Assignment # 2
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber, he states the lines written by Benjamin Franklin to explain the connection Weber is underlining between rationalism and the spirit of capitalism which are the following “Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one-half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides” (Weber14).
Till today I would always listen to people say “Time is money” and never pay any mind to where the term came from or who it came or even the history behind it all, until today when doing the readings. Franklin was trying to motivate and explain to the people that our time was value and we should not waste any in minor things that will not give us wealth. Our time is valuable, and the time we do spend working we should think twice before spending it all at once. One should remember the hours spent earning the money and wasted only to reproduced.
I view Webber and capitalism as Benjamins influenced him believes of capitalism and start to use that at his methods in which one should follow to be successful in your life and wealth. He believes one should use his money and reinvest. He became aware of the concept and method before it was implemented in America. He believes that the time we have is used to earned money and the money we gain should be reinvested in capitalism. Weber goes on to describe the ethics one should have to succeed. One should pay its credit on time and be honest the way he will benefit from doing so. That is how one was able to build on his wealth and gain other trust and grew his wealth.
Weber explains how man are driven by the idea of power and wealth, which is very similar to today’s world. Many of us have to choice between our driven career or making better money. We spend more time working than actually enjoying the fruits of our labor. Webber believes that money and wealth will give you all you need, which in reality I think otherwise based on personal experiences in my life.
