The Spirit v. The Dogma of Capitalism

In examining "the Spirit of Captialism," Weber seeks to bolster his theory on the Protestant work ethic by describing and explaining the evolution of the capitalistic mentality - and, in particular, the American Puritan.  Benjamin Franklin and his edicts of "time as money" serve as an ideal archetype for the preaching of what is "not simply a means of making one's way in the world, but a peculiar ethic." And, as Weber reminds us, it's not a coincidence that Franklin is also called "the first American." Franklin and his ethos (think Poor Richard's Almanack) represent a way of conceptualizing the world that seems both natural and wise to us.

But, Weber  - and, to some extent, much of the field of comparative politics - says that the spirit of capitalism is certainly not natural (meaning universal of independent of human action) and may not even be wise. In light of the trend to make "democracy" and "free market capitalism" synonymous, this revelation should make us reconsider to what degree the spirit of capitalism has pervaded the American political culture. 

Indeed, what is so uniquely American about Benjamin Franklin's maxims can be summed up by Weber's description of the takeover of capitalism: "The ability to free oneself from the common tradition, a sort of liberal enlightenment, seems likely to be the most suitable basis for a business man's success."  Here we see the application of a strain of rationalism that puts self-fulfillment and self-expression as the bedrock of the capitalistic mentality.  But, as Weber warns in his later chapters," such intense belief in rationalization leads to the "iron-cage" - a loss of freedom in the face of enormous bureaucracy, an alienation from the community, and ultimately, the end of the bowling leagues that indicate so what exactly civic society entails. What Weber means then when he reminds us that "rationalism is an historical concept which covers a whole world of different things," is that is not a given that the particular spirt of capitalism that defines American political culture today must dominate forever or dominate everywhere.