{"id":21470,"date":"2019-02-14T17:14:41","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T01:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=21470"},"modified":"2019-02-14T21:34:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T05:34:30","slug":"corporations-are-poeple-too-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/corporations-are-poeple-too-you-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporations are people too, you know…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in the dark ages when I studied ethics\nfor three years, I discovered to my consternation that the world of economics\nhad a somewhat lopsided and precarious relationship to moral theory. Until the\nlater part of the 19th<\/sup> century moral deliberations occupied a conspicuous\nplace in economic studies. A principal notion in Max Weber\u2019s The Protestant\nEthic and the Spirit of Capitalism[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\nis that ethical concepts such as honesty and economy are fundamental in\nexplaining the creation of wealth. In a similar way Adam Smith highlighted the prominence\nof self-interested behaviour in explaining the prosperity of nations, but he\nalso noted that such behaviour is only a slice of an intricate social worldview\ngrounded in collective customs, moral principles and values. Smith went on to\nargue that moral standards are indeed the foundation of the wealth of nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough people\u2019s \u2018own interest is connected to the prosperity of society [\u2026] justice [\u2026] is the main pillar that upholds the whole edifice. If it is removed [\u2026] the immense fabric of human society [\u2026] must in a moment crumble into atoms.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, there was a seismic shift in\nthe early 20th<\/sup> century as ethics was no longer considered a legitimate\nobject of study in rational economics. Rather, over the last century, a rapidly\nspreading and prevailing belief came into being; that analytical models in\neconomics and finance, alongside their human agents, act in a morally neutral fashion. Consequently,\nethics or morality is no longer part of the underlying explanation or critique of\nthe efficiency and viability of capitalist markets. Back in 1922 Jacob Viner\nset the platform for economic thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Economics [\u2026] has no direct concern with the analysis of the processes whereby men acquire a consciousness of moral obligation, and it is in this limited field that ethics finds the bulk of its subject matter\u2019.[3]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To say I was surprised would be an\nunderstatement. Yet, in talking with modern economists, this indeed appears to\nbe, and remain, the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reading Weber\u2019s essay, his underlying thesis seems to be that wealth creation is a way of thinking (a worldview) and not a mechanism to be applied. Though I don\u2019t have a direct reference, in my own words Capitalism is best described as, \u2018A social and economic system where both the means of production and any associated trade are privately owned\u2019. By emphasising the private, there is an assumption of moral containment within a cultural context, whereby individuals within that context determine moral outcomes. This makes some sense given that Weber makes a strong connection between pervasive Calvinistic theology and the development of the Capitalist emphasis on personal responsibility. Weber describes \u2018the spirit\u2019 of capitalism as, \u201cabove all the idea of a duty of the individual toward the increase of his capital, which is assumed as an end in itself.\u201d[4]<\/a> As such, it is an ethic, not a mechanism. The point of capitalist venture was to increase the wellbeing of society, at least in principle, not for the sake of consumption (leisure and comfort),[5]<\/a> but for production of individual wealth (frugality).[6]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s interesting, is the way Weber and the sociologists of the 19th<\/sup> century acknowledged the Puritan and Calvinistic concept of individual responsibility and ownership as powerful motivators for the future of economic and social wellbeing.[7]<\/a> European and the United Kingdom societies were still straining under a class system that was to some extent a reinvention of the feudal system after its massive failure during the Peasants Revolt of 1381.[8]<\/a> Yet, as Capitalism sprang to life, so did Socialism in its various forms. Over the following century, these two opposing forces developed in very different ways. Yet one thing is very clear, \u00a0no matter which side of the fence you view the world from, it\u2019s all too easy to avoid the mess in your own back yard. Over the last 40 years, with neo-liberal economic development, and the amoral thinking of economic theory, we have all missed something abhorrent within our corporate world that even Weber couldn\u2019t foresee: the view that corporations have personality. Contracts are now often between corporations and employees or investors. Corporations own things, and corporations have agency. Yet corporations are not required to have moral obligations. They may possess agreed values, but the application of those values may not be detrimental to the corporation itself.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Weber traces the history of Capitalist thinking to a Protestant ethic, he notes that it is more complex than that.[10]<\/a> And that complexity continues. What we read in Weber is a historical perspective on Capitalism and it\u2019s development in the same way that Bebbington and Polanyi caused us to consider Christianity\u2019s broader influence. Hermeneutically though, that old influence is almost non-existent. The amoral economic juggernaut has bolted and Christians are left having to consider our engagement with a consumer engaged, profit-driven world. Afterall, we are a polity within a polity – we are Kingdom people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weber\u2019s hope that, \u201cA man does not \u2018by nature\u2019 wish to earn more and more money, but simply to live as he is accustomed to live and to earn as much as is necessary for that purpose\u201d[11]<\/a> is less and less a certitude. It seems to me the Christian response must be to reconsider what success looks like for the ordinary person? What does it mean to be human? How do we live in the world together? How do we live with creation as caretakers? And how do we as Christians challenge the powers around us? Calvin\u2019s view may have been a useful tool once upon a time, but we need new voices speaking a gospel message for a very different era. I\u2019m just not sure what it is.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. Translated by Talcott Parsons. New York: Routledge, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Smith, Adam, Theory\nof Moral Sentiments<\/em>, New York, Prometheus Books 2000. 125<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> Viner, Jacob, 1922.\n\u2018The Relation between Economics and Ethics\u2019, American Economic Review<\/em>;\nreprinted in: The Long View and the Short. Studies in Economic Theory and\nPolicy<\/em>, Glencoe, Free Press 1958. 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 59<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 30<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid., 153ff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/a> Well worth reading about. The Feudal system kept the social status quo in place because of a complete absence of personal motivation towards change. It was socially devastating and ultimately fatal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/a> Michael Boylan, Business Ethics<\/em>, Basic Ethics in Action.<\/em> Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. 40-42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/a> Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid., 24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the dark ages when I studied ethics for three years, I discovered to my consternation that the world of economics had a somewhat lopsided and precarious relationship to moral theory. Until the later part of the 19th century moral deliberations occupied a conspicuous place in economic studies. A principal notion in Max Weber\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1453,1340,1321,11],"class_list":["post-21470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-digby","tag-dminlgp-9","tag-dminlgp9","tag-weber","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21470"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21515,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21470\/revisions\/21515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}