Worth noting Carnegie did this when faced with massive strikes and growing radical movements around the country. 1886 was the same year as Haymarket. His business partner/enforcer was literally shot by an anarchist. Public libraries are great but he and his ilk funded them because they were scared. - ThreadSky

davidforbes.bsky.social • 268 days ago

Worth noting Carnegie did this when faced with massive strikes and growing radical movements around the country. 1886 was the same year as Haymarket. His business partner/enforcer was literally shot by an anarchist.

Public libraries are great but he and his ilk funded them because they were scared.

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Comments

gtiso.bsky.social•268 days ago

Hiring strike-breakers while building libraries remains a very strong combo.

greenfret.bsky.social•267 days ago

Not noting that Carnegie's prior actions resulted in an arming of his factory and the deaths of a dozen or more people seems a bit disingenuous. His business partner sent armed mercenaries (Pinkertons) against his factories workers, and then National Guard troops.

jdecock.bsky.social•268 days ago

The libraries he funded were closed on Sundays, the only day working people had off.

bbburgerrr.bsky.social•268 days ago

and he wanted self-improvement in order to create an aspirational managerial class, rather than class-conscious workers who might unionize or otherwise engage in collective action!

joestradamus.bsky.social•268 days ago

And it worked 😬

thebeernerd.bsky.social•267 days ago

You’re not wrong but that still makes him better than today’s ultra wealthy, who see similar unrest and are dead set on continuing to give us jackshit

margueriteathome.bsky.social•268 days ago

Guilt over the Johnstown Flood was a factor too.

d4rkong.bsky.social•268 days ago

Sounds like a good reason to make rich assholes afraid again.

emmalbriant.bsky.social•267 days ago

They would defund AI if they thought it helped us think.

90sslowjamz.bsky.social•268 days ago

The bourgeoisie can’t help but give the proletariat the tools of their own destruction.

carlnyberg312.bsky.social•268 days ago

Shoot more billionaires.

carlnyberg312.bsky.social•267 days ago

If society executed one random billionaire on the hour (ten per day) Monday through Friday until stuff was fixed, how long until a plan to fix things was agreed to?

8 AM
9 AM
10 AM
11 AM
noon
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
4 PM
5 PM

riv3th3ad.bsky.social•267 days ago

I don’t know the answer to your question but this policy should not be restricted to business hours.

symbo1ics.bsky.social•267 days ago

you're right, needs to be a "Follow the sun" schedule, capital fucks us over 24 hours a day

ishfery.bsky.social•267 days ago

The 30 hr work week should apply to executioners too

riv3th3ad.bsky.social•267 days ago

There’s no reason there can’t be multiple shifts.

jwhite.bsky.social•267 days ago

Only if collectively bargained.

crow.omg.lol•268 days ago

'All of them' would be a good start.

virginiaopossum.bsky.social•268 days ago

I really need to be braver about actions that scare oligarchs.

gpetrick.bsky.social•268 days ago

Frick, Frick, Frick

ellyzoe.bsky.social•268 days ago

Yep, it’s was his “Gates Foundation” for reputation laundering.

lawless523.bsky.social•267 days ago

I actually think it was all motivated by reputation laundering, not fear of an uprising.

ellyzoe.bsky.social•267 days ago

Me too. “Oh I’m super hated but want to be remembered as a good guy” did actually mostly work, too.

hanukkahtastrophe.bsky.social•268 days ago

I would like more billionaires to be frightened into doing good things for other people.

magimura.bsky.social•268 days ago

so how do we make this lot more scared so the fund libraries? *sip*

murielcook.bsky.social•268 days ago

We need to make the rich afraid enough to start funding public goods again (and then keep going)

rainbowbody.bsky.social•268 days ago

But saved by the ghost of his dead daughter Martha, as he told story.
1892 and Homestead strike

davidforbes.bsky.social•268 days ago

Wasn't implying that Frick's shooting happened same year as Haymarket, just listing some examples of how rage against oligarchs like Carnegie helped scare them enough that they poured cash into things like libraries. Ah, character limits

rainbowbody.bsky.social•268 days ago

My daughter just had a field trip to Frick Mansion. Everyone loves the Frick. I think it should be the site of a horror film

Martha SEIU

rainbowbody.bsky.social•268 days ago

Not to be pedantic, I just love the Frick thought his dead daughter saved him.

omfproductions.bsky.social•267 days ago

Every bit of charity from Carnegie, Rockefeller, and all the rest was basically them trying to bribe their way out of angry mobs coming for them. Guess we need to bring back the angry mobs if we want billionaires to stop fucking around.

thisbethlife.bsky.social•268 days ago

Rich guys were never the good guys

benderdict.bsky.social•267 days ago

Make
All
Gazillion-aires
Afraid
Again

sensiblearchie.bsky.social•268 days ago

Carnegie endowed a trust in his name that is still doing a lot of really good things to this day. I'm not buying that he gave so much because he was scared.

*full disclosure, at one stage I worked with (not for) Carnegie Trust on projects to improve social housing.

lawless523.bsky.social•267 days ago

Me neither. It was PR/legacy building, not fear.

booktweeting.bsky.social•268 days ago

yeah, the libraries are very nice, but not handing him anything

missedith.bsky.social•268 days ago

lol for real but also I like my Carnegie library. I’m in a red state and they are keeping all the gay content on the shelves.
Anyway. Make billionaires afraid again

mcoorlim.com•267 days ago

Another great example of direct action resulting in real material change!

slbarrett87.bsky.social•267 days ago

In Pittsburgh, we always say he built a library in every neighborhood he screwed over. There are a lot of Carnegie libraries in the city.

Tangentially, Frick's house is very nice and open for tours. His daughter Helen gave away a lot of his fortune after he died to salvage the Frick name.

thesharkqueen.com•268 days ago

Oh, so THIS was the “good old days”

jgriffingraham.bsky.social•267 days ago

Maybe we should scare some more of them and see what we get out of it

shamr0cker.bsky.social•267 days ago

He was buying us off

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