Section outline

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    General

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    • General Forum

    • Greed is never "good."

      Morality aside, "greed" implies wanting "more" just for the sake of having "more" while acquiring that "more" at the expense of others. "Greed" ends up being self-destructive in the "long term."

      Working hard and being a tough competitor to get "more" is NOT automatically greed. Neither is looking out for your best interest.

      The problem is that "greed" tends to encourage "bending the rules" to get an unfair advantage. The "tough competitor" will concentrate their effort on making their product/service better. The "greedy competitor" will also try to damage the competition or (even worse) cheat customers.

      Sure, greed might appear to work in the short term. The problem is that the "short term" is, well, "short."

      If "success" is also supposed to equal "happiness" - then again, greed is never good. The story of King Midas makes illustrates the point ...

    • King Midas File

    • Russell H. Conwell raised the funds to found Temple University by giving a speech titled "Acres of Diamonds."

      At that time (the late 19th Century) Dr. Conwell felt that he needed to justify the pursuit of "financial success." In the 21st Century arguing that pursuing financial wealth is NOT evil probably isn't required.

      (Taken from https://temple.edu/about

      "Founded as a night school by Russell Conwell in 1884, Temple University has evolved into an international powerhouse in higher education and a top research institution with roughly 33,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students." )

      Of course "money" is important BUT "money" is only a tool which can be used for good or bad purposes. "Money" in its various forms allows us to "exchange value."

      There are multiple lessons in the Acres of Diamond story. Someone founding a college (as Dr. Conwell was) would obviously point out that education and experience are both important BEFORE investing time, energy, money into a new project.

      Henry David Thoreau might have been making the same point when he wrote "Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes."

      Ok, if you discover diamonds on your farm - then partnering with a "diamond mining" expert is a much better idea than trying to learn how to run a diamond mine yourself. 

      The less obvious lesson is that the "super successful" aren't motivated by the "money." They have a mission/purpose and "money" is a by product of accomplishing that mission/purpose.

      In a perfect world individuals would make money doing what they love. Not having to do a job you hate "just for a paycheck" is a distant second...

    • Acres File
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    Success

    • "Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from experience comes from bad judgement" is a truism.

      Fortunately it doesn't need to be YOUR bad judgement.

      Hidden Treasures is a collection of mini-biographies of folks that would have been "famous" in late 19th century. The author asks the "why some succeed" while others fail question.

      Unless you are a student of 19th Century American history a lot of the names in Hidden Treasures will be unfamiliar, but they all serve as examples of experience gained from "good" and/or "bad" judgement.

    • Hidden Treasures File
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    Ben Franklin

    • In an agricultural economy "wealth" tends to equal "land." Large "agricultural estates" became "mini communities." Those estates may have been self-sufficient but also isolated.

      Newspapers, pamphlets, and almanac were primary "information" resources. Which made being a "printer" a profitable profession.

      Ben Franklin is remembered as a diplomat and "founding father" but he was a successful printer and inventor first.

      It is interesting that Ben Franklin might have been the "richest" person in the American colonies at one point.  The problem with any "wealth" estimation is availability of data, which we just don't really have before the 20th Century.

      Mr. Franklin published a popular almanac from 1732 to 1758 ("Poor Richard's Almanac"). "Poor Richard" was obviously Mr. Franklin, using a pseudonym would have created a "brand" while not interfering with other print shop business.

      The Way to Wealth is a short "best of" collection of advice/proverbs given by "Poor Richard" in his almanac.

    • The Way to Wealth File
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    Vanderbilt

    • Folks often talk about "basic needs" in the the form of "food, water, shelter." Humans need to eat and drink to survive. "Shelter" includes any and all protection from "environmental extremes" in the form of "clothing" and "housing." 

      After "individual basic needs" we find "basic economic needs" like transportation, "energy", and "building materials"

      For most of human history "transportation" options consisted of walking, riding a horse, or "waterways." Railroads, automobiles and airplanes increased the speed of transportation, but it was still "transportation."

      Cornelius Vanderbilt made a lot of money helping folks get to where they needed to go. First with sailboats, then steamships, and eventually railroads.   

    • Commodore Vanderbilt File
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    Rockefeller

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    Carnegie

    • Andrew Carnegie File

    • Andrew Carnegie started his "work life" as "child labor" in a cotton mill. His path from "poor immigrant labor" to "wealthiest man in America" included the three "high tech" industries of the 19th Century - telegraph, railroad, and steel.

      Carnegie Steel united several smaller steel operations in 1892. Mr. Carnegie became the wealthiest American in 1901 when he sold Carnegie Steel to J.P. Morgan (well, it would be more accurate to say he sold to a "group of investors lead by J.P. Morgan").

      Working in a 19th Century steel mill was a dangerous job - and there were some "labor issues." How responsible Andrew Carnegie was for those issues is debatable.

      The implication that Carnegie Steel (or any steel company of the time) INTENTIONALLY paid low wages is "historian fallacy" territory. Obviously if you try to apply "modern labor laws" to the time then EVERY factory looks like a low wage death trap.

      Compare Carnegie Steel's labor practices to the 12 hour days, 6 days a week, $1.20 a week pay that Mr. Carnegie made as a 13 year old - and Carnegie Steel looks generous.

      Steel was in exceptionally high demand in the late 19th/early 20th centuries  - innovation, organization, and an in demand product was what made Carnegie Steel profitable.

      Carnegie Steel became U.S. Steel after Mr. Carnegie sold the company. The libraries Mr Carnegies philanthropic efforts built tend to be "historical preservation" candidates in the 21st century ...

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    Ruckstuhl

    F. Wellington Ruckstuhl

    • The average late 19th Century American annual salary was less than $1,000.

      F. Wellington Ruckstuhl turned down 5 times that to pursue his passion.

      Mr. Ruckstuhl's story serves as an example of  a different kind of "success" but still a "success story."

      The "creative life" has never been easy. The value of doing "what you love" as a profession is hard to measure in dollars.

      The statues mentioned in the article are pictured below...

    • F. Wellington Ruckstuhl File
    • "Force" File
    • "Wisdom" File
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    Quiz

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    • Thank you for looking at this class.

      You might find "As A Man Thinketh" interesting ...