There are but three modes in which surplus wealth can be disposed of. It can be left to the families of the decedents; or it can be bequeathed [leave behind] for public purposes; or, finally, it can be administered during their lives by its possessors (this is what Carnegie proposes).

Under its sway we shall have an ideal state, in which the surplus wealth of the few will become, in the best sense the property of the many, because administered for the common good, and this wealth, passing through the hands of the few, can be made a much more potent force for the elevation of our race than if it had been distributed in small sums to the people themselves. Even the poorest can be made to see this, and to agree that great sums gathered by some of their fellow-citizens and spent for public purposes, from which the masses reap the principal benefit, are more valuable to them than if scattered among them through the course of many years in trifling amounts.

What is the main idea of what Carnegie is saying?

Respuesta :

The main idea of what Carnegie is saying is that among the ways to dispose of surplus wealth, administering it for the common good is the most beneficial.

In the passage, Carnegie states that there are 3 ways to dispose of surplus wealth:

  1. To leave it to the families of the owner
  2. To administer it during the possessor's life
  3. To leave it behind, to be used for public purposes

Carnegie states that among these ways to dispose of excess wealth, administering the money in ways that are for public purposes is the most beneficial, to the most amount of people. He implies that the alternative of scattering excess wealth among the few, over the course of many years in small amounts would not have a long-lasting benefit and therefore not be a way in which the community can make long lasting progress, he refers to this as "the elevation of our race".

Carnegie lists the modes in which excess wealth can be disposed of, then explains his opinion that administering the wealth for public purposes, whose benefit will be received by the masses, is the most effective way to reach an ideal state.

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