In Weber's "Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" he suggests a connection between the Protestant religion, in particular the Calvinist sect, with the rise of capitalism. Before the actual rise of capitalism, the spirit of capitalism was in existence as early as 1632, he used writings of Benjamin Franklin to highlight these ideals. Franklin argued that increasing one's wealth as an end in itself was the right thing to do. These ideas went against those of the traditionalists, who believe in making enough money to survive. He noticed that many of the wealthier families were Protestant and searched for a reason as to why that was the case. Weber thought of the Reformation and the different sects of christianity that were formed. The Reformation stressed the importance of merging worldly and spiritual life. Calvinists believe that labor is a calling and if you are successful, you are favored by god. The core of Calvinist belief revolves around the idea of predestination, worldly success was the only indicator they have to tell whether or not they were chosen by god.
I think Weber's connection between religion and capitalism is interesting but I do think that he should have relied more on quantitative data than on the writings of Benjamin Franklin. I think that it is interesting to compare the works of Weber and Marx because Marx claims that the economy is the base of society and all aspects of life are affected by it. Conversely, Weber states that aspects of life, in particular religion, affect the economy.
The conclusion of "Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" is amusing especially the role of the "iron cage." Weber claims that religion will no longer be important in modern capitalist society because the institutions are already in place. He claims that people will be trapped in their position and society and they accept it. However, today, in general, Protestants make up a larger percentage of the poor population (Pew Research Center). I wonder what Weber would say about this shift in society since these people were obviously not trapped in the "iron cage" because if they were, this group would remain wealthy compared to the rest of society.
I agree that it is very interesting that protestants are typically worse off. I cannot help but think that this is due to possibly a lack of traditional values. I could be totally off, but surely there is something strange happening here.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that there is something funny about the Protestant struggle. Weber pointed out a few things about the values of the old Protestant, they involved making profit for profit's sake, which naturally breeds greedy, jealousy, and eternal discontent. I wonder if the old values, because they are so based upon a couple of the deadly sins, were the foundation that crumbled and forced today's protestants into lesser economic situations.
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