Assignment 13A

Reading Reflection

I read about Andrew Carnegie

What surprised me the most was how successful he was before the age of 20. Heck really before the age of 18.

I admire his drive and his ability to learn when he came over to America. He tried his hardest to hide his Scotch accent. When he taught himself Morse code, he learned how to memorize it without writing it down. And when the broken messages would come through the lines he could piece them together without asking the sender to repeat them. I also admire how much he took care of his mother during his success. He made sure that she had servants and a nice house and lived in the best area away from the soot of the manufacturing.

I think what I admired least about this man was his ability to turn off his emotions and be heartless. When he was watching the railways for two weeks while his superior was gone out of town, there was an accident on the tracks and he quickly lost his temper and took action without asking, resulting in one man being fired and 2 being suspended without pay. In a time where work was hard to find, I did not like how quick he was to jump on someone who did not deserve it. He even admitted in the book that he felt he had over reacted but did not wish to go back on his words for fear of how that might have looked on him.

Carnegie did encounter adversity. That happened just because he was a Scott and he did not attend school. But because he continued to read and teach himself about many things, including politics, he continued to succeed. He was also a very small man but he demanded attention with his writings. He took a big stand on politics and that of slavery. He prided himself in helping his country with the movement of soldiers and weapons on his train lines. He also started the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He donated so much of his money in his later years after selling his business to J.P. Morgan. He opened almost 3000 libraries. He wanted to educate people and he admired teachers.

Carnegie was very competent in business and how to work his way up the ladder. He excelled at everything he did. He observed those around him and was also a self taught man. He was also very good at bluffing. He bluffed his way into his steel company so to speak. He worked for the Pennsylvania railroad for so long he was tired of their freight charges. His bluff to build his own railroad paid off, as PA lowered their freight prices. Carnegie also eventually came to own every piece of industry he needed to make his own steel business successful.

Carnegie's political dealings were a little confusing to me. Trying to read the old writings of that time period, combined with politics, doesn't make much sense to me

If I could ask him 2 questions......Why do you omit your father from so much of your writings?
If he could see where the industry was today, what would he think and what would his thoughts be on further advancement.

Carnegie I think believed in hard work but he didn't like the physical work part. He liked to be the office man. He worked hard in that aspect, never truly leaving work at home. He had power lines strung to his home so he could take care of emergencies right away had there been some mishap on the tracks. Carnegie believes in hard work but everyone has their version of hard work. I share this opinion whether you are a laborer or an office man. He saw his mother support their family for so many years instead of his father, he wanted make sure he made a different path for himself.

I like to run marathons. It pushes me and gives me an excuse to visit new places.