Extreme poverty a consequence of extreme wealth—Pity or contempt for the poor—Money ideal strong among the poor—The different phases in making a fortune—The general tendency of society—Relations between rich and poor—Dis-sympathy and class hatred—The social problem
Money as a supreme concern—Intensity of belief in money—Definition of Contention—The impulses which act as the motive power of money-making—The limitation of human capacities—Money and happiness—Money as responsibility—The national wealth and welfare
Definition of the limit—Those whose means are above the limit—Income translated into terms of subsistence—The case of the rich man—His establishments—His servants—His luxuries—Extravagance—Vanity—Sport—Racing—Yachting—Condemnation of excess
The rich man’s children—His sons’ education at school and university—His daughters—Love and marriage—Refinement of the aristocracy—Their alliance with the plutocracy—Smart society—Its general characteristics
The rich man as a business man—The conduct of a successful business—Money-making the incentive—Money no measure of merit or worth in men—Or in works of art—Financiers—The power of money—Imperialism—Political power—Experiments of millionaires—Gifts—Money administered by corporations or the State
The deceptive process of the growth of riches—The relaxation of effort—The love of ease—The power of convention—The disadvantages of abundance—Surfeit—Difficulties in a rich man’s life—Waste of talent and capacity—England as a nation deeply infected with the belief in money
The problem of riches—Necessity of a scientific investigation into the lives of the rich—Interdependence of riches and poverty—Analysis of expenditure on houses, servants, clothes, food, amusements—Impressions of a poor crowd and a rich crowd—Tragedies
Religion and money—Attitude of clergy—Emphatic condemnation of riches by Christ—Notable texts and sayings—Want of conviction—Importance attached to dogmatic religion—Necessity for stronger denunciation
Results of influence of money—No motive in lives of the rich—Money as our master—If money ideal could be discarded—Possibility of change of ideal for all classes
