Comments on: The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon

By: Cornelia Caudill

Cornelia Caudill — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:08:31 +0000

Interesting read — always nice to remember that America was not built in a day — the history of America is lined with conflicts big and small — Thank God — it survived all that and still is the land of the free and the brave….

By: Milda

Milda — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:00:38 +0000

Agreed with Robert 100%. Great individuals like Rockefellers, Rotschilds and few others are true fathers of modern capitalism and creators of our prosperity today. We should by proud to be guided by these. God bless them.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:54:04 +0000

Look at the wonderful things done with Rockefeller’s money: Williamsburg, VA, Palisades Park, NY-NJ, Cloisters, NY, the Rockefeller Foundation’s work, many more. And in lowering the price of oil, he enriched the lives of drivers and other users world-wide.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:46:40 +0000

And the truth of the matter is that while Rockefeller’s expansion efforts brought down prices, he still managed to make more money than anyone could possibly need. He never did those things for the betterment of society – although he may have convinced himself of that – he did it to make money, plain and simple. Whether it was at the expense of the small business man or not, he was in it for the money. And who’s to say that Franklin wouldn’t have done the same thing had he been in Rockefeller’s shoes? Had he been given the opportunity to make money hand over fist at the expense of others, I’m sure he would have jumped at the opportunity. That’s capitalism, folks!

By: Gilbert King

Gilbert King — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:47:35 +0000

Kerry, I did look at this book, as well as some other recent pieces about Rockefeller and the role of federal regulation during the Gilded Age. It may well be true that “Tarbell’s father just couldn’t compete on the retail price of his product,” but it’s more interesting for readers to know that there was more to the competition than just the free market forces of capitalism. For a more complete, objective and balanced picture of history, I’d recommend “The Robber Barons,” by Matthew Josephson.

By: Kerry Fitzpatrick

Kerry Fitzpatrick — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:57:35 +0000

Get a copy of the Myth of The Robber Barons by Burt Folsom and you’ll see how Rockefeller’s expansion of his company and plowing of the profits of the business into R&D brought the price of kerosene, etc. down by more than 50%, of enormous benefit to the millions of people who were buying it every day.

Tarbell’s father just couldn’t compete on the retail price of his product.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:21:44 +0000

Bravo for Ms. Tarbell. We need more of her kind today, and more than ever.

By: Mary English

Mary English — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 14:22:37 +0000

I loved the article on Ida Tarbell, now THAT’S an investigative reporter!!!!
Now days, the top dog up the reporter food chain (print or televised) is most likely in some ones pocket so we will NEVER get the truth about politians or corporate America ever again. So sad.

By: Paul Warner

Paul Warner — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 14:20:41 +0000

Just in time for the spirit of true independence. Can you imagine an independent journalism that is not repeated over and over wherever you look? What if, instead of waving flags over fighting for “our” freedom in the Middle East, we thought of how wrong it was to assume that deposing dictators (our U.S. policy friends of yesteryear) would garner us more cheap oil to pay for our war? Another slant on the continuing story of the love of money (oil). Excellent story Gilbert King.

By: Dan Whittle

Dan Whittle — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 21:44:10 +0000

An example of the decline of investigative reporting:The invasion of Iraq would never have happened, if American journalists had performed their jobs in a way that keeps politicians and corporate America accountable…!! When big companies take over journalism, democracy declines…