Enterprise and the Puritan Ethic

A Hipsters' Guide to Revolution - Lesson 2

Rock box Run DMC...yo boy.

Listen to their song It's Like That . On their eponymous debut album.

Pay special attention to the lyrics:

People in the world tryin to make ends meet
You try to ride car, train, bus, or feet
I said you got to work hard, you want to compete
It's like that, and that's the way it is
Huh!

Money is the key to end all your woes
Your ups, your downs, your highs and your lows
Won't you tell me the last time that love bought you clothes?
It's like that, and that's the way it is
Bills rise higher every day
We receive much lower pay
I'd rather stay young, go out and play
It's like that, and that's the way it is
Huh!

Reading
A Model of Christian Charity – John Winthrop

Jamestown 1607
joint-stock companies

first successful colony was a company, or ENTERPRISE

“He who does not work does not eat.” – Captain John Smith

Massachusetts Bay Colony 1629
17th Century England

Reformation: Calvinism: Predestination, Purification, Persecution

Bible Verses:
Psalm 2: 7-9
- "I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."
Romans 13
-"Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment...it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer...The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet"...Let us then throw off the works of darkness (and) put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

Enterprise: a purposeful endeavor

Puritan Ethic
-labor as a virtue
-labor as survival
-US vs. THEM: judgment, Predestination
-Utopia: “city upon a hill”
-Model: self-righteousness, self-importance, egoism
-no sex, drugs, or rock and roll

DISCUSSION
How would this foundation lead to success and prosperity?
-hard work, productivity, sense of community, morality in society

How would this foundation lead to problems in society?
-US vs. THEM, lack of empathy or compassion for “them,” fear, lack of trust, JUDGMENT

Who would this empower?

What would be the source of that power?

How is it still present today?
-race, class, us versus them, hipsters, "the" establishment

Have the positive effects outweighed the negatives?

How has it changed? How has it stayed the same?

What are the great threats to it today?

How does it affect power today?

Do we still seek a Utopia?

What are the positive and negative effects of seeking a Utopia?