in the right places at the right time. He believed in looking for opportunity- gaps/opportunities in government policy, inefficiencies in business, better technologies or manufacturing methods, or cheaper logistical deals. Just being able to see the opportunities made him not have to work so hard and he ended up being the richest man on earth. I will stress that I believe that his ability to see the opportunities was not inherent, but was grown from his reading of a great deal of books in his youth (1 per week), newspapers, people around him who talked about politics and business and philosophy, and his striving for efficiency in early jobs.
Efficiency is huge, and very important if you want to be successful. Seeing as he learned this at a young makes sense, because not everyone knows how to be efficient and they don't all strive for it. To become the richest man on the planet I feel that he would've believed in hard work, but I can see his point of view. I don't know if I necessarily agree with it, but he was very successful so I must respect it.
ReplyDeleteI can see you appreciate what this entrepreneur did however, you must remember that the economy he worked in is long dead and gone. The US economy in his time had more monopoly’s which more easily made a profit then the highly completive market we have today. He also lived through some of the worst recessions in American history from 1936-1838 then from 1839-1843 the US had its longest and worst recessions of the century. These were caused by government action with the first one being something we will never see again because it was caused by a lack of money in a growing economy do to the gold standard limiting the amount of money in existence. The second was also caused by the same set of circumstances plus some of the largest tariffs in American history. This ruined the nation’s economy, but some people came out on top such as Carnegie. Also, the many post-civil war recessions from 1865-1896 kept his companies in a none competitive environment. It is these huge changes in the economy that make a lot of what he said irrelevant in our modern economy.
ReplyDeletethe first date was 1836 not 1936 but you can figure that out.
DeleteI have always found these older systems of super healthy persons (Carnegie, Hershey) controlling vast wealth and then distributing it to their employees and communities – and sometimes but not always charities - interesting. I don’t think this system is ideal, but it is an interesting perspective. It tends towards a dictatorial bent – but it would be foolish to disregard that having any positives, even if it isn’t the best overall.
ReplyDelete