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Is Capitalism bad for you?
Picture yourself as a laborer in a field picking turnips. You are compelled to increase production.
Perhaps you are worried about keeping your job—perhaps you are worried that other people
are working harder than you. The important thing is this: you have to pick more turnips;
you can’t stop now… no matter what. Where might this anxiety come from?
For sociologist Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber, modern capitalism differs from Marx’s
theory—workers are not simply alienated—they are subject to a process that strips them
of their very humanity—for Weber capitalism is an iron cage that exposes workers to incapacitating
anxiety—all for the accumulation of profit.
Written in 1904, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is Weber’s attempt
to explicate the ways that American style capitalism grew from a specific set of beliefs,
namely Calvinism.
You see, the protestant ethic is a calling to work—a way of showing glory to god. The
Calvinist is not just called to work—they are pressured via the fear of eternal damnation—and
this has to cause some serious angst. Beset by the expectations of a boss, working to
finish a deadline, aching to make ends meet, struggling for everyday salvation—capitalism
creates anxiety in its own right.
Calvinists believed in predestination, or the idea that very few people are selected by God to gain admittance
to the golden gates of heaven while the majority of the world, is condemned to hell... …forever.
In order to ensure salvation, the Calvinist worked tirelessly, endlessly, without lavish
possessions—for their very salvation was at stake—they showed their neighbors they were chosen through
disciplined work and practice.
Living with the pressures of a Calvanism in a Capitalist society makes it difficult to get up each morning and make the morning commute.
With modern capitalism there is a similar parallel—work hard and you will be rewarded. It is the mantra
of “picking yourself up by your bootstraps.”
With Calvinism capitalism found the perfect worker. Protestantism’s dedication to a
calling—to the need to work for the glory of god created and environment that paved
the way for a work force eager for eternal reward.
Over time the sacred practices of Calvinsim: hard work, self-restraint, specific routine
practices, efficiency, lack of idleness—all became the defining traits of a western work
ethic. It's the reason why Americans tend to work long hours, take fewer vacations,
have short lunch breaks, and reserve Sunday for rest—it is the secular expectations
of a work force founded on religious principles.
If ghosts are the remnants of past entities—Protestantism haunts modern capitalism—we are left with
the echoes of religious anxiety over the fear of damnation.
Well beloved
viewer, if “God helps those that help themselves” who does modern capitalism help?