The Social Structure Of The Protestant Work Ethic

It is important to understand that Weber believed capitalism was fuelled by ideas, such as Protestantism, specifically Calvinism. His belief was that Protestants were very different to Catholics, spending more time focusing on their community rather than purely focusing on their own individual families. They worked towards a common goal, to ensure they worked to their full potential. Weber claimed that Protestants experienced feelings of guilt and directed these negative emotions into their work which Weber called “The Protestant Work

Work ethic is one of the biggest factors of American economy, is he support system of out country. Many have different opinions about this broad concept, Jonathan Klemen mentions in his essay “The protestant work ethic: just another “urban legend”” that work ethic is personalized by those who have found their passion and who have found work that provides social and personal satisfaction. He also believes that in order to achieve success you only have to work hard and concentrate in he principals of the protestant work ethic ideologies. Therefore I disagree with Klemen's conservative claims about the American work ethic because his expectations and presumptions are no where near as attainable as in he past,which effects the probability for certain social groups of people to achieve success.

Weber argues that religious beliefs contributed to major social change- specifically the emergence of modern capitalism in Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Modern capitalism differs from capitalism as it is based on systematic, efficient and a rational pursuit of profit and profit for its own sake rather than consumption. Weber calls this the spirit of capitalism.

28). He describes wealth as a “…blessing to mankind,” (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s perspective of causality dissents from Weber and Sellers; he believes that, “…one effect invariably produced by Christianity upon an uncivilized people receiving it is to multiply the wealth of that people,” (Gladden, 5). He argues, Protestantism, and ultimately Christianity, cause people to desire material goods (Class notes, Feb. 28). Thus, Christianity cannot be against capitalism without contradicting itself (Gladden, 8). Gladden’s evidence for his argument stems from the Bible. Gladden contends that there are statements in the Old Testament in which “…the possession and the increase of wealth are adduced as proofs of the favor of God,” (Gladded, 6). Wherefore, the New Testament supplements this argument by clarifying that is expected for men to accumulate wealth and possessions, but also God admonishes people valuing material goods over spiritual good, but not material wealth itself (Gladden,6). That is, people are meant to value spiritual well-being over material goods, but also remember they are commanded to be “fruitful” on earth and thus produce and amass wealth (Gladden, 7). Finally, Gladden realizes capitalism is not the problem; the problem is the unequal distribution of wealth (Class Notes, Feb. 28). He says, “No possible system will remove all

He attributes the existence of this work ethic in such an entitlement based society to the translation of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in the 1930s. He attributes the book, written by Max Weber, to starting America’s love affair with the work ethic. This work ethic, he claims, led to the dominance of American enterprise and world leadership.

Moreover, the author explains how the Americans work ethics have some of the values from the Protestant work ethics, such as hard-working and dedication toward works. Klemens used Max Weber’s statement as an example

development of Sunday school and new denominations like Methodism’s, Christian Church, The Salvation Army, and Pentecostalism etc. In addition, there is the contribution of Theologians to the praxis of Christian living.

In their studies of human behaviour a group of psychologists looked at how Weber’s theories outlined in the Protestant Work Ethic apply to the beliefs of conservative Americans. They discovered that many of the values were intertwined with and followed onto similar beliefs; their experiment found that “hard work yields desirable outcomes and anti-leisure predicted belief in a just world; the dimensions of centrality of work and anti-leisure attitudes predicted social dominance; and the dimensions of morality/ethics, self-reliance, anti-leisure predicted right-wing authoritarianism.” (Christopher et al. 2008) These results are interesting and undoubtedly explain how the values of Protestantism have formed political and economic values in conservative circles. Some of the ideas that arise from this line of thinking are that socio-economic status is due to one’s own merits; that if you work hard enough God will bless you with spiritual and financial success; and, leading on from this, that welfare is not only a crutch for the lazy and incompetent but it actually circumvents god’s will. This type of thinking ignores systematic disadvatages faced by minorities and the poor by saying there is an even playing field in which anyone can succeed if they try hard enough. The values of Protestant Christianity are clearly highly useful for supporting and scaffolding

The work ethic I speak of is the Protestant work ethic, I am a religious man myself and believe my hard work has lead to my salvation in God’s eyes. The protestant work ethic “is a concept in theology, sociology, economics and history which emphasizes that hard work and

Carnegie’s tone throughout his article is also incredibly condescending, implying that the poor lack the man of Wealth’s “superior wisdom, experience, and ability” and illustrates the poor as not only inferior, but infantile and constantly in need of aid (109). In response to patronizing nature of upper class culture, Thorstein Veblen published The Theory of the Leisure Class, which focused on the concept of “conspicuous consumption,” defined as the spending of money on unnecessary material goods in order to demonstrate the possession of wealth (Foner, 602). This contradicts Carnegie’s statement that the affluent have a duty to “set an example of modest, unostentatious living” (109) when his donations to society were no doubt publicized spectacles and the charitable institutions he created bore his name, such as the Carnegie Institute (lecture 18). Despite criticism, Carnegie maintained the belief that the “man who dies rich thus dies disgraced”

This is a case study on A New Work Ethic written by James Sheehy a human resources manager. According to the Business Dictionary (2011) ethic is define as the basic concepts and fundamental principles of right human conduct. It includes study of universal values such as the essential equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obedience to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, increasingly, also for the natural environment.

Samuel also represents the aspect of capitalism that Weber discusses in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

One expects Weber to Capitalism is a result of Protestantism or to be more specific, Calvinism. Calvinism believes God has granted few with salvation whereas others have to go through damnation. This virtue isn't dependent on their good or bad actions/ deeds but because God wanted it in a certain way. This belief made believers of Calvinism worried about their salvation and made them invest more efforts into economic success. This, in turn, made them believe that they were the chosen favourites of God. Furthermore, the profits made by Calvanists were re-invested into the business for further profits rather than self-indulgence. Hence, the concept of "Protestant ethic" came into place which generally refers to desire of having enormous economic success and will of working hard. This concept of "work ethic"

Max Weber believed Protestants compared to Catholics were more likely to hold business occupations based on the observation; that the capitalist structure rose alongside with Protestant reformation. This meant there was a direct positive correlation between capitalism and Protestantism. Because Protestants believe working hard here on Earth will secure them a position in Heaven; this leads to capitalism. I can see the connection Weber made, because religion is usually central to one’s life, it would be a primary motivator for working hard because of the idea of life after death. So I, for example, will work hard and strive to be the best person I can be, in order to be allowed entrance into heaven. The protestant reformation lead to new innovations such as the printing press. Religion could be seen as a factor that pushed this technological advancement because Protestants were now able to build an interpersonal relationship with God while also being able to interpret the bible for themselves.

Both Karl Marx and Max Weber assert that capitalism is the dominion of abstractions and the irrational accumulation of abstract wealth for the sake of wealth. For Marx, the state of capitalism is entrenched in the social classes to which people have bben assigned. Capitalism, according to Marx, is a result of the bourgeoisie 's ascent to economic and political power. This fuels the manifestation of a system that exploits the labour power of the lower socioeconomic classes for the gain of the higher socioeconomic classes. Weber understands the state of capitalism to be the end product of the work ethic of the Protestant branches of Christianity and the secularization of Protestant puritanism, which helped fuel rationalism. Capitalism, according to Weber, is to be understood as the relations and methods of production and commodities, now rationalized. Ultimately, Marx ascribes the ascent of capitalism to the exploitation of people and power, while stressing that such a system can be overcome by a communist revolution, whereas Weber states that such a system is the result of cultural choices and is not as convinced that capitalism can be overcome.