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

- tags :: [[file:../capitalism.org][capitalism]] [[file:../20200713102420-religion.org][religion]] [[file:../20200713102437-capitalism_as_religion.org][capitalism as religion]] [[file:../20200713102917-modernity.org][modernity]]
- source :: [[https://www.buzzsprout.com/220523/4450613-the-enchantments-of-mammon-how-capitalism-became-the-religion-of-modernity-part-i-with-red-library][The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity (...]]

The book they are discussing can be found [[https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674984615][here]].

* Notes
- Prior to capitalism there was an understood enchantment of the world, somewhat
  popularized by the [[file:../20200713102526-catholic_church.org][Catholic Church]]. After [[file:../20200713102536-protestantism.org][Protestantism]] entered the scene,
  this enchantment was replaced with rationality
- Protestantism sees the rituals of Catholicism paganistic
- [[file:../20200713205102-max_weber.org][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 [[file:../20200713205316-middle_ages.org][medieval period]]
- [[file:../20200713205249-the_commons.org][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 [[file:../20200713205249-the_commons.org][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 [[file:../20200713205411-capitalist_ideology.org][capitalist ideology]]
- Catholicism (notably Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi) considered
  communism the ideal, [[file:../20200713205428-private_property.org][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 [[file:../20200714093206-holy_inquisition.org][Inquisition]] wasn't as bad as people thought; their aim was to
  combat [[file:../20200714093221-heresy.org][heresy]], to kill someone would have been seen as a failure.
- The [[file:../20200714093257-spanish_inquisition.org][Spanish Inquisition]] /was/ as bad as people thought; it was a [[file:../20200607214217-colonialism.org][colonialist]]
  project to reclaim land and integrate population
- Accumulation of wealth was seen as a Protestant duty to God ([[file:../20200714093453-prosperity_theology.org][prosperity
  theology]])
- [[file:../20200714093709-john_locke.org][John Locke]] said that land had to be improved, nature has no value, and
  otherwise you don't have a right to it
- [[file:../20200714093742-john_milton.org][Milton]] suggested that having to labor was the punishment imposed by God,
  self-reliance is satanic
- The [[file:../20200714093826-diggers.org][Diggers]] were an anti-capitalist movement of sorts, who aimed to undo
  [[file:../20200714093903-enclosure_of_the_commons.org][enclosure]]
  - [[file:../20200714101023-gerrard_winstanley.org][Gerrard Winstanley]] wrote something like "Why is knowledge only ever used
    for misery and not for the enrichment of all?"
- [[file:../20200611202011-marx.org][Marx]] says the antidote to religion is [[file:../20200713100151-revolution.org][revolution]]. The essence of Christianity
  (i.e. communistic living) is the essence of humanity
  - Religion is a necessary medicine for a world of pain, [[file:../20200714104617-opiate_of_the_masses.org]["opiate of the masses"]]
- Marxists should be against mechanized reason, not reason itself