Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism

While growing up in Germany Max Weber witnessed the expansion of cities, the aristocracy being replaced by managerial elite, companies rapidly rising, and the industrial revolution. These changes in Germany, as well as the rest of the western world, pushed Weber to analyze the phenomenon, specifically to understand what makes capitalism in the west different and how capitalism was established. In The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism, Weber explains that capitalism is all about profit and what creates the variance between capitalism in the west and the rest of the world is rationalization, “the process in which social institutions and social interaction become increasingly governed by systematic, methodical procedures and rules”

He further claims that the spirit of capitalism is the pursuit of profit and capital. Moreover, Weber argues that this spirit of capitalism was not a result of technological advances and/or the division of labor as many believe, it is from religious beliefs. But not just any religious belief, due to business leaders being frequently Protestant, Weber theorizes that protestantism enabled western rational capitalism. He utilizes empirical research by first going back to the beginning of protestantism with Martin Luther and his belief of the calling. Luther 's frustration with the corruption of Catholicism caused him to separate from it. As a Catholic, when you do something bad you confess to the priests and are cleansed. Thus, one can keep repeating sinful acts as long as they repent. Another problem that

He discusses the Protestant work ethic primarily examining Richard Baxter a Presbyterian and Methodists. There is a much more focus on wealth because a worldly self discipline is stressed as the morally and right way to live. You not only work hard in your calling but you are constantly productive and are mentally and physically rational. If one were lazy and/or waste their time by indulging themselves in joyful activities it is seen as sinful. Wealth itself is not a sin as long as it is connected to ones work only when it is used irrationally. Therefore, the spirit of capitalism takes form because rather than spending people are invesing. Consequently, the protestant work ethic eventually contradicts itself by separating from religion and increases the temptations that are supposed to be avoided. As capital continuously increases greed, pride, selfishness, sloth, and excessive wasteful spending increases (Barnes 2015). Resulting in western rational capitalism. In today 's society people continue to work hard in order to be successful and spend money on what they desire, as well as viewing those who are of lower class and receiving welfare as lazy and useless fueling those who are also poor to work harder in order to reach success and be viewed