Socmaxweber

“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings”(Proverbs 22:29) is a quote from the bible, but still rings true today to the spirit of Capitalism. In Weber’s “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” speaks to how the slave-like work ethic in Protestant traditions has commonalities to the spirit of capitalism. For example, the previously mentioned quote. Weber believed that religious groups such as the Calvinists(1). Weber believed that the Protestant ethic was one of the contributing factors to the birth of capitalism.
The general belief of the Protestants is that thou shall work hard for God, and that hard work will be reinforced with salvation. Weber refers to that Protestants worked hard all day, not for leisure or enjoyment, but to increase God’s glory. There is a link to the spirit of capitalism here because the proletariat works hard all day, not for their self-fulfillment, but to increase the profits (glory) of the bourgeoisie (God). “Time is money” a common held belief among capitalists. This belief also applies to the Protestants for it is considered a great sin for the protestant to waste time on little things in life that would be pleasurable for them, when they could be labouring for God. The belief amongst Calvinists was a need to see signs of salvation. Due to this belief the Calvinists valued material success and profits as a sign of salvation.   In addition, it was believed that possessing wealth was permissible, but the irrational usage of wealth was looked down upon in a negative manner.
Wealth was considered a temptation. It was not considered evil to possess wealth, but to become subdued by the tempting nature of that wealth and to use it in an irrational manner was sinful. However, the attainment of wealth was considered a “blessing by God”.   This belief system directly links with capitalism.   The desire to acquire wealth would soon lead to the irrational usages of wealth. This is blatantly observable in... [continues]

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