The Men Who Built America, Episode 1: Building Empires at The Expense of Life And Blood of Others!
- Vicent Nemeyimana
- May 13, 2018
- Innovation + Entrepreneurship
The only lesson that can be drawn from this #MenWhoBuiltAmerica (at least this season 1) is that there is little, if not nothing, that should be learned and admired about the likes of Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and JP Morgan. And no true, or rather wise human being should ever dream of building empires like theirs in the same way they did. I am sure I sound ridiculous, don’t I? Well, it okay.
These men controlled and enslaved people using the power of money and businesses. These men created and controlled wars, determined people’s fate in healthcare and general life, and built empires at the expense of the weak, the poor.
The movie and history tell it well that working conditions were poor with no work-related rights and safety measures. There were many unexplained deaths, poor health and broken families, and all sorts of human suffering both among their workers and the general public yet these men were bleeding, as the documentary movie explains, wealth that was more than the combined wealth of our today’s top 40 richest men. That was evil!
These men were corrupt and had their hope in nothing but money. They would buy anything, and anyone; they even bought their own president. They were the wisest as some of us may think but i only see true fools who didn’t care or work for anything better other than money and making a name or a fortune!
And they aren’t the only ones; most of today’s successful businesses and corporations have built their successes at the expense of blood and lives of the weak, the poor ones, the common men on the ground working.
Few days ago, I came across heartbreaking news on Reddit concerning the mistreatment of workers at Amazon. According to the article and the thousands of comments that were on the post, many people work in terrible conditions, paid peanuts, made to work for long hours, and all sorts of things you wouldn’t expect at the world’s richest company! And it is not there only, it is here too.
Here the problem is not about making money or having businesses; it is about having them using illegal, inhuman, and terrible means full of lies, exploitation of others, and abuse of the poor and weak. Unfortunately, most businesses fall into this evil category; it is all about making profits through manipulation, exploitation, and abusing the weak and poor. And thus, the gap between the rich and the poor cannot be closed simply because it is never on the agendas of the rich ones to enrich others!
Finally, I would not suggest admiration of those men and their business successes.
Of course, there is some inspiration from them; courage, innovation, team work for one goal, and many other relevant principles but all these come crushing down once you analyze what their mission and goal was; achieving money, success, and building empires no matter what or who got hurt on the way!
Pause; tell us, what drives your business? What motivates your hard work? Is it the wellness of your clients and creation of positive change or it is money, personal gains and benefits you reap from the work or business?
To tell you the truth, I am tempted always to count my blessings before executing any work or plan! Maybe that is not a sin or evil (after all, we are really required to take care of ourselves, our needs, and those we care about) but couldn’t it be evil if we took care of our goals and needs at the expense of others; the livelihood, health, and rights as humans?
Think about it.
God bless you
The Complete You Ministry
