Ultimately greed and the unbridled individual pursuit of wealth comes all too frequently at the expense of many others #dmingml

The last time I opened a book that looked at the relationship between the emerging Protestant ethic and capitalism was in my Sociology 101 class in 1987 – a mere 24 years ago! Now in 2011, I find myself analysing this relationship in Max Weber’s book, The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism.

  In Part I, Weber essentially argues that there is a close relationship between the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He looks at the historical context in which capitalism was conceived, and argues that capitalism grew out of a person’s religious affiliation and social status, and that primarily there was a greater proportion of business leaders, owners of capital and higher skilled labourers who were Protestant rather than Catholic. Weber analyses the reasons he perceives are behind this, including the notion that had emerged from the Reformation where ‘work’ was given a higher status and afforded spiritual legitimacy. In essence it had been transformed from a secular or worldly pursuit to now being related to someone’s religious calling, as “an expression of virtue and proficiency.”

  Capitalism had arrived, and it came to dominate people’s lives, certainly in an economic sense now that it was seen as much more than merely a worldly pursuit. Unfortunately, this gave rise to a new development, for as Weber points out, people became consumed with the making of money as the ultimate purpose of life. Economic acquisition was no longer subordinated to man as the means for the satisfaction of his material needs.

  There are certainly some healthy discussions to be had and questions to be asked about capitalism, and for now, I would like to analyse what Weber calls the spirit of capitalism and take a look at it through a modern day lens. For many, capitalism has increased people’s ability to meet their physical, social and intellectual needs. It has brought about the accumulation of material assets, including essential shelter, transport, time saving gadgets and personal technology that have made our lives much easier (although not always simpler). However, capitalism has not always proven friendly to every person. We only have to look back to the Industrial Revolution in England and Europe where adults and children were forced to work extremely long hours in atrocious conditions for only a pittance, all in the name of capitalism and progress. It allowed these workers to barely provide for the basic needs of their families, while the business owners increased their own profits and margins. While those days may be long gone in the Western world, we only need to cast our thoughts back to some of the underpinning causes of the recent global financial crisis, to understand that ultimately greed and the unbridled individual pursuit of wealth comes all too frequently at the expense of many others and in different ways, such as increasing unemployment, higher costs and government taxes, mortgage foreclosures, bankruptcies, and so on.

  Things would undoubtedly be different if we had maintained a purer sense of calling to our work and seeing it not only as exercising our God-given talents and opportunities, but also as a responsibility and contributor to the welfare of our communities. Most of us don’t begrudge someone else earning a higher income or working harder to achieve a level of success, or even putting in some extra effort with the goal of purchasing something they have wanted for a long time. Cross the line however, to pursuing this objective at the financial, physical or social expense of others, then we have made the needs of others in our communities subservient to our individual pursuit of wealth. Herein lies a very real problem even in today’s modern world. In reality, as we delve into the historical roots of capitalism and its relationship to Protestantism we discover that it is not so much relational as it is individualistic, albeit, individualistic with significant relational repercussions.