Capitalism and My Family Tree
Weber, Max, Talcott Parsons, and R.H. Tawney. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003.
Summary:
Most of us have seen the commercials about the DNA testing that helps one know the origins of their family tree. One guy says, “I thought I was Italian and my test showed I was actually Eastern European.” Another says, “I thought I was German, but the test revealed that I’m Scottish! Now I have to change the way I view myself and the world.” Max Weber did a DNA test of modern capitalism and came up with some rather unique and intriguing results. The capitalist commercial goes something like this.
Que the music! Roll! A camera pulls back from a close-up shot of water coming from the top of a fountain to reveal a sprawling mansion. The camera continues to pull back and pans left to reveal a new Lamborghini parked just left of the fountain which can now be seen as being at the center of a large circular driveway. The camera pans back to center and then to a wide, rising shot, over the top of the mansion, where both the helicopter and the ocean come into view. The pan continues upward to the sky, fading into to a Lear jet flying across the ocean. A zoom through the window over the wing to a full shot of Capitalism sitting in a leather seat. Capitalism smiles and says, “I thought I was from the USA, but my DNA test showed I’m actually from the protestant church and not just the Protestant church, but from a guy called Calvin!” Fade out to a website where you can get your test too!
Weber’s thesis is simply this: The DNA (Spirit of Capitalism) of modern capitalism is Protestantism and specifically Calvin’s doctrine of predestination and his view of the “call.” According to Weber, the “call” is the idea everyone is created by God with a single purpose. Therefore, to prove their faith in God, everyone must work hard to fulfill the purpose for which God created them. Anything that kept them from the call was sinful and should be shunned. With the addition of Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, hard work presented itself as the outward symbol of those where were “the elect” and were predestined by God as one who will surely go to heaven.
Keeping this in mind, one might say that many years ago the ancestor of capitalism looked something like this. The camera zooms in; the ancestor speaks. “I am laboring not so much to make uncontrollable amounts of money, but because this is my single God-created purpose in life. I will make ever increasing profits in a controlled and rational way (because there is no magic—only rational thought) over an extended period. However, I want little gain for myself, because spending the profits on myself and the enjoyment of life would only lead me away from the hard work, for which God created me to do. Consequently, if I am lead away from hard work into a state of idleness, I am not pleasing God. In fact, the only way that I can please God, and therefore be assured of my place in heaven, is through hard work and an ascetic lifestyle. And so I work hard, and I live frugally. I put the capital gains back into the enterprise instead of spending it on my enjoyment. The result is that the business grows, signifying I am one of the elect and I am pleasing to God.”
According to Weber’s description, this is the ancestor and the “Spirit of Capitalism.” Even though modern capitalism doesn’t look exactly like this, when you look closely in the mirror you can see that it has the same eyes, nose and build. It looks just like family.
Application:
The first thought that comes to mind is the influence and impact the church has had on our world. Any study of the history of our world that is absent from an understanding of the influence and impact of the of the church—both good and bad—is wanting.
My second thought was when I look for Weber’s distant cousins of capitalism in our modern capitalistic society; I see the Amish communities. This is by no means a negative, my wife’s family has their roots in the Amish communities of Pennsylvania. I don’t want to over-generalize, but for the purpose of this application, the Amish are from the Reformed tradition. They are hard-working, they have an entrepreneurial spirit that leads to the starting the running of extremely successful business. Additionally, they live quite austere lives and therefore the profits from business flow back into the business and into the community—which continues that cycle of growth. They look like cousins to me.
The third thought is, why does capitalism seem so familiar to the Western Protestant Christian? Is it so familiar that is can easily express itself in the way we worship, in our signs of successful churches, pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and teachers? Can it be so “familiar” (see FAMILY) that we are not aware of it’s impact how we view God and his Commission? Is it so familiar that we carry it with us—unnoticed—when we go into the whole world to preach the Gospel to all.
The questions go back to Anderson—what stories are we telling ourselves that make us who we are? [1] They go back to Bebbington’s quadrilateral—what is it that makes us evangelical?[2] They go back to Garner—how are we contextualizing the Gospel? [3] Are we contextualizing in the light of our family tree or the light of God’s plan? I don’t have the answers; but now that I am more aware of my family tree a great question arises: will this knowledge lead me to change how I view myself and the way I view the world?
- Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Rev. ed. ed. London: Verso, 2006.
- Bebbington, D. W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s. New ed. n.p.: Routledge, 1989.
- Garner, Stephen. “Contextual and Public Theology: Passing Fads or Theological Imperatives?.” Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice Vol. 22, No. 1 (2015): 20-28.
About the Author
Jim Sabella
15 responses to “Capitalism and My Family Tree”
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Jim, I really appreciate your gentle spirit.
I felt myself bristling a little bit at the thought of blaming all of capitalism on Protestants. It didn’t seem fair. I get Max Weber’s point, but is it oversimplification?
What a great way to illustrate the book using DNA as a picture. It helps get many things in perspective.
But, Weber, like the prosperity Gospel folks, does not explain what sort of heart condition we have to allow such greed masking as God’s blessing. Maybe he explained one reason for how things changed, but he doesn’t get at the reason “why” at least not for me.
I like the way you connected this book to past books. Maybe some of our future books will shed more light on the “why” question?
Your posts are very uplifting!
Thanks Mary. I agree that it seems the Weber is oversimplifying a complicated and layered process. If he’s even a bit right, I’m not sure how we got to how the system got to where it is now and in such a relatively short time. However, I do see ancestral similarities in the capitalism of today and what Weber describe as the spirit of capitalism. I don’t know how I missed reading Weber after all these years of life, ministry, and study!
I think we need to be careful not to equate “capitalism” and the “spirit of capitalism.” According to Weber (p19-20 ff), capitalism has existed for a long time and in many places, but it was only with the rise of the “spirit of capitalism” (which emerged from Calvinism) that capitalism grew to become the dominant model. Credit can be attributed to Calvinism for the rise to dominance of capitalism, but not the idea of it.
Jim great post and thoughts!!! It is startling when you take time to think about how familiar it really is to the way in which we live and worship today. Why do we continue in this manner? While I do not want us to beat up on ourselves, I think you pose some great questions( Anderson, Bebbington, and Garner) for us to reflect on and consider as we apply the gospel daily in our lives.
Thanks Christal. It seems like there is this crossover into the church. Miller’s book hits on it even more. I’m wondering if the reason we accept it so readily in the church is because it is so familiar to us. If Weber is correct, capitalism has its root deep in the psyche of the protestant church. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one to say that capitalism is a bad thing. It is a tool that has helped many to survive and prosper. But like any tool, it can be used in a way to do harm as well. I appreciate your mentioning redemptive business practices in your post. It’s an interesting concept that could help soften the hard cold edge that modern capitalism—without a moral compass—can wield.
I like the link to the Amish Jim. I think that is an interesting comparison, as they do work hard, appear to be entrepreneurial and successful, but have maintained a sense of social cohesion and frugality. I am sure we could learn a lot from them!
Thanks Geoff. The Quakers, Shakers, and Amish have a long history in Pennsylvania and other parts of the USA. Though they are each different, they have the same sense of entrepreneurial spirit and austere lifestyle. For example, the Amish will not usually have a phone in their home, but they will in the barn where the business is conducted. They do not normally own cars but will hire a car or van to take them shopping or on vacation. Their businesses have all of the modern technological advances, but they do not usually avail themselves of the technology for personal use. These examples connect directly to Weber’s “spirit of capitalism” where profit is not used on what might be considered personal leisure, but can be and often is used for purposes of business only.
This is so, so interesting to me! My college (in Western Pa) was in Amish country and we studied them extensively for sociology….. such an interesting mix that you capture well, Jim…..I have been to some of the most modern, high tech woodworking shops in the world, right next to a house without electricity…. very interesting…. talk about being in the world but not of it.
Chip, my family is from western PA and my wife’s family is from Central PA. It was years ago…we went to a funeral for my wife’s grandfather; several of the family came in buggies. The Amish have been able to adjust to a changing business world and yet still maintain their unique—for our time—lifestyle.
Jim, I love your description of the ancestor of capitalism because I think it really does show where things fell apart. The desire to work hard for God is, of course, excellent and admirable. Where we fell apart with the Protestant work ethic is in our failure to recognize enjoyment of life (play) as crucial to serving God as well. We envision ourselves as worker bees who struggle to take time to enjoy what we have.
Where capitalism fell apart as a whole is in the failure to recognize that work is not for hoarding personal gain, but for serving God. That often means putting aside our desire for more, doing with less, and sharing to care for others.
Kristin, I’m so glad you said that we often fail to recognize that the enjoyment of life is crucial to serving God. “We envision ourselves as worker bees who struggle to take time to enjoy what we have.” Wow! That is exactly it. There is so much in that statement that is in my opinion important to the church and to every follower of Christ, especially for those in my generation. Great thoughts Kristin!
Jim,
Great post and I like how you tie it up at the end with all of the other things we have been learning/reading…. I especially think that the context is so important. Was it Calvin or the context that led to this ‘spirit’? I think you know my answer!
Thanks Chip. Yep, I know your answer! 🙂
Jim, what an excellent word picture! Thanks for sharing this image. Yes, I think we see hints of the original DNA of the Protestant ethic in the Amish; my husband, Kip, is from Lancaster Co, PA, and grew up among many Amish neighbors and community members. They do have a reputation as hard workers who live very simply.
And as one who has lived the missionary life, I imagine you’ve also studied some mission history. So you’d know that missionaries like David Livingstone sought to bring “Christianity, commerce, and civilization” to Africa. Yes, we carry cultural baggage with us. The challenge, as you know, is recognizing it in ourselves, and not just assume we are (only) carrying the gospel with us.
Thanks Katy. My wife is from Harrisburg, PA. YI agree; the challenge is in recognizing it in ourselves. It often takes living in another culture for an extended period of time for a person to begin to realize how their culture impacts who they are, how they act and how they contextualize the gospel.