This is chapter 17 of my 1991 book, “I Hold These Truths.” It seems just as appropriate now as it did then, and especially since Obama obviously despises rich, successful people, and wants to tax them to death.
“It is very chic now to hate wealthy people, and condemn the old, long gone, super rich, such as the Vanderbilt’s and Carnegies. It is supposed to be some sort of sin for those people to have had such gigantic mansions, servants, yachts, and private railroad cars. I happen to think it was a wonderful time in American history, and one to be cherished, not scorned. Those rich men weren’t stingy by any means. Andrew Carnegie build hundreds of libraries, giving them freely to large cities and small towns alike. Few American cities or towns fail to have a Carnegie Library. Phoenix Arizona has one, as does tiny Silverton, Colorado, population 500. Carnegie loved the sound of the pipe organ, and he gave away 6,000 of them to various churches, auditoriums, and halls. When the super rich died, they left their wealth to foundations to dispense their wealth to good causes which are still receiving money today.
“Remember, those rich people got that way by discovering or inventing something, being there first with a good idea, or in some way being an excellent entrepreneur. There were no equalizing taxes then, and when those super rich men built their mansions and railroads, they furnished employment. It took skilled craftsmen to build those edifices, and millions of jobs were provided by the super rich, which unfortunately do not exist any longer, thanks to government’s successful leveling of everyone. There are a few left who are living off the old man’s legacy, but the wealth has been successfully destroyed by government.
“While there are those who complain of the so-called ’sweat shops,’ and child labor in early America, we were still far above any other place in the world. While America was working employees 12 hours a day, in other parts of the world, workers were working 14 or 16 hours a day, and for lower wages. America was first in outlawing child labor. The industrial revolution and unions took care of that as a natural way for men to invent, invest, and group together for a common cause. No where in the world have more homes been built and owned, than in America, even a hundred years ago. It was thanks to those pioneers who got filthy rich, but at the same time raised out entire standard of living.
“If the Commodore had hundreds of servants, those servants had good jobs. If the Astors had a huge mansion on 5th Ave, it took lots of people to build it and maintain it for them The problem is that we resent other people having more than we do, whereas it is far healthier to admire them, and even wish we had more, but certainly not to hate someone else for having more than you, or being successful. Hatred of those with more, or condemnation of those more successful, is far too common today. Work and improve yourself, don’t waste your energy hating others.
“I look at those fantastic mansions, and see photos of those grand life styles, and am amazed, not full of animosity. I wish we still had those times with us. I’d rather work for a benevolent Andrew Carnegie, than work for, or be taxed to death by a greedy, ever enlarging, insatiable government, which is heading all of us into poverty and equality. Those rich tycoons didn’t lower our living standards, but raised them with jobs and prosperity. Government has robbed everyone, virtually destroyed entrepreneurship, and continually lowers our living standard.”
P.S. If you think that gold and silver have reached their ’peak,’ and couldn’t possibly go any higher in dollar prices, consider this: That thought was common when gold reached $400, $500, $900, $1,000, and so on. Also remember that milk couldn’t possibly go over a dollar a gallon, or a loaf of bread over 75 cents. As long as the presses run, and they will continue to do so, all tangibles will continue to go up on paper money prices. Gold and silver are the enemy of banks and paper money, and governments try to squelch their compulsory rise in prices. Compulsory, because as Stott’s Law says, “The more of anything there is, the less they will be worth,” and there is no plentiful supply or silver and gold! If everyone in the world owned just one ounce of gold and one ounce of silver, it has been estimated that their prices would be $100,000 and $6250 per ounce, and going up with inflation, as they are now doing. Probably less than 1% of America owns gold and silver. The smart ones, are those who place their surplus assets in tangibles like bullion gold and silver. When you have physical gold and silver in your possession, it gives you such a sense of relief to know you are free of the cares and worries of inflation. They are so terribly beautiful also!