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Carnegie liked building libraries, but you will notice that a lot of those libraries got named after him. He used his wealth to benefit society, but he also ef

Carnegie liked building libraries, but you will notice that a lot of those libraries got named after him. He used his wealth to benefit society, but he also effectively set up a system that would stamp and preserve his name and legacy in history. His actions weren't exactly entirely selfless. This seems to be a common goal for a lot of people once they become very rich. They ask themselves, "what do I do with all this money?", and then they discover that even rich people die... So they attempt to white wash any of their past wrong-doings, and paint themselves as heroes and leave behind a legacy where their name will live on even after they die.

wetpaws 7y ago
Doing good things and having a legacy is better then just doing good things.
cyc115 7y ago
I would prefer that than not doing good at all. Doing good is doing good, leaving a legacy or not.
- dmix 7y ago
  Plenty of places (ie, hospitals) put the name of the donors out of respect for them. I highly doubt someone as famous as Andrew Carnegie was heavily motivated by having his name on another building.
emiliobumachar 7y ago
Very rarely, if ever, an action is done that could only possibly be entirely selfless.
chongli 7y ago
Who cares about Carnegie's reputation now that he's long since dead? It doesn't benefit him at all! Does it hurt anyone alive today? That's the more important question.
- hprotagonist 7y ago
  The really hard questions are things like "are all of carnegie's depredations that he was responsible for while amassing his wealth in some sense 'worth it' if his wealth was subsequently spent on raising the standards for everyone? If so, by what metrics?"
whamlastxmas 7y ago
If I ran a library that was given millions by a donor, even if they didn't ask for it I'd like to name the library after them. Instead of it just being called "Houston Public Library" or whatever, you can show how people choose to give back to communities and maybe inspire other people to contribute in ways they're capable of.

wetpaws 7y ago

Doing good things and having a legacy is better then just doing good things.

cyc115 7y ago

I would prefer that than not doing good at all. Doing good is doing good, leaving a legacy or not.

dmix 7y ago
Plenty of places (ie, hospitals) put the name of the donors out of respect for them. I highly doubt someone as famous as Andrew Carnegie was heavily motivated by having his name on another building.

emiliobumachar 7y ago

Very rarely, if ever, an action is done that could only possibly be entirely selfless.

chongli 7y ago

Who cares about Carnegie's reputation now that he's long since dead? It doesn't benefit him at all! Does it hurt anyone alive today? That's the more important question.

hprotagonist 7y ago
The really hard questions are things like "are all of carnegie's depredations that he was responsible for while amassing his wealth in some sense 'worth it' if his wealth was subsequently spent on raising the standards for everyone? If so, by what metrics?"

whamlastxmas 7y ago

If I ran a library that was given millions by a donor, even if they didn't ask for it I'd like to name the library after them. Instead of it just being called "Houston Public Library" or whatever, you can show how people choose to give back to communities and maybe inspire other people to contribute in ways they're capable of.