Activities

1. Analyzing A Newspaper Editorial

We give in our columns an authentic copy of one of the greatest curiosities of the age-the will of John Jacob Astor, disposing of property amounting to about twenty million dollars, among his various descendants of the first, second, third and fourth degrees …If we had been an associate of John Jacob Astor the first idea that we should have put into his head would have been that one-half of his immense property - ten million at least - belonged to the people of the city of New York. During the last fifty years of the life of John Jacob Astor, his property has been augmented and increased in the value by the aggregate intelligence, industry, enterprise and commerce of New York, fully to the amount of one-half its value. The farms and lots of ground which he bought forty, twenty and ten and five years ago, have all increased in value entirely by the industry of the citizens of New York. Of course, it is plain as that two and two make four, that the half of his immense estate, in its actual value, has accrued to him by the industry of the community.

After reading the above editorial, please answer the following questions:

1. In your own words, what is the central idea of this excerpt?
2. At the time of Astor's death, a family of four could comfortably live on $750 per year. Therefore in today's dollars what was the value of his estate?
3. What reasons does the author give for stating that a good part of Astor's estate does not rightfully belong to him?
4. Is Astor not entitled to all of the money since he had the foresight in knowing where to invest? Explain.
5. What is the basis of the right of ownership? Explain your opinion.
6. Give examples of the different steps that New York City probably took to increase the value of Astor's land holdings.

2. Judging Business Magazines

a. List the major articles, authors and themes.
b. Read and summarize one feature article.
c. List the columns dealing with investments – pay particular attention to those dealing with real estate.
d. Describe the general tone of the magazine: is it easy to read or highly technical? How much fact and how much opinion? What is the degree of optimism? How wealthy is the audience?
e. Describe some of the major advertisers, and the goods and services they offer.

If time permits, students' comparisons may also be extended to business newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal or Barron's. Such papers cover the leading events of the day just as others do, but their articles focus on a specific audience. Many readers value the news coverage of business publications because investors and executives demand reliable, objective reporting of the facts that affect their business decisions. Have students compare the coverage of business dailies to that in other mainstream newspapers, applying the same criteria used above.

3. Evaluating Different Criteria for Measuring Success

Benjamin Franklin:

• God helps them that help themselves.
• The sleepy fox catches no poultry.
• Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
• Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Henry David Thoreau:

There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the great part of his life getting a living… It is not enough to tell me that you worked hard to get your gold. So does the Devil work hard…I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to confront only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Amelia Earhart:

Because I want to. This isn't a reason to be apologized for. It is the most honest motive of mankind's achievement…To want in one's heart to do a thing for its own sake; to enjoy doing it; to concentrate one's energies upon it – that is not only the surest guarantee of success, it is also being true to one's self.

Please answer the following questions:

1. What is the major ingredient for success for each of the above three people?
2. What are some other views of success not mentioned?
3. Which comes closest to your own idea of success. Explain why.

4. Research Project on "Captains of Industry"