Discussion Board: Captains of Industry vs. Robber Barons  make a respond for two classmates assignment each respond 150 word   (((((First classmats responses I believe that some of the people who contributed and ‘dominated’ industry in the late-nineteenth century were mostly good but there were definitely some who went about gaining success the wrong way. For example, with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison I think they genuinely just wanted to make things easier, and were excited to do it. On the other hand I think that the main people who were building railroads like Cornelius Vanderbilt and especially making them in an unsafe manner, such as Collis Huntington and Mark Hopkins were not really hoping to make things easier just trying to gain economic success. This shows that they did not really care about the citizens it would affect. People that contributed to ‘big business’ only for economic success I believe would deserve the title “robber barons” because they only cared about the flow of money and being in control of it. I think that many of these important inventions were obviously very beneficial in the long run but not as much in the moment as many of these industries were created by stealing land and exploiting immigrants, and also caused many deaths during labor work. So they might have helped the economy but not so much quality of life at least not quickly. I think we are definitely seeing a variation of this now, which will likely continue to repeat in some way. We see this shown in many areas today but specifically with the election coming up how certain political parties are choosing the economy, profit and property over human life, human rights and the character of a person. History will continue to repeat itself it is just shown in different ways.))))) 11:10 PM  (((( second classmates The Big Business pioneers of the late nineteenth century earned themselves two distinct nicknames by the different viewpoints the public citizens took on these pioneers’ business tactics. Many in those times referred to this group of financial elites as the “Robber Barons.” Those who referred to them as such made it known they were looking at these men’s faults and blunders as they navigated a new area of society rather than their nation-defining successes. As Thomas J. DiLorenzo once wrote, “most who use [the] term [robber barons, ] are confused about the role of capitalism in the American economy [and they] fail to make an important distinction- the distinction between.. a market entrepreneur and a political entrepreneur.” A market entrepreneur, also known as a capitalist, sells his products without the aid of a governmental grant, a political entrepreneur uses governmental aid as a weapon against competitors, and purely for their own benefit. Though many of these tycoon-seeking pioneers had business approaches that seemed harsh in many lights, and displayed their focus on money making, they ultimately wanted to benefit the nation and its development. Pioneers, and self-made millionaires, like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt actually ended up donating most of their wealth to charitable causes to further the economic growth of the country and aid in education, scientific, and religious causes within the country. Rockefeller ended up “donating more than half a billion dollars to various causes through the Rockefeller Foundation… he [also] funded the establishment of the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University). (John D. Rockefeller)” Carnegie, before his death, “gave away some $350 million (the equivalent of billions in today’s dollars), which represented the bulk of his wealth… he [also] funded the establishment of more than 2,500 public libraries around the globe, donated more than 7,600 organs to churches worldwide, and endowed organizations dedicated to research in science, education, world peace and other causes. (Andrew Carnegie)” Several institutions like Carnegie Hall, The Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Foundation were also funded by Carnegie’s donations. Cornelius Vanderbilt donated $1 million to build and endow Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. (Cornelius Vanderbilt)” Even though these business tycoon’s focused on money foremost within their businesses, they looked at the benefits of the nation long-term, and financially helped out in the way they could.