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Karl Marx and Andrew Carnegie Compare and Contrast

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Expository Essay #2 Compare and Contrast Essay: During the nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Andrew Carnegie had definite opinions about the affects of industrialization on society. A greater understanding of their views on history and humanity can be gained by comparing and contrasting two written artifacts: The Communist Manifesto and “Wealth.” In 1848, Marx, a German philosopher, wrote a supposedly scientific account of his perspective on history entitled The Communist Manifesto. As a materialist philosopher, he believed that economics was at the heart of history. He examined the tools and technology being used to understand the material substructure of how people were fed and clothed. Marx believed class struggles had existed …show more content…

In fact, he believed private property was “sacred” to civilization because it allowed competition and competition resulted in more people being able to purchase products of better quality. He believed “the poor enjoy what the rich could not before afford. What were the luxuries have become the necessities of life.” (Paragraph 4) He added, “Not evil, but good, has come to the race from the accumulation of wealth by those who have the ability and energy that produce it.” (Paragraph 7) According to Carnegie, it was naïve to think that “work for work’s sake” brings satisfaction and he did not believe that “laboring for each other” is inherent to man’s nature. He suggested it would be a waste of energy to try to “bend the universal tree of humanity.” Carnegie believed this “tree” had produced “the best and most valuable of all that humanity has yet accomplished” through “Individualism,

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