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Max Weber
The religious roots of free enterprise
Covering the electronics industry, I am continually amazed by the ever constant stream of new products and the new industry that emerges as old ones mature. These new technology all seek to save time, increase productivity and reduce work.
What propells companies to create such products and why do consumers adopt them so readily? German socialist Max Weber believed that the work ethic in Europe and the U.S. was created by the spread of Calvinisn and its derivatives in these regions of the world. In Asia, which has a similar work ethic, the impetus is Buddahism and Confusianism.
How did Calvinisn promote free enterprise? It created the religious idea of predestination which states that each individual was predestined to eternal salvation or damnation. Furthermore, it states that while individuals had no way of knowing their destiny, a sign of salvation was material prosperity on earth.
What greater incentive to achieve material wealth than the knowledge it would ensure an individual eternal salvation. Moreover, if one were destined for salvation, no act of his on earth could change that destiny. Hence, individual not only had an incentive to work hard, they were encouraged to ruthlessly pursue their goal as Carnegie, Rockefellar, Vanderbilt and others did.
In Japan, Shintoism, a belief in nature and ancestor worship was supplemented by Buddhism, a religion teaching that life was full of suffering that could be eased through enlightenment. Buddhism empowered Japanese followers, teaching that the individual is the responsible for his fate.
Buddhism has no diety. It instructs that acts of good do not provide eternal salvation. Rather, it promotes the idea of an individual helping another and in return receiving help. Performing this cooperative method of work to perfection is a way to reach Nirvana.
In a book review of James Fallows, Looking At The Sun, the Economist writes "The Japanese are rich; but they refuse to spend their money on consumer goods. They are educated; but voice few opinions. They country is democratic; but unelected bureaucrats wield power. It is capitalist; but managers care more about market share than profits. "By some magic that defies the law of human selfishness, individualism of all kinds is suffocated by loyalty to groups."
In China, Confusianism is the main driving force. Professor William T. deBary of Columbia University City of New York, a China expert, says the core of Confucianism is learning hard work, self discipline and sharing inside the family. It is distinct from western culture in which individualism pervails over family oriented sharing.
One major change coming over China is the reemergence of Confucianism into everyday life after being suppressed during the years of Chairman Mao. With its return there is a reasserting of native industry and competitive spirit.
While the state dominates the economy on national level during the early days of communism, at the grass roots level, the economy was competitive and entrepreneurial. Mao squashed this. Now with economic liberalization, the market economy is coming back with rush at the local level.
Confucianism has yet another dimension not well understood in the west. At the core of the religion is the notion of liberal reformism, protest against despotism and values supporting human rights. Instead of acknowleding human rights have basis in Confucianism, westerner assume the concept is a purely western idea, de Bary contends.
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