The Protestant work ethic

[pmccarthy]

Many of us suffer from it. I was busy from 6am today but felt stuffed by about 3 pm and said to SWMBO that I felt I had achieved nothing. She says I have an excess of Protestant work ethic, but just as many left footers suffer from it, so it is really an urge to achieve something finite and positive each day. Do you suffer from it? It is the need to have made or repaired something, not just sat around reading or gone for a walk or done exercises. It is probably worse when you are retired.

[nomadpete]

Point 1

Yes I do experience this urge of which you speak. I seek that sense of satisfaction that, at the end of the day, I have 'done something'

 

Point 2

I guess I'm retired. But I've always had this malaise, whether employed or not.

 

Point 3

I don't suffer from it. I enjoy every moment.

[spacesailor]

Is it any different for Catholics ?.

They get up early and do their church thing, 

THEN WHAT.

spacesailor

 

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

Do you suffer from it? It is the need to have made or repaired something, not just sat around reading or gone for a walk or done exercises.

I'll let you know after I've finished this book and had a bit of a nap.

[old man emu]

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (German: Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus) is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician.  It is considered a founding text in economic sociology and a milestone contribution to sociological thought in general.

 

In the book, Weber wrote that capitalism in Northern Europe evolved when the Protestant (particularly Calvinist) ethic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world, developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the accumulation of wealth for investment. In other words, the Protestant work ethic was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinated emergence of modern capitalism. 

 

Calvin and his followers taught a doctrine of double predestination, in which from the beginning God chose some people for salvation and others for damnation. The inability to influence one's own salvation presented a very difficult problem for Calvin's followers. It became an absolute duty to believe that one was chosen for salvation, and to dispel any doubt about that: lack of self-confidence was evidence of insufficient faith and a sign of damnation. So, self-confidence took the place of priestly assurance of God's grace.

 

Since great numbers of people from these Calvinist and other German sects migrated to the USA, the "get up and go" culture of the USA stems from it.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism

[onetrack]

But then we have ..... METROPOLIS! - to show us how the Protestant work ethic and Capitalism, has failed us! - and the gulf between the rich and poor, is bigger than ever!! 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)

 

 

 

[nomadpete]

Thanks for reading that, OME. And especially thanks for the executive summary.

 

I'm confused. I haven't the patience to read such a heavy tome, so does that make me one of the damned? Or maybe my Calvinist Protestant work ethic doesn't allow me time to sit around reading books, which makes me one of the chosen?

 

[nomadpete]

Either way, the capitalism tiger is well and truly out of the bag. It has been embraced by all faiths and even by the socialists and communists.

[Yenn]

I always thought that their work ethic was a benefit to us all. far better for them to have that work ethic, when the amateurs reckon it is best to lay back and think of England. But then they say a womans work is never done.

[onetrack]

One thing's for sure - the Aboriginal work ethic wouldn't have got us where we are!

 

I can remember Dad telling me how, on the stations, in the early 1930's, the overseer would swoop down on the Aboriginal jackeroos who were "slacking off" under the trees, with their saddled horses grazing nearby - and raise the stockwhip and crack it around their ears, to get them going!

 

It worked! He reckoned he got a good chuckle, seeing the Aboriginal jackeroos jump to their feet with alacrity, and saddle up and ride after cattle, like the Devil himself was after them!!

 

As the old joke goes - Jesus' last words to the Aboriginals were, "just hang around, and don't do anything, until I get back!"  

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by onetrack

[Bruce Tuncks]

I have wondered if they ever tried to make slaves of aborigines. Back in the 1700's it was legal I think.

Anyway, there is no way of making aborigines work. There is nothing you can do to them or their families to make them toil all day. Good on them, say I.

Slaves are not that cheap to keep...  you need to guard them and feed them and while you may save on wages, you still may be better off with paid workers.

In the middle ages a free man with a wheelbarrow was more cost effective than the slaves he replaced, and it was this, and not religion, which put an end to slavery in England.

[nomadpete]

The trick is, convincing that free man that working for a pittance is actually freedom. And then to get him to buy his own barrow.

[onetrack]

That's exactly the American corporate policy as carried out by all their global corporations today. Of course, you also have to make the "free man" accept the facts that senior executives and CEO's salaries need to be hundreds of multiples of an ordinary workers wage - and you have to make him accept the fact that the fees for engaging global corporations to find work for his barrow, have to be in the order of 25% to 45%.

 

I looked at a website once, that encouraged people to rent their under-utilised vehicles (carnextdoor). The companys cut was between 25% and 40%, just for largely arranging the meetup between owners and renters.

No thanks, I don't need to have a new cloaca reamed out in me, every day of the week. Many food premises owners, and rideshare vehicle owners, are bucking at the global corporate reaming, just for using their platform.

[nomadpete]

I'm blaming Calvin

[Marty_d]

4 minutes ago, nomadpete said:

I'm blaming Calvin

Klein?

[nomadpete]

Calvin and the Colonel

 

Rather, Calvin and his Calvinists are to blame for my Protestant Work Ethic

[Marty_d]

That makes more sense.  I wondered why you were blaming underwear.

[pmccarthy]

John Wesley too, he appealed greatly to people particularly in Cornwall who lived overworked, miserable lives. They stayed overworked but were now happy and spent Sundays in chapel.

[Bruce Tuncks]

The willing gullibility of people to religion is amazing huh.

[facthunter]

Working for something is more ethical than stealing it from the others. It's not a bad fault to have. A fair days pay for a fair days work   wouldn't go astray as a base concept. It's not fair to compare the Aborigines motivations. They don't have our concept of INDIVIDUAL ownership. That's how they survive in marginal conditions by not doing damage to their shared resources.(The Environment) WE can't live without it either but haven't adjusted yet. 

  Calvanists were Protestants, a competitor  for the Roman Catholic Church  which was a state and had it's own army..  Still has a special seat at the UN. I believe. Nev

[Yenn]

A fair days pay for a fair days work? Go talk to company directors and CEOs about that. What i see is that those who work the hardest are paid the least.

The Aboriginals have got it worked out. I hear today that Qld is considering a treaty and one has been signed in Canada. the Canadian one is reported to work out the value of the country and add in interest.

I really want to know what the aboriginals want. They seem to want housing, health care and education and also to complain about the high rates of child molestation in the settlements. They complain that they are not allowed to own houses on the settlements such as Woorabinda and Cherbourg.