Poverty is a precious environment

Poverty is a precious environment

Text / Andrew Carnegie

As the eldest son of the poor family, I had the privilege of going out to work when I was a child. Therefore, in my childhood, I began to understand that my responsibility is to help my parents to support their families and become a family earner as soon as possible. The question is, what can I find to work, not what I want to do.

When I was born, my father was a good textile worker in Scotland. That is the day when the steam engine did not appear. He owns four hand-woven looms and employs several apprentices. He gives a trader who supplies our ingredients.

The emergence of steam engines naturally caused the manual weaving industry to decline. When I was 10 years old, the first serious life problem came to my house. My father sent the last batch of goods to the merchant, went home, and did not let him do it. At that time, I made up my mind that one day we would have to blow the poor wolf from the door of the house.

We talk about moving to the United States at a family meeting every day. In the end we decided to go to Pittsburgh's relatives. I clearly remember that both my father and mother felt that this decision was a great sacrifice for them, but "it is more beneficial for both children."

As soon as I arrived in Pittsburgh, my father entered a cotton mill, and then I went to become a "bobbin boy". In this way, I began to prepare for the later apprenticeship.

I just don't know how to describe the salary of the first week - the pride of $1.2: This money gave me because I have some use for society. I feel that there is nothing else that can make a teenager grow up into a man faster, and feel that he is a useful person.

Later, I managed a lot of accounts, and millions of dollars passed my hand, but the joy that I made in any future money was far less than the satisfaction of the $1.2. That is the direct return of honest manual labor. It represents my hard work for a week. If the purpose of not working is to earn money to help parents to support their families, then life can be called slave-like labor.

At that time, except Sunday, I would wake up every day to go to the factory until I got off work, and I only had 40 minutes to rest at noon. For a 12-year-old child, the burden is really heavy. But I am young and have my own dreams. There is a power in my heart that motivates me from time to time: this situation is not and cannot be continued. One day, I will be in a good position, and I feel that I am no longer a little boy, but a full-fledged man.

Things soon turned around, and a kind old Scottish old man who took the thread took me into his factory. But there is a time here worse than in a cotton mill. Because I have to burn the boiler in the basement, but also the small steam engine that drives the drive. I want to keep the water level in the boiler normal, but also take care of the engine. The responsibility is great. If something goes wrong, the whole factory will be blown into pieces. At that time, I often woke up from my sleep at night. I found myself sitting on the bed and doing the task of debugging the steam pressure gauge.

But I never told my family this, I can only let them know the good side. This is what I should do because everyone in the family is working hard, no one will complain and give up.

My good-hearted boss soon relieved my pressure. He needs someone to open bills and keep accounts. He sees that I can write the words of the primary school students and adds them. I am called his only staff member.

Everyone knows that people always say poverty as a big sin. It seems that people who have money and who are rich will be happier and more capable, and they will enjoy more life.

However, the life in the poor man’s hut is more welcoming than the life in the rich man’s mansion! I always sympathize with the children of rich people who have servants who serve, and who have large tutors. They don't know what they have lost, because for the children of the poor, the father is his partner, mentor and role model all the time. The mother is a nurse, teacher, protector - the saint he believes in. In this way, he has a greater and more valuable wealth in life than a rich child. Compared with these wealth, any other wealth is negligible.

I have personally experienced the warmth, beauty and innocence of poor families. Such families are innocent and worry about trivial matters, not being embarrassed by others, not fighting with others. In order to support the common goal of the family, the family loves each other and unites. It is for this reason that I deeply sympathize with the children of the rich, and congratulate the children of the poor.

It is for these reasons that the ranks of the poor have emerged, and there will be many outstanding talents who are strong, excellent and dependent on their own abilities.

If you are willing to look at the list of those who are ubiquitous, you will find that most of them are born in poverty - this precious environment.