The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity (part 1) | The Regrettable Century

tags : [[capitalism]] [[religion]] [[capitalism as religion]] [[modernity]]

source : The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity (…

The book they are discussing can be found here.

Notes

• Prior to capitalism there was an understood enchantment of the world, somewhat popularized by the [[Catholic Church]]. After [[Protestantism]] entered the scene, this enchantment was replaced with rationality
• Protestantism sees the rituals of Catholicism paganistic
• [[Weber]] said that protestantism was a mistrust of ritual and sacraments in religion
• Protestantism is the spirit that drives America and capitalism
• Weber said that protestants saw success in business as religious success
• He said that attempts to re enchant the world will only be a kind of self therapy, consolation, to make
• Sacraments pervaded every aspect of life in the [[medieval period]]
• [[The commons]] were granted collective ownership of a certain portion of land. This idea flies in the face of modern capitalism
• Land was constantly equitably divided in [[the commons]], frequently redistributed according to common need
• Although the commons sound great, the past shouldn’t be romanticized. Medieval Christendom was as hypocritical as modern [[capitalist ideology]]
• Catholicism (notably Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi) considered communism the ideal, [[private property]] a necessary concession
• Catholic monastic orders were essentially communist: believed in common ownership, common work, etc.
• Peasants revolts in this period occurred because nobles didn’t adequately protect peasantry. A sort of social contract was violated
• Protestants re-invented their own rituals. May speak to a desire of belonging and purpose
• Much of the [[Inquisition]] wasn’t as bad as people thought; their aim was to combat [[heresy]], to kill someone would have been seen as a failure.
• The [[Spanish Inquisition]] was as bad as people thought; it was a [[colonialist]] project to reclaim land and integrate population
• Accumulation of wealth was seen as a Protestant duty to God ([[prosperity theology]])
• [[John Locke]] said that land had to be improved, nature has no value, and otherwise you don’t have a right to it
• [[Milton]] suggested that having to labor was the punishment imposed by God, self-reliance is satanic
• The [[Diggers]] were an anti-capitalist movement of sorts, who aimed to undo [[enclosure]]
  • [[Gerrard Winstanley]] wrote something like “Why is knowledge only ever used for misery and not for the enrichment of all?”
• [[Marx]] says the antidote to religion is [[revolution]]. The essence of Christianity (i.e. communistic living) is the essence of humanity
  • Religion is a necessary medicine for a world of pain, [[“opiate of the masses”]]
• Marxists should be against mechanized reason, not reason itself