J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the like are hailed as business geniuses, but let's remind ourselves, how do they gain their wealth? Through the exploitation of the proletariat, the working class! Capitalism is a severely flawed system that rewards the manipulative and the exploitative. Robber barons not only use unfair business practices, but also consciously abuse the vulnerability of their workers.
John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil gave all competition the choice of being crushed, or being swallowed up. With his monopoly, he could set prices and terms of business as he wished. J. P. Morgan practiced pillage, fraud, and distortion, and gained control of great properties by "Morganization". William Vanderbilt inherited $94 million and doubled it in 8 years because "the public be damned" and railroad barons conspired to set rates.
Production is driven by profit, which lowers worker's wages. Factory conditions are horrid and inhumane-- it would not be uncommon to see a ten year old girl working 13 hours a day in a cotton factory. Capitalists of the bourgeois exploit the workers who have no other means of living and are forced to accept their conditions.
Robber barons, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed.
The bourgeoisie is today's ruling class; and how cruelly they rule.
The Industrial Revolution and the ascension of capitalism has polarized society. The wealth is so unevenly distributed that these robber barons earn billions while their workers earn scarcely enough for survival. The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles. And here, we see the bourgeois vs. the proletariat.
Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.
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http://www.paradoxmind.com/1302/Revolution%20by%20RR/1302_Robber_Barons.html http://books.google.com/books?id=9LW00M65SccC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=bourgeoisie+industrial+revolution+rich+middle+class&source=bl&ots=PmAfBAMOw2&sig=beVgHCsdMPaqhjcpozbnbvBwIDI&hl=en&ei=6Mn8Sf2aBYXItge_hKWSDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA95,M1
