In his essay called "The Gospel of Wealth," Carnegie calls the law of competition what:

is best for the [human] race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department.

The theory of Social Darwinism applied Darwin's theory of evolution to human society in ways he never anticipated—and distorted his theory. To Darwin, the species that reproduced the most successfully were the fittest because they were the most likely to survive. This meant a common virus, such as a cold, which could inhabit its host, reproduce in the billions, and migrate to new hosts without killing any of them was one of the most successful species.

The social Darwinists twisted this theory to argue against social programs to help the poor, arguing that a competitive struggle to achieve economic success would lead to the fittest humans surviving and thriving. Social programs would simply rob society of its vigor and lead it to become weak.

Carnegie expressed his strong belief in the value of a competitive society to bring out the best in mankind in every area. However, he was not cold-blooded about it and did believe in charity. In fact, he believed the rich had duty to further the betterment of the human race. He wrote that:

The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise—free libraries, parks, and means of recreation, by which men are helped in body and mind; works of art, certain to give pleasure and improve the public taste; and public institutions of various kinds, which will improve the general condition of the people; in this manner returning their surplus wealth to the mass of their fellows in the forms best calculated to do them lasting good

What he objected to was what he called "indiscriminate charity" that offered people a hand out rather than a hand up.