The Protestant Asceticism And The Spirit Of Capitalism By Max Weber

Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism is chapter five in Max Weber’s book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, in which he guides readers through the development of religion into capitalism using Protestants as an example.
He begins his work by describing the religious beliefs of the Puritans regarding work ethic, wealth and indulgences. People must work for God, and any moment spent idle is a moment wasted. As for wealth, he describes it as “a great danger” because of the temptations that come along with it. If one was wealthy, they are more prone to buying material goods that are not necessities, which will do nothing but distract them from their work.
Life was not made to be enjoyed, but to work for God and be productive.
He states, “Impulsive enjoyment of life, which leads away both from work in a calling and from religion, was as such the enemy of rational asceticism,” (Weber). The use of money for enjoyment and material goods was the temptation and the various emotions that come with a luxurious lifestyle, such as greed and selfishness, may overcome the people and guide them away from religion.
Wealth, however, was a sign that one was abiding by God’s wishes and fulfilling their duties as a human being. Wealth was a sign of productiveness, so as long as it was not used for indulgences, wealth was a positive thing. “[A]sceticism looked upon the pursuit of wealth as an end in itself as highly reprehensible; but the attainment of it as a fruit of labour in a calling was a sign of God’s blessing” (Weber). One who was wealthy was thought to be rewarded by God for doing a good job.
Moreover, this encouraged people to keep going and try to get wealthy. Labor became an approved ascetic technique because it was both distracting and contributing to the community.
The idea of a “calling” was also developed. If one had a specific calling, or multiple callings, he must utilize it, or else he was disobeying God. There were also some who did not have callings, who were forgiven as long as they worked hard. This encouraged Puritans to believe that inequality was of God’s doing and was therefore accepted. Capitalism itself surrounds itself by the premise that the wealthy use other people to accumulate more wealth, while paying workers less than they deserve.
These beliefs led to capitalism not only because of inequality, but because some people were bound to be wealthy.
Weber uses a quote by John Wesley to support his points. “For religion must necessarily product both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches” (Wesley). Protestants were expected to do nothing but work very hard and not use their earnings on anything but necessities. Therefore, riches were increasing because all they did was work and save money.
As mentioned before, the accumulation of wealth was seen as a blessing from the heavens. The accumulation of labor was encouraged, and one way to accumulate labor is to invest in capital. If God’s teachings were suggesting this, then a religious movement is bound to turn into a capitalistic society.
It is interesting to see how the accumulation of wealth turns into a cycle. As Wesley mentioned, wealth leads to pride and anger. When I think of capitalism, I think of a vicious cycle. In the chapter, Weber compared being poor to being unhealthy. If being wealthy meant you were blessed, then being poor was surely frowned upon. To me, it is obvious that a society with these beliefs would lead to capitalism because, as Weber and Wesley said, there are bound to be riches, and if being rich was thought of as highly, then there will inevitably be people who will do anything to sustain their status. By the end of the chapter, Weber expressed that people cast aside any attempts at justifying their
actions.