Gilded Age (1878-1889)
[2023-04-14 18:17:17]
Mark Twain of author and cheer writer wrote a novel "Golden Age" to ridicule Washington, DC and many leaders at the time.
The development of industry and the wave of immigration celebrate this era in American history. Iron and steel production has dramatically increased, resources in western countries such as timber, gold and silver are increasing the demand for improved transportation. Railway development will boom as trains transport goods from west to east rich in resources. Iron and steel and oil are in great demand. All of these industries, known as John D. Rockefeller (Petroleum) and Andrew Carnegie (Steel), robbery aristocracy (rich in ruthless business) all bring a lot of wealth to many businessmen It was. The name of the gold color era comes from the enormous wealth created in this era and the lifestyle supported by this wealth.
This is a similar dilemma: the flood of Johnstown in 1889. After the civil war, it experienced a period of rapid and extreme economic growth known as the "golden age". In 1889, Johnstown Pennsylvania was a small town of 22,000 people. Recently, immigrants from Europe are working at steelworks, and in spite of pollution, the factory has a very salary. Fishing and hunting clubs are located 15 miles above the same river (50 feet) and still go through Johnstown. In order to entertain the wealthy member, Earth Dam made a huge lake. Because it is private property, residents of Johnstown can not enter the dam. Some people worry that it is not safe. Others argue that there is no problem
George Vanderbilt II, the grandson of the former railroad giant, began building state ownership in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina at the peak of the first gold-plated era in the United States in 1889. He hired the most prominent architect then, visited the castle of Loire, looked for inspiration, laid a railroad, carried limestone from Indiana, and hired over 1,000 workers. Six years later, "Biltmore" was completed. This gorgeous house has 250 rooms, over 175,000 square feet (16,000 square meters) which is 300 times bigger than the average house at the time. Central heating, indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, elevator, intercom system, at that time, most American families did not have electricity or indoor plumbing.
After more than a century, the second gold-plated era in the United States was completely different from the event of Vanderbilt. The house of Bill Gates near Seattle is full of high-tech equipment, but it is 66,000 square feet, only 30 times the average house in the United States. Compared to the centuries ago, wealth gap in American daily life is not large. Even poor people have TV, air conditioners and cars. However, the appearance has been deceived. Democratization of living standards masks the concentration of sudden income over the past 30 years, and its scale is even the same as or even exceeding that of the first gold medal age. Including capital gains, since 1980, the proportion of national income of 1% of wealthy Americans has doubled from 10% of the previous century to 20%. More remarkable is that this percentage has reached a maximum of 0.01% - about 16,000 households with an average income of 24 million dollars - a quadruple increase from near 1% to nearly 5%.