The Reformation and Economic Development Today; E. Coleson

368 vided a startling contrast with another nation also on the door step of war, Switzerland, that oasis of peace and prosperity in the midst of a devastated and im poverished Europe. It is custom ary to imagine that India must have many times more people per unit of area than almost any other country on earth but, according to the 1946 'edition of Goode's Atlas, Switzerland in that year had about 268 people per square mile and India a mere 215.2 An even more startling contrast grows out of a comparison be tween West Germany and India over the last quarter century. By May of 1945 Germany had been utterly defeated in a total war "unconditional surrender" - and her cities were deserts of ashes and rubble. Germany was no doubt poorer than India in the 1973 THE REFORMATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TODAY 369 spring of 1945 and had twice the population density, 433 per square mile. Yet the Germans rather quickly recovered - the startling "Economic Miracle" - and India has remained poor. Unless one in sists that· "East is East and West is West" and hency no compari sons or explanations are possible, he is haunted by the question why some starve and others pros per, or at least survive, in the midst of adversity.

Conquering Starvation A Recent Accomplishment Actually, the startling difference in living standards between the "haves" and "have-nots" is a rather recent phenomenon. Eur ope once had its famines, and bad ones too. According to one au thority, the British Isles had 201 famines between A. D. 10 and 1846.3 A recent writer has even suggested that in certain French parishes which he studied in de tail, the death rate was propor tional to the price of grain back nearly three centuries ago. 4 Yet, there have been no great famines in the West since the Irish Potato Famine except in Russia in the 1920's and 30's and during the wars. Even in the midst of the Great Depression the "Arkies" and the "Okies" did not leave a trail of bones from the "Dust Bowl" to California as might have happened in some parts of the world even today. Still, the tide has turned in the favor of the Western World quite recently. In 1770 a bushel of wheat cost a British laborer the equiva lent of five days' pay.r> It came as a surprise to me to learn in West Africa a few years ago that a bushel of rice cost the natives about a week's wages. They were still at the stage my ancestors were two centuries ago. The Afri cans also have a "hungry season,"

that time of short rations after the seed is planted and before the new crop is ready for harvest. When the Psalmist speaks of the sower going forth weeping, "bear ing precious seed" (Psalms 126 :6), it is so much rhetoric to us, but still harsh reality to multi plied millions al"ound the earth; these people are quite literally planting what they need for sup per. For some reason, the econ omies of the West have been able, at least temporarily, to supply the masses with an unbelievably high standard of Iiving as compared with the rest of the world and our own ancestors too. One of the most urgent tasks today is to try to understand why this has hap pened and whether prosperity can be exported to the "have-nots" around the world. This needs to be done for humanitarian reasons as well as for self-protection.

370 THE FREEMAN June The Weber Thesis of Western Development Among the theories which have been suggested to explain the re cent good fortune of Western man, probably none has attained the popularity of the so-called "Weber thesis." As everyone knows, Weber considered Western progress to be a sort of economic by-product of the Reformation, particularly the teachings of John Calvin. While I have been deeply interested in this problem for a long time, perhaps in part as a result of having lived in a bush village in a daub-and wattle house with a thatched roof, surrounded by abject poverty, and also in part as a result of having done an economic development study for my doctorate, I must confess that part of the Weber controversy anne>ys me. While I have read a consider able amount on both sides of the question, I must admit that I do not care if Weber dotted all his "i's" and crossed all his "t's" cor rectly or not. Nor am I concerned if it can be proven that Roman Catholics also exhibited those economic virtues and followed those policies which are supposed to be uniquely Calvinist. I am not even deeply disturbed if some un kind writer suggests that the Re formers became popular preachers because they told the people to do what they had been doing and would continue to do, with or without ecclesiastical sanction. I am deeply concerned with keep ing our facts straight, to the ex tent that we are able, because I do feel that history has real value as a guide in decision-making to day. I have felt, however, that the investment in the Weber contro versy has passed the point of diminishing returns, as the econ omist would say, some while ago.

The Conditions of Progress The need is to proceed to the larger question of what conditions are necessary for prosperity and what, if anything, religion has to contribute toward making prog ress possible. While there has been a strong reaction against Western materialism, if one takes the loud protests of the recent past at all seriously, still there is value in studying how to promote pros perity - if eating is better than going hungry. The fact that Amer icans in their blindness and greed have overdone a "good thing" too often, does not prove that the op posite extreme is any better. Fur thermore, it seems to me that the Reformers could provide wisdom that would help Christians regain a sane point of view in· the midst of affluence and global need, if they will but listen. Those who have visited the backward areas, where beggars 1973 THE REFORMATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TODAY 371 pursue the tourist relentlessly and where multitudes are perpetually on the verge of starvation, quickly learn that things are quite dif ferent from the way they are back home. One of the most obvious differences is the attitude toward work. This is more than natural laziness or the apathy that comes from malnutrition and a super abundance of body parasites. The aversion to work is deeply in grained in the native culture and is most difficult to dislodge. Conse quently, modern attempts at eco nomic development often intensify problems. For instance, an educa tional report of the British Co lonial Office a few years ago quoted an "enlightened" chief as saying: "If universal primary edu cation were introduced at once, Sierra Leone would be dead in a year - we would starve."6 Even a modicum of book learning takes the recipient thereof out of the laboring class without qualifying him for any type of professional work.

Closely related to the antipathy toward work which is tied to status is the familiar guild or union pressure on workmen to do less than their best. Weber men tions this as the principal cause of the persecution of Methodist laborers a couple of centuries ago. 7 One can concede that em ployers have driven their workers shamefully when they had them at their mercy without condoning peer pressure for inefficiency, evi dently common then and now. Slow Accumulation of Tools Anyone familiar with the his tory of the Industrial Revolution knows the long and seemingly hopeless struggle to perfect better tools in the face of bitter worker opposition. Evidently the Western nations came quite close to re maining in their poverty and wretchedness even as large num bers in the backward areas still are today. When I view' the hun gry multitudes across the world today, do I say that "but for the grace of God, there go I"? Need less to say, the "have-nots" could use some of the Western attitude toward work, whether it is Cal vinist, Catholic or cultural in ori gin. Of course, the Japanese have a "work ethic" of considerable antiquity, a point Kurt Samuel son makes good use of in his "Cri tique of Max Weber ."8 Needless to say, this must be without ben efit of Calvin.

It is hard for us, coming from the West, to understand how com pletely "backwardness" is built into some native cultures. J. S. Fenton, an authority on Sierra Leone native law, wrote several years ago how the enterprising individual was repressed and ev372 THE FREEMAN June eryone was kept at the same dead level of grinding poverty. Said Fenton: The enterprise and success of a person causes him to be envied and it is whispered that he must have "boa medicine," the "medicine" of success, but also a medicine which can injure his neighbors. A noise . . . is heard from time to time, and perhaps one or two children die. The prospering man is then informed against as pos sessing boa medicine .... Once he has been called a boa-man he might as well leave the chiefdom .... 9 It is interesting to note in this connection that Andrei Amalrik, who questions whether the Soviet Union will survive until 1984, re marks that the Russion peasant wants no one living better than he does although "the fact that many live worse is willingly ac cepted."lo Whatever the problem of the Russians, the West Afri cans have another deterrent to capital accumulation: if an enter prising farmer grows an extra bushel of rice to tide his family over the "hungry season," his rel atives will all move in on him when their meager stock of food is depleted. After a few days of feasting, they can then go hungry together. Little wonder that those who hope to accomplish something frequently "get lost" and start over so far from home that their relatives cannot find them. Need less to say, the "haves" frequently do no better than the "have-nots,"

once they manage to accumulate a fortune. They usually "consume it upon their own lusts" or hide it in a secret account in a Swiss bank. In the meantime, their na tion is starved for capital. In view of the instability of their coun tries, the urge to live it up-"to eat and drink for tomorrow we die" -or "squirrel it away" in some country they hope they can trust, is understandable but regrettable. It certainly does not make for progress at home. Obviously, what has been called the "Protestant Ethic" would be a great asset to these people. The Case of Country X Take some backward .country, on the doorstep of the U.S. or halfway around the world, and see what could be done to promote prosperity. Nation X is incredibly poor. It may be a "beggar sitting on a bench of gold" or just a beg gar squatting in the dust; the re source base, while helpful, seems not to insure prosperity. Switzer land has little and has done well; many other countries seem to have great potential, but remain poor and backward. In country X the average annual income is less than a hundred dollars - not a hundred a Vveek but for -a full year. The 1973 THE REFORMATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TODAY 373 people are poor beyond our imagi nation, they are malnourished, and their health services are ex ceedingly meager. The country has stagnated and will no doubt continue to remain so.

Now, suppose some great prophet should arise and capture the hearts and loyalties of the people. Suppose in addition to get ting them to repent of their sins and live a life of moral rectitude, that he should convince them that they should do a good day's work, whether anyone was watching or not (because, of course, God sees everywhere and He will not ex cuse the slothful worker). Sup pose men of means within the country began to feel responsible for the proper use of their mate rial blessings (Christian steward ship) and began investing wisely and well in business ventures at home rather than squandering their money or exporting their wealth to places that do not really need it. Suppose the government became more stable, and honest too, so men could begin to count on tomorrow and even decades hence. A Climate of Growth Now, if I had a million dollars, I would go and invest it in X as would a host of others. If the for eign investors were Christian or even had good sense, they would try to do the right thing by the people, knowing that while one can get by with exploitation in the short run, that in the long run the policy is self-defeating.

Also if Americans just happened to want to do something to help them and themselves, they might let their bargain goods into the U.S. and sell them machine tools. With such a combination - a dili gent and honest people, a respon sible business community and gov ernment, a ready foreign market close at hand and abundant capital - progress would be explosive, an other economic miracle. Actually, of course, X is not like this and, barring a miracle of grace, it will not become so. The mass of the people are lazy thieves, the government is run by a bunch of thugs and whatever business exists there is out to "get" everyone else before others get them. Weber was right: capi talists did not invent greed, but tamed this destructive impulse. ll No foreigner in his right mind would invest there because the government would nationalize his business as soon as it became profitable. It is a tragedy that interna tional investment has become such a problem in the modern era. A recent writer, much frustrated with the poverty and malnutrition so prevalent over too much of the 374 THE FREEMAN June earth today, complained that the wealthy nations were only invest ing $6 billion a year in the devel opment of their poor neighbors while they should be putting in at least $15 billion. 12 According to Richard Nixon, writing more than a dozen years ago, the United States would have invested $30 billion abroad in 1958 instead of the trifling $4 billion we did lend, if we had been investing at the rate proportionately that the Brit ish did in 1910. 13 As long as the British invested wisely, this was a revolving fund that could con tinue over the years. Think what a similar American program could do today to hasten economic de velopment across the earth and create jobs at home too.

Back to the Moral Problem Unfortunately, there are few decent places in the world to in vest anymore - which brings' us right back to the moral question again. If we could just get the man straightened out-his morals, his thinking and his institutions progress would be possible. Piety is no substitute for technology, but we can handle the engineering details today if the moral condi tions are favorable. This has al ways been an important factor. It is well to remember that Cal vin and the reformers were not promoting economic development schemes. They sought first the Kingdom, and the economic fringe benefits were added unto them. Perhaps the most hotly debated subject in Christian circles today in this country is whether capital ism or the welfare state is the embodiment of virtue, the ethical and moral system. The contro versy has produced a sizable and growing literature. It is interest ing to note in this connection that some writers trace Christian so cialism,14 not capitalism, back to John Calvin, which alters the Weber thesis considerably. Of course, Calvin is accused of pro moting both democracy and totali tarianism also. 15 Perhaps he did not consciously promote any of these systems.

With all due respect to Calvin, a more important question is what the Bible teaches. It seems to me that the Word of God does not specifically endorse any human system or give a "blueprint" for any political arrangement, but it does lay down fundamental prin ciples by which men and nations will be judged. These God-given principles necessarily have far reaching social, political, and eco nomic implications. But with Emil Brunner I would insi~t that all we can hope for is the "best make shift" by which we may attempt to approximate the Christian idea1.16 1973 THE REFORMATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TODAY 375 Let us explore one of these "makeshifts." An Austrian writer who classifies himself as a social ist, Karl Polanyi, praises the nine teenth century with its "Hundred Years' Peace" in Europe (1815 1914).17 He then tells us that the civilization of that era was based on the balance of power, the gold standard, the market economy, and limited government. After telling us that these arrange ments produced a century of peace, "a phenomenon unheard of in the annals of Western civiliza tion" and also "an unheard of ma terial welfare," he concludes that the "self-adjusting market . . .

would have physically destroyed man and transformed his sur roundings into a wilderness." It is unfortunate that a "make shift" so attractive in the short run should have such dire long range consequences. Perhaps a second look is needed. Obviously, Polanyi is describing anarchy, a system without rational or moral checks on human excesses - not Calvin or even Adam Smith, but Darwin and the "survival of the fittest." It is possible to assume that accounting is epistemology (what is profitable is good), but the Reformers did not hold this view nor did the founders of eco nomics. In 1765 Blackstone wrote that the laws of men should con form to that Higher Law, "dictated by God Himself; "18 and in 1776 Adam Smith concluded that just as long as a man "does not violate the laws of justice, [he] is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way .... "19 This means, for example, that I have a God-given right to grow all the wheat, corn and cows I can on my farm but not poppies for opium.

Mistaken Practices I would not care to try to de fend the American Farm Program of the last generation before the Judge of all the earth. Would you? L. Dudley Stamp, a distinguished British land-use expert who de livered a series of lectures at In diana University several years ago, chided Americans on their low agricultural productivity and suggested that the world could support ten billion people or about three times the present total, if we just did as .well as we now know. 20 Another Englishman, Colin Clark, places the capacity of the earth at twenty-eight billion, assuming present technology and the efficiency of the people of the Netherlands. 21 If everyone did half as well as the Dutch or even a quarter, it should be possible to feed earth's peoples and still sta bilize populations short of dis aster. Of course, both are assum ing full production and open mar376 THE FREEMAN June kets, a policy quite familiar to the Victorians but well-nigh for gotten today.

While I would not care to at tempt to defend all the old capi talists did either, they did a few things right, as the following quo tation from the Spectator, pub lished in 1882, suggests: Britain as a whole was never more tranquil and happy. No class is at war with society or the government; there is no disaffection anywhere, the Treasury is fairly full, the accumu lations of capital are vast. 22 Just as an interesting experi ment, substitute "today" and "the U.S.A." for "1882" and "Britain" in the above quotation. Perhaps the capitalist "makeshift" was not so bad after all. ~ • FOOTNOTES • 1 John Frederick Muehl, "Famine Is Like This," Reader's Digest (April, 1946), pp. 19-21. 2 J. Paul Goode, School Atlas (Chi cago: Rand McNally, 1946), p. 175. 3 Warren S. Thompson, Population Problems (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1942), p. 51. 4 E. A. Wrigley, Population and His tory (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969), p.66.

5 John Chamberlain, The Roots of Capitalism (Princeton: D. Van Nos trand Company, 1959), p. 123. 6 African Education: A Study of Educational Policy and Practice in British Tropical Africa, the Nuffield Founda tion and the Colonial Office (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953), p. 24. 7 Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Tal cott Parsons (New York: Scribner's, 1958), p. 63. 8 Kurt Samuelson, Religion and Eco nomic Action (New York: Harper and Row, 1961), p. vii. 9 J. S. Fenton, Outline of Sierra Leone Native Law (Freetown: Govern ment Printer, 1933), p. 17. 10 Andrei Amalrik, Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984? (New York: Harper and Row, 1971), p. 81. 11 Weber, pp. 17,56-57. l:! Jose de Castro, The Black Book of Hunger (Boston: Beacon Press, 1967), p.49. 13 Richard M. Nixon, The Challenges We Face (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960), p. 73. 14 Robert W. Green, ed., Protestant ism and Capitalism (Boston: D. C.

Heath, 1959), pp. 26, 44. 15 Robert M. Kingdon and Robert D. Linder, eds., Calvin and Calvinism: Sources of Democracy? (Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1970), pp. 1-15. IH Emil Brunner, Christianity and Civilization (London: Nisbet and Com pany, 1949), II, 95. 17 Karl Polanyi, The Great Transfor mation (Boston: Beacon Press, 1944), pp.3-5. 18 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Philadelphia: Rees Welsh and Company, Lewis' edi tion, 1902), I, 31. 19 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Na tions (Modern Library Edition), p. 651. 20 L. Dudley Stamp, Land for Tomor row (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1952), pp. 214-219. 21 Arthur McCormack, ed., Christian Responsibility and World Poverty (Lon don: Burns and Oats, 1963), p. 135. 22 Albert H. Hobbs, "Welfarism and Orwell's Reversal," Intercollegiate Re view (Spring, 1970), p.107.