Marx

1 Pages 321 Words

Marx interpreted the Protestant Reformation as an aspect of the
struggle of the rising bourgeoisie against the feudal ruling class. He
saw the Protestant ethic as an ideological weapon used by capitalists to
convince workers that hard work and obedience to their bosses was
demanded by god. The Protestant ethic was meant to control the behavior
of the working class, not the behavior of the bourgeoisie, who never led
the ascetic life Weber described. Thus, British historian E. P.
Thompson (1963) verified Marx's analysis by describing the "ideological
terror" unleashed by capitalists against workers during the industrial
revolution in England. U.S. historian Gabriel Kolko (1961), showed that
Benjamin Franklin, portrayed by Weber as an ideal typical embodiment of
the spirit of capitalism, was no ascetic; he was fond of food, drink,
and mistresses.
Marx and Weber thus analyzed the role of ideas and the nature of
capitalism very differently. Marx was a dialectical materialist who
insisted that ideologies arise out of material conditions and serve the
interests of contending social classes. Weber was an idealist who
insisted that ideologies have an independent or autonomous existence,
and that there may be an "elective affinity" between ideologies and
class interests. Marx said that early capitalists got their wealth
through genocide and slavery, while Weber says that they got their
wealth through ascetic living and rational organization of production.
Marx and Weber had very different views of how capitalists extract
profits and of how European hegemony was established. Marx said that
profits come from exploitation; Weber said that profits are derived from
rational organization. Marx said that European global hegemony resulted
from military conquest and economic plunder. Weber said that European
global hegemony resulted from the unique cultural values of Western
Civilization. Mar...