Mike Gee: Great Individuals & Works

Growing up, my hero was always Andrew Carnegie.

Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who led the expansion of the U.S. steel industry in the late 19th century, becoming one of the wealthiest individuals of his time. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, Carnegie immigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Pennsylvania. He began working as a telegraph operator and climbed the ranks through positions in the railroad industry, where he made key investments that laid the foundation for his fortune.

Carnegie revolutionized steel production with the Carnegie Steel Company. In 1901, he sold his company to J.P. Morgan for $480 million, which became U.S. Steel.

A major philanthropist, Carnegie donated the majority of his wealth to causes like libraries, education, and scientific research, embodying his belief in the “Gospel of Wealth”—that the man who dies rich, dies disgraced. His legacy includes the founding of Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, and thousands of public libraries worldwide.

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Organizations left behind by Andrew Carnegie:

 1. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
 2. Carnegie Dunfermline Trust
 3. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
 4. Carnegie Foundation (responsible for the Peace Palace at The Hague)
 5. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
 6. Carnegie Hall
 7. Carnegie Institution for Science
 8. Nearly 3000 Carnegie Libraries
 9. Carnegie Mellon University
 10. Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
 11. Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
 12. Carnegie UK
 13. Carnegie Hero Fund Commission (US)
 14. Carnegie Hero Fund (Belgium)
 15. Carnegies Belønningsfond for Heltemod (Denmark)
Translation: Carnegie Reward Fund for Heroism
 16. Fondation Carnegie (France)
Translation: Carnegie Foundation
 17. Fondazione Carnegie per gli atti de eroismo (Italy)
Translation: Carnegie Foundation for Acts of Heroism
 18. Stichting Carnegie Heldenfonds (The Netherlands)
Translation: Carnegie Hero Fund Foundation
 19. Carnegie Heltefond for Norge (Norway)
Translation: Carnegie Hero Fund for Norway
 20. Carnegies Heltefond (Sweden)
Translation: Carnegie Hero Fund
 21. Carnegie Rescuers Foundation (Switzerland)
 22. Carnegie Hero Fund Trust (UK)

Timestamps:
(0:00): Background and Context of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Self-Reliance
(5:00) Reading Self-Reliance


Transcendentalism, emerging in the early 19th century, served as America’s intellectual declaration of independence by rejecting European traditions and emphasizing individual intuition, nature, and self-reliance as sources of truth. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a leading figure of the movement, articulated these ideals in his essay Self-Reliance. The essay champions the importance of trusting oneself, rejecting conformity, and embracing individuality, marking a call for Americans to think and act independently, in alignment with their unique inner voice.

Today, we read Self-Reliance (1841) in its entirety.

Timestamps:

(2:00): Henry Kaiser earns $1.20 / hr

(5:00): Kaiser's first business (photography)

(12:00): Kaiser gets fired – so he paves nearly every road on the West Coast and Cuba

(17:20): How Kaiser builds the Hoover Dam

(20:40): Kaiser builds 2,710 Liberty Ships for WWII faster than anyone else

(23:50): Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Program

(24:45): Kaiser crushes JP Morgan's US Steel monopoly

(30:00): A national celebrity with endless ideas

(34:00): Home appliances, fibreglass, dishwashers, lawnmowers, easy-to-assemble houses.

(35:00): Kaiser competes with the Big Four Automobile oligopoly

(38:00): "Spruce Goose" Cargo Planes with Howard Hughes

(40:00): Kaiser crushes Alcoa's aluminum monopoly

(41:00): Kaiser becomes one of the largest magnesium producers w/ Hansgirg Process

(43:00): American Medical Association tries to destroy Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Program

(45:28): Kaiser goes back overseas:

• Latin America's Highways
  
  
• Shipbuilding with China
  
  
• Shipping Cement for the US Military to the Pacific
  
  
• Automobile manufacturing in Argentina
  
  
• The locks on the Panama Canal
  
  
• Tata Iron Works' expansion in India
  
  
• The Snowy Hydro Hydroelectric Dam in Australia

(49:00): Building Hawaii

(53:00): The Sunset Years (breaking hydroplane racing records, building holiday homes)