WEBVTT NOTE The Wealth of Nations: Ideology, Religion, Biology, and Environment 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:17.080 Besides purely economic factors, such as division of labor, money and capital accumulation, 2 00:00:17.080 --> 00:00:28.600 Of course, ideological factors, ideological components play also a very important role 3 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:35.240 in economic development and in the formation of societies. 4 00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:43.640 These ideological factors in a way even influence such fundamental things as the attitude towards 5 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:55.640 and its division of labor that exist in societies, in particular also the attitude towards capital accumulation, 6 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:05.640 the desire to become wealthier or to be satisfied with low standards of living. 7 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:26.640 And I want to spend this lecture just discussing some ideological factors, mostly religious factors influencing economic development. 8 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:55.640 Let me start, for instance, by reminding you that capital accumulation and, based on capital accumulation, also the desire to make inventions, technological improvements and so forth, 9 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:12.640 can be encouraged or can be discouraged by certain prevalent ideologies existing in society. 10 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:20.640 Before I start talking about major religions, 11 00:02:20.640 --> 00:02:33.320 Just to give you some examples that make this intuitively clear, imagine for instance people 12 00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:46.000 would believe in a deity that leaves the world with the instruction that things should be 13 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:54.760 We left the way they are. If such a religion would be, so to speak, a powerful religion 14 00:02:54.760 --> 00:03:03.080 among people, you can easily imagine that such a society does not have much of a potential 15 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:09.440 to develop and become prosperous. We would likely guess that societies such as this will 16 00:03:09.440 --> 00:03:17.880 will tend to die out, will be taken over actually by other societies. 17 00:03:17.880 --> 00:03:32.840 Or imagine a society that has a very deep and profound ancestor worship. 18 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:43.280 Of such a society we would expect that it will display to a large extent very ritualistic 19 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:57.880 type behavior and also will be reluctant to introduce any innovations. 20 00:03:57.880 --> 00:04:12.880 The same is also true for slave societies and of course for many parts of the world and for large parts of human history. 21 00:04:12.880 --> 00:04:22.880 We did have slave societies, the most prominent examples of course being classical civilization, 22 00:04:22.880 --> 00:04:32.440 Greek Roman Civilization and then of course also the example of the United States. 23 00:04:32.440 --> 00:04:41.680 In slave societies it is frequently the case that the slaves do the work so to speak and 24 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:53.360 The masters lays around, don't do much, are not involved in the day-to-day activities 25 00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:01.240 and because they are not involved in the day-to-day activities, they also contribute little to 26 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:12.120 Improvements in the technology that can be employed in these day-to-day activities. 27 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:20.600 Let me give you a brief quote from Carroll Quigley to this effect. 28 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:28.720 He writes, suppose that a primitive tribe believes that its social organization was 29 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:36.400 established by a deity who went away leaving strict instructions that nothing be changed. 30 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:39.440 Such a society would invent very little. 31 00:05:39.440 --> 00:05:44.320 Egyptian civilization was something like that. 32 00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:51.400 Or any society that had ancestor worship would probably have weak incentives to invent. 33 00:05:51.400 --> 00:05:58.320 Or a society whose productive system was based on slavery would probably be uninventive. 34 00:05:58.320 --> 00:06:04.420 Both societies, such as classical civilization or the southern states of the United States 35 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:10.840 in the period before 1860, have been notoriously uninventive. 36 00:06:10.840 --> 00:06:19.000 No major inventions in the field of production came from either of these civilizations. 37 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:23.880 This is not to say that these civilizations did not develop other achievements. 38 00:06:23.880 --> 00:06:47.880 The Greek civilization allowed a class of philosophers to emerge and they passed another form of inheritance to us, that is that of rigorous logical thinking, which also has of course a tremendous impact on human development. 39 00:06:47.880 --> 00:07:05.880 But when it comes to improving existing tools that one uses in production, they have indeed been very unproductive, so to speak. 40 00:07:05.880 --> 00:07:23.880 I'll give a few other examples that would show how certain ideologies might prevent that wealth is accumulated in societies. 41 00:07:23.880 --> 00:07:37.880 Most religions, for instance, that prescribe that whenever the master of a household dies, that he should be buried with all of his possessions. 42 00:07:37.880 --> 00:07:50.880 That seems to be, from the outset, a very stupid attitude, at least as far as ever making any progress is concerned. 43 00:07:50.880 --> 00:08:01.880 Every generation would, so to speak, ruin whatever they have accumulated during a generation. 44 00:08:01.880 --> 00:08:12.880 Or imagine societies that are ridden by feelings of envy. 45 00:08:12.880 --> 00:08:24.880 There exist numerous examples of that, that you can find, for instance, in that famous book by Helmut Schöck, a German sociologist on envy. 46 00:08:24.880 --> 00:08:39.880 And you also find many examples mentioned, many of them taking from the Schöck book in Rothbard's little book on egalitarianism as a revolt against nature. 47 00:08:39.880 --> 00:08:54.880 And again, I just want to quote one example of a society such as this from Herbert Spencer. 48 00:08:54.880 --> 00:09:04.880 Spencer writes, there exist reports about the chiefs among the abbey ponies in the Dakotas 49 00:09:04.880 --> 00:09:18.880 that have nothing either in his arms or his clothes to distinguish him from a common man except the peculiar oldness and shabbiness of them. 50 00:09:18.880 --> 00:09:27.880 For if he appears in the streets with a new and handsome apparel, the first person he meets will boldly cry, 51 00:09:27.880 --> 00:09:34.400 Murray, give me that dress, and unless he immediately parts with it, he becomes the 52 00:09:34.400 --> 00:09:40.240 scoff and scorn of all and hears himself called covetous. 53 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:55.560 Obviously, a society like this is also not suitable to accumulate much in terms of wealth. 54 00:09:55.560 --> 00:10:18.560 For there exist societies that as soon as the big chief has accumulated a certain amount of foodstuff or so, he is obliged to throw a big party for the entire tribe and then in the big party all of the resources that have been accumulated will be wasted away. 55 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:27.560 that is a continuous process of capital accumulation simply does not take place in societies such as this. 56 00:10:27.560 --> 00:10:42.560 Now it can be safely assumed that these types of examples that I gave are obviously not examples of societies that we would expect to stand the test of times, 57 00:10:42.560 --> 00:10:52.560 to last very long, but instead being displaced by other societies that have different attitudes 58 00:10:52.560 --> 00:11:01.560 and either defeat them in the form of warfare or simply displace them. 59 00:11:01.560 --> 00:11:08.560 That is, just make them, push them out of the territories that they inhabit to ever 60 00:11:08.560 --> 00:11:18.520 more uninhabitable territories and then ultimately die out, so to speak. 61 00:11:18.520 --> 00:11:34.160 What I now want to do is undertake a survey of the major religions and their attitudes 62 00:11:34.160 --> 00:11:44.720 towards work and invention and capital accumulation. 63 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:52.520 I'm not interested in the pure theological part of these religions, just in those parts 64 00:11:52.520 --> 00:12:02.080 of the religions that have, so to speak, repercussions for the day-to-day conduct that people are 65 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:07.080 are expected to engage in. 66 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:26.560 And let me begin with one of the religions that is comparatively bad when it comes to 67 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:38.660 Capital Accumulation, inventiveness and so forth, that is Hinduism. 68 00:12:38.660 --> 00:12:53.880 Hinduism is characterized as far as its economic doctrines are concerned, first by explicit 69 00:12:53.880 --> 00:13:04.480 taboos of using certain resources. As you all know, for instance, cows cannot be used. 70 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:10.740 And there exist other taboos that simply make it impossible that resources that could be 71 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:23.320 put to some useful employment are, based on religion, excluded as something that mankind 72 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:28.840 should take advantage of. 73 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:41.200 In addition, Hinduism is a religion that is characterized by some strict association taboos. 74 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:49.440 That is to say, certain groups of people are not allowed to associate with certain other 75 00:13:49.440 --> 00:14:05.440 And you immediately recognize that this is, of course, some sort of obstacle when it comes to the development of division of labor. 76 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:32.440 What you would expect of such a society that is a society of castes that are prevented from having any systematic contact with each other is that there is some sort of petrification of production modes. 77 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:50.440 Each caste sticks to its own techniques and tasks that are assigned to it, and there is no interchange of ideas, there is no social mobility of any kind. 78 00:14:50.440 --> 00:15:04.840 And this obviously again has negative repercussions as far as economic growth potential is concerned. 79 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:25.520 In addition, Hinduism requires strict obedience to the rules of the caste and has, so to speak, 80 00:15:25.520 --> 00:15:34.520 There are severe obstacles in the way of any economic progress placed in itself. 81 00:15:34.520 --> 00:15:46.520 There is the promise of reincarnation into higher classes, 82 00:15:46.520 --> 00:16:01.520 which leads the lower classes to not rebel against the existing caste system 83 00:16:01.520 --> 00:16:09.520 because rebellion against the existing caste system will precisely prevent that in the future life 84 00:16:09.520 --> 00:16:16.520 There is also the problem that there is no clear-cut distinction, so to speak, in the rank of money and credit. 85 00:16:16.520 --> 00:16:27.520 There is also the problem that there is no clear-cut distinction, so to speak, in the rank of money and credit. 86 00:16:27.520 --> 00:16:43.520 There is also the problem that there is no clear-cut distinction, so to speak, in the rank of creatures on earth. 87 00:16:43.520 --> 00:16:55.520 Recall, for instance, in Christianity, in Genesis, we learn that mankind is, so to speak, 88 00:16:55.520 --> 00:17:03.720 the highest of all creatures and has dominion over the rest of the world. 89 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:12.640 On the other hand if you have a religion that does not necessarily see mankind as the highest 90 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:19.440 development having dominion over the animals but that there are so to speak gradual differences 91 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:32.040 between the animal kingdom and the human kingdom, then again this is something that hampers 92 00:17:32.040 --> 00:17:45.040 the economic growth potential that leads also to widespread vegetarianism and widespread 93 00:17:45.040 --> 00:17:55.040 And vegetarianism, despite the fact that there are some people who propagate it, even in our societies, 94 00:17:55.040 --> 00:18:10.040 I don't think it is a healthy lifestyle, certainly not a lifestyle that energizes you and makes you an entrepreneurial person 95 00:18:10.040 --> 00:18:15.040 if you only just eat these corns and whatever these people eat there. 96 00:18:21.040 --> 00:18:38.040 Hinduism also permits human sacrifices, which again indicates, so to speak, that the status of humans is not above everybody else. 97 00:18:40.040 --> 00:19:09.040 And it encourages orgies, that is activities that display, so to speak, a high degree of time preference, having fun right now, just overdoing it completely, not disciplining yourself during these orgiastic experiences that you go through. 98 00:19:09.040 --> 00:19:38.040 On the other hand, they also emphasize POMP, that is the display of riches, and do not do what we will see later on, especially puritanical religions do, that is, you don't live a pompous life, you are humble. 99 00:19:39.040 --> 00:19:48.840 Invest, but don't show to everyone how well off you are. 100 00:19:48.840 --> 00:19:58.320 And in general, it is a religion that encourages submission, submission of certain groups vis-a-vis 101 00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:02.040 other groups. 102 00:20:02.040 --> 00:20:11.680 So if we rank various religions, we can say from the outset that Hinduism is not exactly 103 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:20.840 a religion that promises, as long as people really adhere to it, that promise has great 104 00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:24.960 economic promises in store. 105 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:34.960 In a way, looking at India, we can see that that is somehow borne out by the facts. 106 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:46.400 In addition, of course, India has also adopted another stupid system that is mass democracy, 107 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.760 which contributes to that in addition. 108 00:20:48.760 --> 00:21:03.760 But this is, so to speak, a modern development. Traditional India, of course, was not democratic by any means. 109 00:21:03.760 --> 00:21:16.760 Let's then take another Eastern religion, Buddhism, and to a lesser extent what applies to Buddhism 110 00:21:16.760 --> 00:21:20.760 also applies to Daoism. 111 00:21:22.760 --> 00:21:29.760 Buddhism started in a way as a reform movement of Hinduism, 112 00:21:29.760 --> 00:21:40.760 but disappeared essentially from India and gained influence in Southeast Asia 113 00:21:40.760 --> 00:21:45.760 outside of the Indian subcontinent. 114 00:21:46.760 --> 00:22:13.760 The view of the Buddhist of life is that the ultimate wisdom consists in detachment from life, from the earthly, worldly life. 115 00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:42.760 It views life as painful and it considers an ascetic lifestyle as a means to eliminate or to reduce the pain that comes from regular life. 116 00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:50.760 So it advocates a life of ascetic meditation. 117 00:22:50.760 --> 00:23:07.760 Again, it should be perfectly clear that this is not encouraging, so to speak, the type of attitude that we consider to be normal and characteristic for people to withdraw from the world. 118 00:23:07.760 --> 00:23:32.760 The goal of the Buddhist religion is nirvana, and nirvana is a state of affairs that brings, so to speak, about the elimination of all desires. 119 00:23:32.760 --> 00:23:43.760 Now, of course, if you try to eliminate all your human desires, then there will be little need to engage in productive activities, 120 00:23:43.760 --> 00:23:54.760 which are those activities that we consider to be necessary in order to reduce our pains. 121 00:23:54.760 --> 00:24:15.760 The essence and purpose of life for the Buddhist and also for the Taoist in a certain extent is not individual fulfillment and especially not individual fulfillment in this life. 122 00:24:15.760 --> 00:24:30.760 It is the life that anyone lives right now is just one of thousands of lives. 123 00:24:30.760 --> 00:24:41.960 So very little emphasis in personal happiness, in individual achievement. 124 00:24:41.960 --> 00:25:00.520 Taoism teaches the serene acceptance and humility and gentleness and passivity and understanding 125 00:25:00.520 --> 00:25:11.920 acceptance of whatever happens to occur rather than individual accomplishment and individual 126 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:13.920 Advancement 127 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:23.920 Let me come to the next major religion. 128 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:32.920 Again, Buddhism, and again, the empirical evidence bears it clearly out 129 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:44.920 that devoted Buddhist societies are in fact not exactly highly developed societies. 130 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:50.920 As the next one, let's take Islam. 131 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:57.920 Islam also does not encourage in any way individual autonomy. 132 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:05.920 As a matter of fact, the translation of Islam is submission. 133 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:16.360 And what we frequently hear from proponents of Islam, that they point out this golden 134 00:26:16.360 --> 00:26:29.600 in an age of Islam during the time that they occupied Spain and rescued some of the achievements 135 00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:41.640 that were generated by the classical Greek culture and transmitted them, so to speak, 136 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:48.160 to Christianity. 137 00:26:48.160 --> 00:27:00.320 This so-called golden age is more of an exception, a fluke in Islam than typical of the Islamic 138 00:27:00.320 --> 00:27:03.300 religion. 139 00:27:03.300 --> 00:27:32.300 The main proponents during this era of the main intellectuals of this era, the main Islamic intellectuals were by and large intellectuals that had broken with orthodox Islam and were considered to be regarded with utmost suspicion by the Islamic community. 140 00:27:33.300 --> 00:27:49.300 at their time. So it was only by breaking away from orthodox Islamic beliefs that these sorts of achievements became possible. 141 00:27:49.300 --> 00:28:06.980 The Islamic religion is very familistic, that is family oriented, and very hierarchical, 142 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:17.380 hierarchically structured, rigidly hierarchically structured, not unlike the Chinese societies 143 00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:25.340 These two which I will come in a little bit. 144 00:28:25.340 --> 00:28:32.420 Again the structure, the hierarchical structure you can see in particular in the relationships 145 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:38.860 between men and females. 146 00:28:38.860 --> 00:28:57.540 Muslims are clearly members of societies with significantly less rights than men have. 147 00:28:57.540 --> 00:29:13.120 In Islam, science and reason are not recognized as in Christianity, so to speak, as a gift 148 00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:27.360 of God. They are not regarded as valuable in and of itself. As they are for instance 149 00:29:27.360 --> 00:29:39.160 in Thomism, that is in certain branches of Christianity. 150 00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:48.080 Islam rather views life on Earth as something 151 00:29:48.080 --> 00:29:54.000 that has no inherent or internal purpose, 152 00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:03.720 But it is mostly a preparation for the eternal life that comes afterwards. 153 00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:12.600 In this regard, Islam is not all that different from very early Christianity, which also had 154 00:30:12.600 --> 00:30:20.200 similar attitude that life on earth was of relatively minor importance, and the main 155 00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:28.200 The main goal of it was just for the preparation for life after death. 156 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:40.200 This is of course not characteristic for later Christianity, but in the early stages of Christianity, this sort of attitude did prevail also. 157 00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:56.200 In the view of Islam, God, after the creation of the world, does not really retreat. 158 00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:04.160 The Christian view is God creates the world and then he lets things happen, so to speak. 159 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:07.360 Then mankind is on their own. 160 00:31:07.360 --> 00:31:09.760 They have to prove themselves. 161 00:31:09.760 --> 00:31:23.640 But from the point of view of Islam, God remains continuously involved in worldly affairs. 162 00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:34.200 But if God remains continuously involved in earthly affairs, this then makes also the 163 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:50.920 The search for universal and eternal laws, some sort of sinful behavior, almost blasphemous. 164 00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:58.000 If you think that God retreats and then lets the world run the way he has organized it, 165 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:04.280 And of course it makes sense to try to figure out what the laws of the world are. 166 00:32:04.280 --> 00:32:12.080 But if God remains involved in earthly affairs, then in a way it doesn't make any sense to 167 00:32:12.080 --> 00:32:17.000 even look out for universal regularities. 168 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:22.680 As a matter of fact, to stipulate that there are universal regularities is some sort of 169 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:47.680 is an insult against the belief that God remains continuously involved in earthly affairs, so this is considered to be somewhat a vain activity and denying almost God's all-mightiness. 170 00:32:47.680 --> 00:33:15.680 What should be perfectly clear from the outset is that if this is, and to the extent that these beliefs are, so to speak, the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of the people, that you should expect little in terms of scientific and scholarly achievement coming from these societies 171 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:31.680 and the achievements coming from these societies, as I mentioned, are mostly produced by individuals who have somehow broken with the basic tenets of the religion. 172 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:54.680 Let me quote on this subject a German anthropologist who writes on this feature of Islam. 173 00:33:54.680 --> 00:34:08.680 von Grünebaum, Islam was never able to accept that scientific research is a means of glorifying God. 174 00:34:08.680 --> 00:34:17.680 Those accomplishments of Islamic, mathematical and medical science, which continue to compel our admiration, 175 00:34:17.680 --> 00:34:29.680 were developed in areas and in periods where the elites were willing to go beyond and possibly against the basic strains of orthodox thought and feeling. 176 00:34:29.680 --> 00:34:37.680 For the sciences never did shed the suspicion of bordering on the impious. 177 00:34:37.680 --> 00:35:03.680 This is why the pursuit of the natural sciences as that of philosophy tended to become located in relatively small and esoteric circles and why but few of their representatives would escape an occasional uneasiness which not infrequently did result in some kind of apology for their own work. 178 00:35:07.680 --> 00:35:32.680 Now, after Islam, also not exactly favorable to economic development, and again something that is borne out by the fact, we come now to Confucianism. 179 00:35:32.680 --> 00:35:45.680 Confucianism, we have to admit from the outset, is far more suitable for economic growth, 180 00:35:45.680 --> 00:35:55.680 has a far more positive attitude toward science and investigation, 181 00:35:55.680 --> 00:36:16.680 And it's in a way a very interesting case. Keep in mind that until 1500 or so, China was clearly the most developed region on the globe. 182 00:36:16.680 --> 00:36:30.680 Confucianism is entirely realistic in its outlook and entirely this worldly. 183 00:36:30.680 --> 00:36:38.680 It has no anthropomorphic concept of a god. 184 00:36:38.680 --> 00:36:47.180 It does speak of heavens, but the heavens are some sort of impersonal thing. 185 00:36:47.180 --> 00:36:53.880 This has nothing to do with what we imagine God to be, which has, of course, some sort 186 00:36:53.880 --> 00:37:01.000 of manly image. 187 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:07.960 They actually do not have a concept of a deity. 188 00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:14.760 They also have no promise of an afterlife. 189 00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:21.960 That can be an advantage, that can be a disadvantage. 190 00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:29.880 That depends in a way on how other religions depict the afterlife. 191 00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:36.560 But in any case, no promise of an afterlife is given. 192 00:37:36.560 --> 00:37:51.560 The entirely realistic and rationalistic attitude of Confucianism is also reflected in the fact that there exist no miracles for them. 193 00:37:51.560 --> 00:38:02.560 In contrast to Christianity where we admit the existence of miraculous events, miraculous events do not exist for Confucians. 194 00:38:02.560 --> 00:38:10.000 That is, everything can be rationally explained. 195 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:18.480 And accordingly, there also exists no such thing as saints. 196 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:29.220 Confucius himself is neither a god nor is he a prophet. 197 00:38:29.220 --> 00:38:36.960 This is just a leader, a teacher. 198 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:43.920 Because of this, some people have even doubted whether it is appropriate to refer to Confucianism 199 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:57.740 as a religion, that is, without a god, without a prophet, can we legitimately refer to it 200 00:38:57.740 --> 00:39:16.740 and as a religion. Let me at this moment give you a quote from Stanislaw Andreski on Confucianism. 201 00:39:16.740 --> 00:39:26.740 Stanislaw Andreski is a Polish sociologist who taught most of his life in England and is one of those 202 00:39:26.740 --> 00:39:45.740 There are very few sociologists that are not lefties. There are a few others, Robert Nisbett and Helmut Schöck and, as I said, Stanislaw Andreski, a very interesting author. 203 00:39:45.740 --> 00:39:50.740 He writes on Confucianism, 204 00:39:50.740 --> 00:39:58.740 If we want to rank the religions in accordance with their compatibility with the findings of science, 205 00:39:58.740 --> 00:40:03.740 we must place Confucianism far ahead in the first place. 206 00:40:03.740 --> 00:40:12.740 Indeed, its rationalistic and this worldly outlook has led some scholars to deny that it is a religion. 207 00:40:12.740 --> 00:40:29.740 Nonetheless, it certainly is a religion in the etymological sense which is derived from the Latin word to bind because it undoubtedly did constitute a bond which united many millions during two millennia. 208 00:40:29.740 --> 00:40:40.740 However, if we include an anthropomorphic concept of deity and a promise of life after death as essential characteristics of religion, 209 00:40:40.740 --> 00:41:05.740 and Religion, then we have to conclude that Confucianism was not a religion because to the Confucians the supreme entity is heavens, an invisible and impersonal force rather than a personalized god modeled on the image of a terrestrial despot as in the religions born in the Near East. 210 00:41:05.740 --> 00:41:11.740 When asked about what happens after death, Confucius replied, 211 00:41:11.740 --> 00:41:19.740 When you don't know enough about the living, how can you know about the dead? 212 00:41:19.740 --> 00:41:30.740 He never claimed nor was attributed posthumously by his followers any powers which could be called supernatural or magical. 213 00:41:30.740 --> 00:41:46.740 The Confucians expect no miracles, have no saints, and revere their founder not as a deity, but as a great teacher. 214 00:41:46.740 --> 00:42:01.740 So we can say that Confucianism is certainly a world outlook that is clearly compatible with capitalism. 215 00:42:01.740 --> 00:42:27.740 It has a very strong emphasis on filial piety, on family solidarity, and that might have some sort of negative effect when it comes to individual inventiveness, 216 00:42:27.740 --> 00:42:38.100 breaking out of existing traditions and so forth, but in principle, of course, 217 00:42:38.100 --> 00:42:53.580 feudal piety and familialism is nothing that is incompatible with capitalism. 218 00:42:53.580 --> 00:43:10.780 Again, let me, as regards this lack of innovative spirit that you can find among the confusions, 219 00:43:10.780 --> 00:43:21.640 give you a quote from Charles Murray, out of his book In Pursuit of Excellence, which 220 00:43:21.640 --> 00:43:26.840 which I think captures this idea quite well. 221 00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:35.280 He says at the core of the Confucian ethic was the quality called ren, the supreme virtue 222 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:42.860 in men, a quality that combines elements of goodness, benevolence and love. 223 00:43:42.860 --> 00:43:48.240 This ethic was most essential for those with the most power. 224 00:43:48.240 --> 00:43:54.300 He who is magnanimous wins the multitude Confucius taught. 225 00:43:54.300 --> 00:43:58.660 He who is diligent attains his objective. 226 00:43:58.660 --> 00:44:03.360 And he who is kind can get service from the people. 227 00:44:03.360 --> 00:44:10.240 Indeed, to be a gentleman, which is another concept in Confucian thought, required one 228 00:44:10.240 --> 00:44:17.460 above all to embody this characteristic of Ren. 229 00:44:17.460 --> 00:44:23.620 And lest one think that a gentleman could get by with mousing the proper platitudes, 230 00:44:23.620 --> 00:44:32.420 Confucius added, the gentleman first practices what he preaches and then preaches what he 231 00:44:32.420 --> 00:44:41.660 practices. 232 00:44:41.660 --> 00:44:53.740 Now, Chinese and Japanese children also to a certain extent are then, because of this 233 00:44:53.740 --> 00:45:03.340 familial strong family orientation, are supposed to make their life decisions always mindful 234 00:45:03.340 --> 00:45:11.780 People of first the wishes and the welfare of their parents, then of their extended family, 235 00:45:11.780 --> 00:45:16.280 and then also of the community. 236 00:45:16.280 --> 00:45:29.940 And there is a lack of encouragement that can be found of achieving one's own fulfillment 237 00:45:29.940 --> 00:45:32.420 no matter what. 238 00:45:32.420 --> 00:45:44.140 Something that you do find to a far larger extent, of course, in the Western tradition. 239 00:45:44.140 --> 00:45:59.900 In addition, while there is great emphasis on learning among the Chinese, and while China 240 00:45:59.900 --> 00:46:06.060 China is, so to speak, a meritorious system. 241 00:46:06.060 --> 00:46:13.740 It is where people from all walks of life, from all ranks, can, through some sort of 242 00:46:13.740 --> 00:46:25.140 examination system, reach the highest levels of society. 243 00:46:25.140 --> 00:46:37.100 That is a society that in a way selects for high IQs and thereby also tends to bind the 244 00:46:37.100 --> 00:46:43.980 population to the earthly powers. 245 00:46:43.980 --> 00:46:59.980 It is because everyone can rise and there is a meritocratic system that makes it appear fair who rises and who doesn't rise. 246 00:46:59.980 --> 00:47:10.980 So even the lower strata of society are somehow consoled to live with this system. 247 00:47:10.980 --> 00:47:28.740 What must be said as one of the explanations why China nonetheless was not able to compete ultimately with the West 248 00:47:28.740 --> 00:47:42.740 was its connection that existed between Confucianism and the state bureaucracies from very early on. 249 00:47:42.740 --> 00:47:57.740 That is, you did have, which we will see we don't have in the West, an immediate or more or less direct identity 250 00:47:57.740 --> 00:48:16.000 between the earthly rulers, the Chinese emperor and the top hierarchies of the doctrine of 251 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:23.100 the Confucian theology for lack of a better word. 252 00:48:23.100 --> 00:48:33.860 So Confucianism had tied its forces very early on, very closely to the state, and because 253 00:48:33.860 --> 00:48:48.460 of that, the inherent reluctance to invent and to innovate 254 00:48:48.460 --> 00:48:50.900 was further strengthened. 255 00:48:53.900 --> 00:49:00.060 Again, let me also point out this. 256 00:49:03.860 --> 00:49:13.860 This combination of Confucianism with the state led to a certain amount of uncritical thinking. 257 00:49:13.860 --> 00:49:20.860 That is what we know in the West and what we have learned in the West in particular from the Greeks 258 00:49:20.860 --> 00:49:26.860 to present an argument and then a counter argument and another counter argument 259 00:49:26.860 --> 00:49:31.860 and try to hammer out, so to speak, what is right and what is wrong, 260 00:49:31.860 --> 00:49:39.180 And try to refute each other in an endless game of back and forth. 261 00:49:39.180 --> 00:49:45.860 This is something that you rarely find among the Chinese. 262 00:49:45.860 --> 00:49:52.780 I must say, based on my personal experience, because we have lots of Oriental students 263 00:49:52.780 --> 00:49:57.380 in Nevada. 264 00:49:57.380 --> 00:50:05.060 I can even detect that among my students up to this day 265 00:50:05.060 --> 00:50:10.940 whenever it comes to writing critical essays. 266 00:50:10.940 --> 00:50:12.940 They are always extremely good when 267 00:50:12.940 --> 00:50:17.540 they do mathematical equations and multiple choice. 268 00:50:17.540 --> 00:50:18.900 They remember everything. 269 00:50:18.900 --> 00:50:22.860 They always rank on top of the class. 270 00:50:22.860 --> 00:50:29.860 But when it comes to writing pieces like we learned it in school, you have the Caesars 271 00:50:29.860 --> 00:50:36.860 and then you have to present the counter arguments and then you have to filter out what arguments 272 00:50:36.860 --> 00:50:44.380 are stronger and which ones are weaker and possibly synthesize this sort of stuff in some 273 00:50:44.380 --> 00:50:45.380 way. 274 00:50:45.380 --> 00:50:52.580 do show a significant weakness in this department. 275 00:50:52.580 --> 00:50:58.900 Another indicator for this, again this is a little bit speculative, another indicator 276 00:50:58.900 --> 00:51:07.260 for this is for instance while you do find a massive over-representation of orientals 277 00:51:07.260 --> 00:51:13.660 in fields like mathematics, physics, engineering, 278 00:51:13.660 --> 00:51:18.780 and so forth, they are significantly under-represented 279 00:51:18.780 --> 00:51:21.940 in law schools. 280 00:51:21.940 --> 00:51:24.220 And in law schools, it is precisely 281 00:51:24.220 --> 00:51:31.020 where this sort of Greek-style arguing 282 00:51:31.020 --> 00:51:36.740 that we all in the West have learned from elementary school 283 00:51:36.740 --> 00:51:58.740 from elementary school on, where this is in particularly high demand in precisely that field, they are under-represented as compared with other fields where they are clearly over-represented. 284 00:51:58.740 --> 00:52:23.740 In the sciences, the disapproval of open dispute took a toll on the ability of East Asian science to build an edifice of cumulative knowledge. 285 00:52:23.740 --> 00:52:34.740 The history of Chinese science is episodic, with the occasional brilliant scholarly discovery, but then no follow-up. 286 00:52:34.740 --> 00:52:43.740 Progress in science in the West has been fostered by enthusiastic non-stop competitive arguments, in which the goal is to come out on top. 287 00:52:43.740 --> 00:52:51.740 East Asia did not have the cultural whistle to support enthusiastic non-stop competitive arguments. 288 00:52:51.740 --> 00:52:58.860 arguments. Even in today's Japan, a century and a half after the nation began westernizing, it is 289 00:52:58.860 --> 00:53:04.940 commonly observed that Japan's technological feats far outweigh its slender body of original 290 00:53:04.940 --> 00:53:11.340 discoveries. One ready explanation for this discrepancy is the difference between progress 291 00:53:11.340 --> 00:53:17.520 that can be made consensually and hierarchically versus progress that requires individual who 292 00:53:17.520 --> 00:53:22.520 who insist that they alone are right. 293 00:53:22.520 --> 00:53:27.520 So much about, and of course you can tell in the West there are plenty of people who 294 00:53:27.520 --> 00:53:36.600 think that they are right, nobody else is right. 295 00:53:36.600 --> 00:53:49.240 So from Confucianism, let me go to Judaism. 296 00:53:49.240 --> 00:53:58.560 From the outset, we will have to say that Judaism was always a very small and an additional 297 00:53:58.560 --> 00:54:11.360 a dispersed group of people, and as such had in a way very little influence on the modern world. 298 00:54:11.360 --> 00:54:20.720 In addition, because they are a non-proselytic religion, that is they do not try to go on missions 299 00:54:20.720 --> 00:54:27.280 and convince other people to convert to their religion, so they always remained small 300 00:54:27.280 --> 00:54:35.600 and as a small group dispersed over many places with relatively limited influence. 301 00:54:35.600 --> 00:54:43.680 There are some people, a German socialist, a Zombard, one of the opponents of Ludwig 302 00:54:43.680 --> 00:54:55.760 von Mises, one of the so-called catheter socialists, who advanced the thesis that the Jews were 303 00:54:55.760 --> 00:55:08.760 are the inventors, so to speak, of modern capitalism, but this thesis is clearly false for the following reason. 304 00:55:08.760 --> 00:55:21.880 Yes, it is true, for instance, that Holland, Venice and a city like Frankfurt flourished 305 00:55:21.880 --> 00:55:30.120 after the influx of Jews into these places. 306 00:55:30.120 --> 00:55:41.720 And it is also true that after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Spain declined. 307 00:55:41.720 --> 00:55:47.080 But this obviously does not show any causal relationship. 308 00:55:47.080 --> 00:55:50.220 They are also contrary examples. 309 00:55:50.220 --> 00:56:05.460 For instance, in Britain, industrial capitalism arose precisely during the period after the 310 00:56:05.460 --> 00:56:13.980 Jews were expelled from England and before they were readmitted to England, which shows, 311 00:56:13.980 --> 00:56:26.980 So to speak, that their presence was by no means necessary in order to develop capitalist institutions. 312 00:56:26.980 --> 00:56:31.980 And there are other indicators that go in a different direction. 313 00:56:31.980 --> 00:56:39.980 For instance, wherever you had large numbers of Jews in the population, 314 00:56:39.980 --> 00:56:47.980 That is, wherever Jews were not a teeny-tiny minority surrounded by a different culture. 315 00:56:47.980 --> 00:56:59.980 As was the case, for instance, in Eastern Europe, there the economic development was always negative. 316 00:56:59.980 --> 00:57:07.980 There the Jewish present went hand in hand with abject poverty. 317 00:57:07.980 --> 00:57:15.980 And the Jews were more numerous in the backward countries, Poland, Russia and so forth, 318 00:57:15.980 --> 00:57:25.980 than they were in the advanced countries, Germany, France, England and so forth. 319 00:57:25.980 --> 00:57:36.980 When they begin to make major contributions to science, which is of course nobody doubts this, 320 00:57:36.980 --> 00:57:53.980 This starts only, this begins only, or takes place only when there are small minorities in contact with dominant cultures surrounding them. 321 00:57:53.980 --> 00:58:02.980 For instance, in the Middle East, in Spain during the so-called Golden Age of the Arab Rule, 322 00:58:02.980 --> 00:58:13.980 and in particular after the emancipation of the Jews by the Christians from the late 18th century on. 323 00:58:13.980 --> 00:58:20.980 I should emphasize that the emancipation of the Jews is a Christian achievement. 324 00:58:20.980 --> 00:58:27.980 The Jews were emancipated from their own rule, and I have to say something about that in a second, 325 00:58:27.980 --> 00:58:44.980 not by themselves, but by external forces, by Christians not longer being willing, so to speak, to oppress them and treat them in the way that they were treated by their own. 326 00:58:44.980 --> 00:58:59.780 So, before 1800, you see comparatively little in terms of achievements coming from Jews, 327 00:58:59.780 --> 00:59:07.260 and the achievements that you do see are typically people who had broken with their religion. 328 00:59:07.260 --> 00:59:16.720 National Orthodox Judaism requires, again, a rigid subordination to your family and to 329 00:59:16.720 --> 00:59:26.100 your community, not quite unlike you find it in Islamic societies. 330 00:59:26.100 --> 00:59:36.340 And in the so-called ghettos, there existed self-administration of the Jews, and this 331 00:59:36.340 --> 01:00:03.340 The Jewish self-administration was frequently, typically given to them by the outside ruler in exchange for paying the outside ruler a part of the fines that the rabbis imposed internally on their own community. 332 01:00:03.340 --> 01:00:15.340 The Jews lived in ghettos, by the way, had something to do with the fact that some of their taboos involved that they have to live very close to the synagogue and cannot walk during certain periods of the day. 333 01:00:15.340 --> 01:00:28.340 So they have to be in close proximity to certain places, they cannot live widely dispersed from each other, at least if you are an Orthodox Jew. 334 01:00:28.340 --> 01:00:33.860 In Spain, for instance, that was precisely the arrangement. 335 01:00:33.860 --> 01:00:38.980 You get self-administration in your ghetto. 336 01:00:38.980 --> 01:00:44.180 You can impose any type of fine, any type of punishment 337 01:00:44.180 --> 01:00:50.900 that the rabbinical law allows to be imposed on other Jews, 338 01:00:50.900 --> 01:00:57.620 but a certain percentage of that you have to give to the Spanish king. 339 01:00:57.620 --> 01:01:13.620 So a mutually beneficial arrangement was found, established between the Spanish ruler on the one hand and the rabbis being in charge of the Jewish ghettos. 340 01:01:13.620 --> 01:01:36.620 Now, the life in the ghettos then was almost completely under rabbinical control, not unlike the control that Islamic ayatollahs exercise over their population. 341 01:01:36.620 --> 01:01:54.620 To make money was permitted, to make money outside of the ghettos was permitted, but only in order to support Talmudic studies. 342 01:01:54.620 --> 01:02:10.620 And in order to do so, the Jews became the tools of the rulers, frequently in the suppression of the endogenous population. 343 01:02:10.620 --> 01:02:16.620 That was in particular the case in places like Poland and Russia. 344 01:02:16.620 --> 01:02:35.620 Russia, that is, where the Jews working outside of the ghetto were used by the rulers as tax collectors and so forth for vis-a-vis the Polish and Russian population. 345 01:02:35.620 --> 01:02:45.620 The Jews were permitted to do this because Max Weber refers to them as having a double ethic. 346 01:02:45.620 --> 01:02:55.620 That is, they had different rules that applied to them internally from rules that applied to them externally. 347 01:02:55.620 --> 01:03:04.620 To give you just one example, for instance, while the Christians for a long time outlawed the taking of interest, 348 01:03:04.620 --> 01:03:10.620 the Jews also outlawed taking interest except from Christians. 349 01:03:10.620 --> 01:03:28.620 So it was not permitted to take interest from other Jews, but it was permitted to take interest from Christians, which of course made them particularly suitable for certain types of professions like moneylenders and so forth. 350 01:03:28.620 --> 01:03:45.620 In the ghettos, I'll give you some quotes on that in a second, the reading of books in modern languages was completely outlawed. 351 01:03:45.620 --> 01:03:54.620 There was no writing even in Hebrew allowed unless it was permitted by the rabbis. 352 01:03:54.620 --> 01:04:06.620 We are nowadays used to the fact that Jews are particularly humorous people. Just think of Woody Allen and think of Murray Rothbard. 353 01:04:06.620 --> 01:04:19.620 But humor was something that was considered to be a taboo in the ghettos. There were rigorous enforcement of eating and sexual taboos. 354 01:04:19.620 --> 01:04:39.620 Education concerned exclusively the Talmud and mystic writings. No mass was taught, no science, no history, no geography, and all violations were severely punished, including flogging to death. 355 01:04:39.620 --> 01:05:06.620 And as I said, the liberation of the Jews, from which point on we see then that dramatic achievements that they were capable of doing, was essentially a Christian achievement and due to the attachment of the puritanical values of the Old Testament, 356 01:05:06.620 --> 01:05:12.620 which was also part of the tradition of Judaism. 357 01:05:12.620 --> 01:05:16.620 As soon as they were emancipated, 358 01:05:16.620 --> 01:05:22.620 combined that with their puritanical attitude that they had, 359 01:05:22.620 --> 01:05:29.620 they then became, indeed, enormously successful businessmen, 360 01:05:29.620 --> 01:05:54.620 As I said, I want to read you a little quote on this atmosphere in the Jewish ghettos. 361 01:05:54.620 --> 01:05:58.620 Before emancipation, there was no Jewish humor. 362 01:05:58.620 --> 01:06:09.620 Humor was taboo like in Sparta. Nor was there learning, except for purely religious learning, which was itself in a debased and degenerate state. 363 01:06:09.620 --> 01:06:19.620 The Jews of Europe and to a lesser extent in Muslim countries were dominated by a supreme contempt and hate for all learning except the Talmud and mysticism. 364 01:06:19.620 --> 01:06:33.220 Large parts of the Old Testament, all non-liturgical Hebrew poetry, most books on Jewish philosophy were not read, and their names were often anasematized. 365 01:06:33.220 --> 01:06:39.460 Study of all languages was strictly forbidden, as was the study of mathematics and science. 366 01:06:39.460 --> 01:06:43.700 Geography, history, even Jewish history, were completely unknown. 367 01:06:43.700 --> 01:06:51.700 Nothing was so forbidden, feared, and therefore persecuted as the most modest innovation or the most innocent criticism. 368 01:06:51.700 --> 01:06:57.700 It was a world sunk in the most abject superstition, fanaticism, and ignorance. 369 01:06:57.700 --> 01:07:05.700 A world in which the preface to the first work on geography in Hebrew published in 1803 in Russia 370 01:07:05.700 --> 01:07:12.700 could complain that very many great rabbis were denying the existence of the American continent 371 01:07:12.700 --> 01:07:17.700 and saying that it's impossible to exist. 372 01:07:17.700 --> 01:07:27.700 So the Jewish contribution begins after the emancipation of the Jews basically from outside 373 01:07:27.700 --> 01:07:33.700 and before they do not play a dominant role in the development of capitalism, 374 01:07:33.700 --> 01:07:39.700 can actually be regarded as some sort of hampering the development. 375 01:07:39.700 --> 01:07:45.700 Now I come to Christianity. Today I have to have a little bit more than I had in other days. 376 01:07:45.700 --> 01:07:57.700 So while Western civilization eventually came to surpass all other civilizations, 377 01:07:57.700 --> 01:08:05.700 one has to admit that this was nothing that was obvious from the very beginning. 378 01:08:05.700 --> 01:08:22.700 I mean, early Christianity was not individualistic, but it was absorbed in the collective community to which a person was rigidly subordinated. 379 01:08:22.700 --> 01:08:39.700 Again, not quite unlike Islam, and earthly life was considered to be as a mere preparation for the afterlife. 380 01:08:39.700 --> 01:08:50.700 And during the first millennium of influence exercised by Christianity 381 01:08:50.700 --> 01:09:02.700 One must admit that Christianity presided over regression in scientific knowledge and the division of labor. 382 01:09:02.700 --> 01:09:13.700 Again, recall, we saw that yesterday when we looked at population figures from 200, 300 after Christ until about 1,000, 383 01:09:13.700 --> 01:09:19.700 there is actually retrogression taking place. Population does not increase at all 384 01:09:19.700 --> 01:09:31.700 and nothing in terms of scientific, scholarly, technological achievements is accomplished during this period. 385 01:09:31.700 --> 01:09:41.700 So what we have to say is that what we describe as a Western Christian outlook developed only gradually, 386 01:09:41.700 --> 01:09:51.700 especially through the incorporation of Greek Aristotelian ideas, culminating then in Thomas Aquinas. 387 01:09:51.700 --> 01:10:02.700 And with Aquinas, so to speak, the modern Christian view developed. 388 01:10:02.700 --> 01:10:22.700 Let me now describe this modern Christian view that turned out to be obviously quite successful in terms of the contributions that they made to science and economic development and so forth. 389 01:10:22.700 --> 01:10:40.700 In this modern Christian world view, the world is viewed basically as good and the greatest good lies in the future. 390 01:10:40.700 --> 01:10:50.700 The material and the spiritual world are seen as a unity. 391 01:10:50.700 --> 01:11:03.700 Recall in Buddhism, for instance, it is somehow the attempt made that the spiritual life separates itself from the flesh, so to speak. 392 01:11:03.700 --> 01:11:19.700 In Christianity, spirit and body form a unity, and the salvation also involves both the body and the soul. 393 01:11:19.700 --> 01:11:34.700 There exists no soul without a body, and only by the performance of bodily actions can the soul be saved. 394 01:11:34.700 --> 01:11:47.700 Men, as I mentioned before, in the Christian worldview, men is considered to be the high point of the creation. 395 01:11:47.700 --> 01:11:53.700 Man is given dominion over the world. 396 01:11:53.700 --> 01:12:01.700 It is clearly separated and ranks above the animal kingdom. 397 01:12:01.700 --> 01:12:11.700 For Christians, there exists no such thing as the Golden Age that is in the past. 398 01:12:11.700 --> 01:12:26.700 Quite to the contrary, progress is possible and the future holds promises for Christians. 399 01:12:26.700 --> 01:12:34.700 The world and the truth is all in all knowable. 400 01:12:34.700 --> 01:12:42.700 We call God withdraws and we can discover the eternal laws. 401 01:12:42.700 --> 01:12:49.700 Wisdom comes as a consequence of efforts. 402 01:12:49.700 --> 01:13:00.700 It is not automatically there but requires achievements and efforts on the part of men and it takes time to develop. 403 01:13:00.700 --> 01:13:09.700 The social world is hierarchical to a certain extent. 404 01:13:09.700 --> 01:13:17.700 There exists God, and the Pope, and the Cardinals, and the Bishops, and the Priests, 405 01:13:17.700 --> 01:13:25.700 and in the earthly realm there exists the King, the Lord, the Father, the Mother, and the Kid. 406 01:13:25.700 --> 01:13:42.700 There is no ridiculous equality. The Christian Church is anti-democratic. At least the Catholic Church is anti-democratic. 407 01:13:42.700 --> 01:13:57.700 But it is also individualistic in the sense that everyone is created by God, and everyone is capable of salvation. 408 01:13:57.700 --> 01:14:10.700 Which attitude, which outlook of course, is mainly responsible for the fact that it was only in Christianity 409 01:14:10.700 --> 01:14:19.220 that one gradually got rid of an institution such as slavery. 410 01:14:19.220 --> 01:14:21.940 Initially, of course, in old Christianity, 411 01:14:21.940 --> 01:14:24.220 of course, slavery existed too. 412 01:14:24.220 --> 01:14:30.460 And there's no clear-cut prohibition against it. 413 01:14:30.460 --> 01:14:34.420 But based on this view that everybody 414 01:14:34.420 --> 01:14:51.420 is a creature of God and capable of salvation and of the attitude that Christians were a missionary religion trying to convert people. 415 01:14:51.420 --> 01:15:01.420 Gradually, the view became the dominant view that slavery is incompatible with Christian attitudes. 416 01:15:01.420 --> 01:15:31.420 by accident, so to speak, some Spanish priests who, after the occupation and conquest of South America, were responsible for, not with immediate success, obvious, but over the time with some success, to give rise to the opinion that the Indians, after all, 417 01:15:31.420 --> 01:15:47.420 are also human beings and not wild creatures that would be automatic objects of enslavement. 418 01:15:47.420 --> 01:15:57.420 In addition, Christianity is social and cooperative, 419 01:15:57.420 --> 01:16:08.860 that views the progress that is possible as a result of a cooperative effort. 420 01:16:08.860 --> 01:16:19.180 So it is cooperation between people that brings us closer to the truth. 421 01:16:19.180 --> 01:16:27.380 Let me just make one remark about Catholicism and then I come to a comparison between Protestant 422 01:16:27.380 --> 01:16:53.380 There is of course one strand in Christianity that has to be regarded with some sort of suspicion when it comes to how suitable is it to allow the development of capitalism and capital accumulation and so forth. 423 01:16:53.380 --> 01:17:14.380 Of course, it would be the extreme Paulist view that one should love everyone like one loves oneself instead of taking the view that one should love one's neighbor as one loves oneself. 424 01:17:14.380 --> 01:17:18.380 It is possible to love your neighbor. 425 01:17:18.380 --> 01:17:30.380 But if your neighbors encompass, so to speak, the entire world, and you are supposed to be charitable to the entire world, 426 01:17:30.380 --> 01:17:38.380 then this would obviously be a main obstacle in the way of capital accumulation. 427 01:17:38.380 --> 01:17:45.380 But nonetheless, this is not the mainstream view as far as I understand it. 428 01:17:45.380 --> 01:17:53.380 Now to the famous Caesars of Max Weber. You are all familiar with this. 429 01:17:53.380 --> 01:18:09.380 Max Weber, of course, explains the rise of capitalism with the development of puritanical religions. 430 01:18:09.380 --> 01:18:19.380 And, as we will see, there is some basic truth in this, in this thesis with some reservations. 431 01:18:19.380 --> 01:18:31.380 Now, capitalism, as we know, was of course born in Italy, and Italy is Catholic. 432 01:18:31.380 --> 01:18:42.380 So that clearly shows that Catholicism is definitely compatible with capitalism. 433 01:18:42.380 --> 01:18:59.380 And in fact, the Roman Church was a major banking institution that represented itself, so to speak, a capitalist institution. 434 01:18:59.380 --> 01:19:11.380 And the first big centers of capitalism were Florence and Venice. Again, Catholic places. 435 01:19:11.380 --> 01:19:20.380 And one can say in addition that as a matter of theology, 436 01:19:20.380 --> 01:19:41.380 Caesalocism is of course far more enthusiastic about human existence and human autonomy and human reason and human intellect than let's say Lutheranism and Calvinism is. 437 01:19:41.380 --> 01:19:51.380 Lucernism and Calvinism are, so to speak, anti-intellectual doctrines to a certain extent. 438 01:19:51.380 --> 01:19:59.380 For the Thomists, face and intellect can somehow be reconciled and combined. 439 01:19:59.380 --> 01:20:09.380 For Lucerns and Calvinists, there exists a strict separation between the two, 440 01:20:09.380 --> 01:20:25.380 between the two, and they emphasize far more the importance of face, of blind face, than they do emphasize reason. 441 01:20:25.380 --> 01:20:37.380 On the other hand, in the Catholic religion, you have, of course, a greater emphasis on the enjoyment of life, 442 01:20:37.380 --> 01:21:01.380 And you have a certain, relatively speaking, a certain disdain of material things that would, relating to the previous lecture, that would indicate that Catholics tend to have a slightly higher degree of time preference. 443 01:21:01.380 --> 01:21:08.380 And again, in looking at the present world, you can somehow see that that is true. 444 01:21:08.380 --> 01:21:18.380 I mean, Dolce Vita is something that is typical of Sassan countries, of Italy and Spain and so forth. 445 01:21:18.380 --> 01:21:27.380 Dolce Vita in Germany in the 19th century was more or less unheard of. 446 01:21:27.380 --> 01:21:34.700 of. In the meantime, of course, we all live in some sort of secular age, so the Germans 447 01:21:34.700 --> 01:21:44.620 also do Dolche Vita plenty in the meantime. But again, talking about the area a few hundred 448 01:21:44.620 --> 01:21:53.500 years ago when, so to speak, capitalism developed, it's certainly clear that there was more often, 449 01:21:53.500 --> 01:22:16.500 As Murray Rothbard would say, life-affirming attitude among the Catholics, then there was among the Protestants for whom life was something less than enjoyable, to put it mildly. 450 01:22:16.500 --> 01:22:19.500 Catholics have more fun. 451 01:22:19.500 --> 01:22:24.300 Catholics have, as I said, in the 20th century, I'm not sure if that applies anymore. 452 01:22:24.300 --> 01:22:29.300 It seems to be everybody has fun all the time, I guess. 453 01:22:29.300 --> 01:22:35.100 But in the old days, I think Catholics definitely had more fun. 454 01:22:35.100 --> 01:22:39.700 Because you could also, your sins could be easily forgiven. 455 01:22:39.700 --> 01:22:45.900 Whereas the sins, of course, stick with the Protestant forever. 456 01:22:45.900 --> 01:22:47.180 You never get rid of it. 457 01:22:51.260 --> 01:22:54.300 In fact, if I'm correct, I mean, we 458 01:22:54.300 --> 01:22:57.020 have some Catholic experts sitting here, 459 01:22:57.020 --> 01:23:01.300 and I hardly dare to look at them. 460 01:23:01.300 --> 01:23:08.180 In fact, it was a private property until 1891 461 01:23:08.180 --> 01:23:14.420 by Leo XIII, when he declared private property 462 01:23:14.420 --> 01:23:23.720 to be a good private property had before been seen by the Catholics as a regrettable, though 463 01:23:23.720 --> 01:23:28.140 unavoidable concession to the weakness of human nature. 464 01:23:28.140 --> 01:23:34.180 Though they say they were not opposed to it, but they thought that was somehow had something 465 01:23:34.180 --> 01:23:41.940 to do with human weakness and one had regrettably to accept this institution and only relatively 466 01:23:41.940 --> 01:23:49.940 with Leo XIII is a positive affirmation. Private property is a good thing. 467 01:23:49.940 --> 01:24:07.940 Nonetheless, despite this more rationalistic attitude among Catholics as compared to the blind faith attitude found among Protestants, 468 01:24:07.940 --> 01:24:15.940 In terms of Protestants, Weber seems to be fundamentally right in the following way. 469 01:24:15.940 --> 01:24:27.940 In mixed populations, like in France or Germany, where large parts of the population are Catholic and large parts are Protestant, 470 01:24:27.940 --> 01:24:37.940 We do find a significant over-representation of Protestants among the capitalists. 471 01:24:37.940 --> 01:24:54.940 In general, we can say that capitalism was further developed and was more successful in Northern Europe and also in the United States 472 01:24:54.940 --> 01:25:14.940 This cannot be explained with the interest question, that is, Protestants had less difficulties with charging interest than Catholics, but in the Catholic doctrine, the interest prohibition here is much more important. 473 01:25:14.940 --> 01:25:29.940 That is, Protestants had less difficulties with charging interest than Catholics, but in the Catholic doctrine, the interest prohibition had been by and large undermined completely at the time. 474 01:25:29.940 --> 01:25:43.940 So this is likely not the explanation for the greater success as far as capitalistic development is concerned of Protestant places. 475 01:25:43.940 --> 01:25:54.940 Certainly, the doctrine of predestination has nothing to do with the greater success of the Protestant religions. 476 01:25:54.940 --> 01:26:07.940 If people would have taken the doctrine of predestination seriously, they would have fallen into some oriental, lethargic fatalism. 477 01:26:07.940 --> 01:26:13.940 After all, if it's all predestined, why should I do anything? 478 01:26:13.940 --> 01:26:24.940 So what we can infer from this is the doctrine of predestination existed on the books, so to speak, was never really taken seriously by anybody. 479 01:26:24.940 --> 01:26:53.940 What likely is the explanation for the greater amount of capital accumulation and success and so forth of the protestant religion is simply their puritanical outlook which involves you work without enjoyment. 480 01:26:53.940 --> 01:27:08.940 Work is the only way to riches. The riches, the wealth that you accumulate are an indicator of grace. 481 01:27:08.940 --> 01:27:15.940 Work is for Protestants almost like prayer. 482 01:27:15.940 --> 01:27:26.940 There is a certain amount of eschaticism that Protestants accept. 483 01:27:26.940 --> 01:27:35.940 You don't enjoy life, you just pain yourself, work harder and harder. 484 01:27:35.940 --> 01:27:42.940 There is among the Protestants a more pronounced rejection 485 01:27:42.940 --> 01:27:54.940 The rejection of ostentatious consumption and of an ostentatious display of wealth. 486 01:27:54.940 --> 01:28:09.940 Again, you can see that even now that rich people in places like Italy or Spain live in places that look like rich people live there. 487 01:28:09.940 --> 01:28:19.940 I know many rich people in Germany that live in places they look no different from the place where I live in. 488 01:28:19.940 --> 01:28:35.940 There is a rejection, of course, of gambling among the puritans and drinking and all the rest of it. 489 01:28:35.940 --> 01:28:51.940 All of this, let me conclude with this, all of this that we might regard as an achievement of the puritanical religions, Lutheranism and Calvinism, 490 01:28:51.940 --> 01:29:02.500 and Humanizationism. However, it might be regarded as some sort of mixed blessing. Because 491 01:29:02.500 --> 01:29:13.020 what was truly unique in the Western world and what might have had a far greater impact 492 01:29:13.020 --> 01:29:20.220 on the ultimate superiority of the Western civilization as compared to others than the 493 01:29:20.220 --> 01:29:32.340 The Christian religion itself is the fact that only in Europe was the power of the church 494 01:29:32.340 --> 01:29:42.660 and the power of the earthly rulers institutionally separated. 495 01:29:42.660 --> 01:29:51.140 You had the Pope in Rome being, so to speak, an international church, counterbalancing 496 01:29:51.140 --> 01:30:09.060 the power of the various local lords, reducing, so to speak, the power of these lords because 497 01:30:09.060 --> 01:30:20.980 They did not control the church at the same time, but this separation of church and state, 498 01:30:20.980 --> 01:30:28.100 which was unique for Europe, that existed in no other part of the world, this unique 499 01:30:28.100 --> 01:30:38.100 separation was of course to a large extent, if not completely, broken up, abolished, precisely 500 01:30:38.100 --> 01:30:43.100 through the Protestant Revolution. 501 01:30:43.100 --> 01:30:50.620 That is, by breaking up the international Catholic Church and founding various national 502 01:30:50.620 --> 01:30:59.620 churches, Lutheran's Calvinists and whatever, and Mr. Knox in Scotland and so forth, all 503 01:30:59.620 --> 01:31:07.980 of a sudden the princely rulers, of course, realize that this gives the possibility for 504 01:31:07.980 --> 01:31:24.980 for me to combine the highest rank in the worldly hierarchy as king or prince with the highest rank also in the church. 505 01:31:24.980 --> 01:31:46.680 Insofar, and this is, so to speak, the mixed blessing, Protestantism has systematically strengthened the power of the state, 506 01:31:46.680 --> 01:31:58.680 And Protestantism has also been responsible to a large extent for the promotion of democratic values. 507 01:31:58.680 --> 01:32:06.680 Remember I explained in the Catholic Church you have hierarchies. The Catholic Church is anti-democratic. 508 01:32:06.680 --> 01:32:10.680 The Protestant churches are far more democratic. 509 01:32:10.680 --> 01:32:19.680 The high churches, the high protestant churches have gone back to a certain extent in the direction of the Catholic Church 510 01:32:19.680 --> 01:32:29.680 because they were aware of the dangers that result if you let every individual, so to speak, interpret the Bible on its own. 511 01:32:29.680 --> 01:32:39.680 If you do that and if you have a document that is not internally consistent, then of course you get a splitting off of all sorts of weird sects. 512 01:32:39.680 --> 01:32:50.680 This is, of course, precisely what one of the side effects of the Protestant Revolution was that you had a multiplication of weird people, of weird things happening all of a sudden. 513 01:32:50.680 --> 01:33:01.680 Which happens, of course, if every individual just interprets whatever he thinks is right and nothing is filtered through some people who have more wisdom than others. 514 01:33:01.680 --> 01:33:15.680 And of course, the Lutheran Church, which was initially quite democratic, has abolished this, has also built up hierarchies, not to the same extent as the Catholic Church, and so has of course the Anglican Church. 515 01:33:15.680 --> 01:33:26.680 And if you look at the present situation, the craziest churches are of course the churches that are most democratic up to this point. 516 01:33:26.680 --> 01:33:41.680 point. And with this I'll end my lecture and I think I have already used up all of my time. We will just have to talk about this at the next lecture or next break or so. Thank you.