Will Thompson - Response #1 - Protestant Ethic

9/17/08:

I think Weber’s contention (that the values of Protestantism are especially conducive to capitalism) was correct. He is definitely a smart man making a compelling case.

The difference between Protestants and Catholics that stands out most to me is the central authority. While Catholics follow the Pope, Protestants have no such figure. The lack of central authority in Protestantism probably helped them adopt capitalism. Capitalism is an individualistic system in which the state does not direct economic activity. Perhaps Protestants, already used to aggregated individual choices shaping their religion, were especially comfortable with the market’s invisible hand guiding the economy. It was already natural for them to think of a system without central authority as a good way of organizing.

Today, however, Weber’s assertion that the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism are connected has many critics. Many of these critics routinely cite the advanced economies of modern, non-protestant nations, like Japan and South Korea, in an effort to prove Weber wrong. Obviously, no one can doubt that these are capitalist countries that have succeeded economically without a being Protestant, but this doesn’t prove Weber wrong.

All this proves is that a Protestant heritage is not a necessary condition for economic achievement. These countries transformed their economies by learning from the Protestant nations that had already done so. (Think about American guidance in Japan after World War II.) The non-protestant countries adopted the relevant values of Protestantism without the religion itself. It’s also important to note that many non-protestant countries share some of the Protestant values that are conducive to capitalism.

In short, I think Weber was correct in saying that economic success can be helped by having a Protestant population, but that is certainly not the only way to develop economically.