American History

After the Civil War was over USA experienced a rapid growth of its economy and industry in particular. The growth was combined with a considerable influx of immigrants. Those were predominantly young men willing to work and earn in spite of all hardships offered by the half-savage country and it seemed there were no number to them. Under the circumstances American bourgeoisie did not take into consideration interests of workers at all. The latter could have struck or rallied as much as they please being replaced by hosts of the newcomers. That is why United States stayed impregnable to socialist ideas penetrating from the Old World though. At the same time America of the second half of XIX offered the plenty opportunities for those who wished to get rich and Andrew Carnegie was the characteristic example of fulfillment of American Dream being a real self-made man. Having come to the USA at the age of twelve Carnegie began to work as a bobbin boy at the cotton mill. Being a child Andrew worked twelve hours per day six days per week being paid 1.2 per week. His parents had to work hard either. Nevertheless he succeeded to make fortune yielding to Rockefeller only. His success allowed him to demand form others to work hard. By the time Carnegie published his Gospel of Wealth he owned a number of plants and had thousand of workers working for him twelve hours a day and six days a week as Carnegie himself had worked before. So such successes as Carnegie supposed everyone to work hard to get rich. Those who failed were esteemed as idlers and lazy losers who simply did not wish to work.

Eugene V. Debs  one of the most prominent American socialist and trade union leader  was hardly the exact antithesis of Carnegie. Born to a wealthy family he quitted going to school and began to work as a boiler man. Later he changed many occupations yet eventually quitted working and began to struggle for workingmens rights. Having been offered a flying start of his life Debs failed to take advantage of it and did never finish his formal education though.

There was no industry in China then so material benefits of America were created by American industrial failed to become oligarch so went on working twelve hours a day six days a week. Life and working conditions American industrial workers worked under were often justly compared to those of slaves. They earned the same wages as Carnegie used to earn being a child and these scarce earnings were hardly enough for having life sustained. Life conditions of female workers were still more appalling. It was not rare when women received less money for the exactly the same job as that being done by men. That circumstance compelled many of American women to engage in prostitution which was in great demand inhabited predominantly by men-newcomers.  Eugene V. Debs compared profit prostitution then was yielding to the profit of other American trusts.

Though the working masses as the whole seemed tot have been treated like women which are usually consumed not being given any credit. The measures supposed to improve workingmens life and working conditions taken by government and proposed by politicians resulted in nothing but in insulting laborers intelligence. Politicians of the main parties of that time proposed to reform tariff policies and implement currency reforms. Yet these reforms may have been of no use for American industrial workers. Both protective tariffs in the USA and free trade policies of England allowed Carnegies of both countries to make tremendous super profits while industrial workers still suffered from want. When American industrial workers resorted to strike or rally they were put to prison or being shot by the police and army detachments.  As it was mentioned above both heroes and martyrs of the struggle for industrial workingmens rights were soon replaced by pliable immigrants form the Old World which went on coming to America in their pursuit of happiness. So from the point of view of American government and oligarchy governmental measures toward workingmen were more than effective. Furthermore accidentally or not American trade union and leftist leaders unlike their European and Russian like-minded doers of the  same level seem not to be apt to learning being inferior not only to the leftists of the Old World but to their American opponents. That difference is evident when Carnegies Gospel of Wealth and Debs Capitalism and Socialism are compared with one another.  

Just having gotten through Andrew Carnegies essay the one who succeeds to do it might feel himherself superior to another one who failed. Gospel of Wealth evinces rather high educational background of the author and supposes the reader to have the like. Being an embodiment of American dream, a really self-made man Andrew Carnegie proves certain right for an active minority of the nation to accumulate the main resources in their hands by the law of competition. He denies the poor any right to enjoy any help simply because of their need. Carnegie asserted that those only deserve being helped financially who could help himself. By Almsgiving more injury is probably done by rewarding vice than by relieving virtue he wrote. No one is known for having helped Carnegie himself when he being a child and a teenager really needed it. Nevertheless he managed to be success due to his personal efforts only. His success probably suggested him to believe the social inequality to be the natural foundation of human civilization. Civilization took its start from the day that the capable, industrious workman said to his incompetent and lazy fellow, If thou dost not sow, thou shalt not reap, and thus ended primitive Communism by separating the drones from the bees he wrote.

The workers who used to work for his plants and mills were assigned a week rate of output and those who failed to fulfill the plan were treated like drones after they have impregnated the queen bee. According to Carnegie whose views agreed with social Darwinist postulates fashionable then.
At the first sight it could seem amazing but Carnegies opponents essay Capitalism and Socialism proves Carnegies case. Being composed in a plain manner it could be without a doubt understood by anyone no matter whether heshe can read and write the essay is however an example of cheap demagogy. Labeling capitalism with disgrace Debs however proposes no concrete idea of industrial workers problems solution. By the above mentioned essay the author produced an impression of a looser deprived of the access to the pork barrel. As the many American leftist leaders debs wished to participate in government. That is why he took part in presidential elections and mentioned demand of complete enfranchisement of women and the equal rights of all the people regardless of race, color, creed or nationality to get more voters for himself. Yet half educated and greedy leftist and trade union leaders failed to participate in managing this country and eventually took an active part in activities of organized crime during the Great Depression while their like-minded doers in retarded Russia were successfully building the society of general equality and the power of labour.