41 pages • 1 hour read
Anand GiridharadasA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Modern philanthropy began when major corporations, like those run by the Rockefellers and Andrew Carnegie, began to give away part of their fortunes. However, critics held that those fortunes were made in “dirty” ways, such as the monopoly held by John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. Furthermore, suspicions arose that the money given by these philanthropists was being used to influence society in ways that were undemocratic.
Carnegie’s influential essay “Wealth” rejected the idea of giving wealth away to descendants or to giving it to charitable causes after death. Instead, Carnegie believed that the wealthy should be giving actively during life, and he supported estate taxes as an additional incentive to encourage the wealthy to give. However, Carnegie also argued that inequality was the undesirable but inevitable cost of genuine progress” (160). He believed that philanthropy erased inequality but believed it was better to give money to public institutions like libraries and museums rather than to pay people more from the start. Carnegie’s essay gave rise to the idea of the “Gospel of Wealth.”
Giridharadas discusses several philanthropists and individuals working within the world of philanthropy, including Kat Cole (CEO of Focus Brands), heir Laura Tisch, and Plus, gain access to 8,450+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Black History Month Reads
View Collection
Books About Leadership
View Collection
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Business & Economics
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Civil Rights & Jim Crow
View Collection
Class
View Collection
Class
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Contemporary Books on Social Justice
View Collection
Diverse Voices (High School)
View Collection
Equality
View Collection
Political Science Texts
View Collection
Politics & Government
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Sociology
View Collection