Shifting from Traditional Ethics to Economic Forces
The chapter delves into the 20th-century shift towards treating human ideas as gods, with influential figures like von Mises, Ayn Rand, Hayek, and Friedman advocating for a break from traditional ethics to embrace economic dynamism over altruism, highlighting the fervor and faith-like nature of their ideologies.
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Inspired by Chapter 26 of Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon entitled “The New Testament of Capitalism,” I focus on the intellectuals whose ideas undergird the faith in the “free market.” Taking both the concept of faith and what these thinkers said seriously, it’s hard to miss that their perspective runs counter to the faith of people of the book (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) because it enchants the market with godlike and irresistible “laws of nature” and promises to solve all the world’s problems. Neoliberal capitalism is another ideology that, because it is ultimately a human invention, cannot deliver the grandiose benefits it promises, and yet requires of its believers more unquestioning reverence than any truly transcendent power asks of them.
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