Monday 5 April 2010

Cult ethic

Arbeit macht frei:
We are so close to the world of work that we can't see what it does to us. We have to rely on outside observers from other times or other cultures to appreciate the extremity and the pathology of our present position. There was a time in our own past when the "work ethic" would have been incomprehensible, and perhaps Weber was on to something when he tied its appearance to a religion, Calvinism, which if it emerged today instead of four centuries ago would immediately and appropriately be labelled a cult.

This relates to my previous post about the ancient intertwining of the parasites: religion and politics. Without these, civilisation as we know it would never have come about. Were they inevitable? Unlikely - it seems they were more like a disease that spread from the Middle East.
Peter Drucker, who loves Calvinism and "management" - admitted that it was not certain that management was a good thing, or productive, or whatever. Well it isn't - the best "management" like "best government" is hands off. Which begs the question - why is it there at all? Because of organised violence, that's why. Giant protection rackets, all over the globe, born of politics and religion. The Invisible Boot.
There is no hope for a civilization which starts each day to the sound of an alarm clock.

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