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Essay Comparing The Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism

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In the books The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber, The Condition of Postmodernity by David Harvey, and Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy by Saskia Sassen, the shifting relations to labor over time are seen undoubtedly. Each of these works takes a different perspective on labor and capitalism (Weber on logical labor thought, Harvey on the rigidity and flexibility of industry throughout history, and Sassen on the consequences of expulsions in the economic present), yet their content still seems to complement one another.
Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism presents rational thought brought about by protestantism as a main factor in the change of society’s orientations towards labor. Weber says that there is a methodology brought about by protestantism that leads to the creation of specialists and organized ranking systems in businesses. The rationalist state lead to labor being organized by capitalist bookkeeping. Labor was also more …show more content…

This calling gave labor a religious meaning that made people feel dutiful. It was as if people felt like because they were of the world, they should do their best to make it better. People united into systems to do good works for life in order to be used by God as he saw fit. These unified systems labored together because they believed helping others and society in ways that does not directly affect you is one of God’s requests of his children.
Protestants worked long hours because it was considered sinful, according to many high up religious figures, to be sedentary. They argued that relaxation led to temptation and that laziness should be avoided at all costs. Since protestants worked so often, it is no wonder that they would gain quite a bit of money for their time spent laboring, but this acquisition of wealth was to never be used for selfish

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Protestant work ethic came from 2 very prominent figures of the 15th century Martin Luther and John Calvin. They both believed that the catholic did not need all the money it was receiving and squandering on unholy activities or that no priest should not be able to nullify your sins by paying to absolve them. Martin Luther believed that the truth lies in the scripture and everyone should be able to read it and see god through their own eyes. In 1517 Luther left his 95 theses for the world to see, this lead to a counter reformation by the catholic church trying to burn Luther's work but it was too late as many different schisms of Christianity rose. ( Lutherans, Calvanists, Anglicans)

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One of their main beliefs, predestination, had a great affect on their social outlook. Due to the already known beliefs, it was thought that they could only be saved if God chooses to save them. They emphasized hard work and religious piety in their society. People would advocate hard work, productive use of time, and self denial in indulgent things ( Document F). This emulated salvation and set an example to the rest of the society.

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Their work ethic was the belief that hard work was an honor to God which led to a successful reward. They believed that the devil was behind every evil deed. They went to great lengths to warn their members of the dangers of the world. They prayed before they slept at night, when they woke up in the morning, on Saturdays and at church services. God was the most important part of their lives so prayer was a major part of their daily lives.

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Spending their wealth on luxurious items was seen to be disrespectful to God and as a result people expected to pour their earnings into their callings. This has close ties with the capitalist ethic. From this ethic, according to Weber, a system of capitalism emerged that no longer required ascetic values to sustain itself. These became the capitalist spirit. Working hard and worshiping, activities held in high regards by Protestants contributed to what we seen in contemporary society as being the capitalist ethic.

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Other religious groups such as the Pietists, Baptists, and the Methodists all had the same attitudes but to a lower level. It is argued through Weber’s study that the new attitude towards material success and profit have broken the usual system of the economy which then opened the way for the contemporary condition of capitalism. But then, once the idea of capitalism began, the values of the Protestant was no longer needed, and their ethic exercised and enlivened the idea of the contemporary capitalism. The economic status of the modern capitalists was now sealed into the life of capitalism because it has become beneficial for the contemporary economic

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