Drawing from Part 3 of Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, I take a good look at the way evangelical Christians in the late 19th century put God and Mammon on the same level. The corporation was raised to the dignity of a human person in U.S. law, begging the question of whether anyone who believes that can really adequately respect human life as “made in the image and likeness of God.” Here’s the link to McCarraher’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Enchantments-Mammon-Capitalism-Religion-Modernity/dp/0674984617/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=enchantments+of+mammon&qid=1601065133&sr=8-1 Here’s Michael Sandel’s new book: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Merit-Whats-Become-Common/dp/B084SLR1Q5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Michael+Sandel&qid=1601065173&sr=8-1 Here’s the Steve Paiken interview of Michael Sandel on his new book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFaLj3YWkGo For more from me: http://www.lauriemjohnson.com

In this video I address, through some Ideas from Ch. 6 of my book Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right, some deeper systemic reasons for the rise of the illiberal right and other phenomena that are disturbing societies around the globe. The problem is bigger than just blaming one source of trouble, whether it be the Internet, new organizations, racial groups or university progressives. Here’s a link to Ch. 6, which discusses these ideas in more depth: Signs of Mass Psychosis (Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right) You can find the book here and elsewhere: https://www.routledge.com/Ideological-Possession-and-the-Rise-of-the-New-Right-The-Political-Thought/Johnson/p/book/9781138082120?gclid=CjwKCAjwkoz7BRBPEiwAeKw3qwfbbiO5hC3qDLD4w02K_ImiPsecAc5rX-xseIJ_bP2fEQeYN3pnBRoC_osQAvD_BwE For more from me: http://www.lauriemjohnson.com

In these three chapters of McCarraher’s book, The Enchantments of Mammon, we get a front row seat to the peculiar developments of American Christianity from colonization through the 19th Century, and the reactions to it from Transcendentalists, Romantics and most importantly America’s enslaved African Americans. This video hits some of the highlights and hopefully gets us to ponder whether America’s historical take on Christianity is really very accurate, and just how much of a problem is its constant admixture of theological and commercial values. Spoiler: it’s a problem. McCarraher’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Enchantments-Mammon-Capitalism-Religion-Modernity/dp/0674984617 For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/ Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/608141959786172/about/

Eugene McCarraher’s book, The Enchantments of Mammon, explains how the Romantic movement spawned an alternative critique of capitalism, one that can be compatible with conservative as well as certain Enlightenment tendencies even while envisioning a type of communism. John Ruskin is perhaps the greatest inspiration among the Romantic authors for McCarraher. While his love of British empire and embrace of hierarchy may not be desirable, other elements of Ruskin’s thought, and romantic thought generally, are worth considering. McCarraher’s article in Plough: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/comrade-ruskin For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/ Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/608141959786172/about/

We begin to get into Eugene McCarraher’s book The Enchantments of Mammon with the first chapter, in which he surveys the development of two kinds of Christianity, the kind that’s comfortable alongside wealth and the kind that isn’t. Throughout Christian history, before and after the Protestant Reformation, both types are to be found struggling to define Christian faith and practice. With the Protestant Reformation we see an attempt to sacramentalize work and productivity, replacing older more obviously enchanted Catholic eucharistic sacramentality. For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

Here I introduce Eugene McCarraher, author of The Enchantments of Mammon, and discuss the contents of the Prologue, which sets up the argument of the book. The DeMorgan Museum: https://www.demorgan.org.uk/discover/the-de-morgans/evelyn-de-morgan/ My book, which you can find for sale on multiple platforms in paperback, as an e book, and also by the chapter, is on Barnes and Noble here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ideological-possession-and-the-rise-of-the-new-right-laurie-johnson/1130304013 For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

In this final podcast in the series on Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism, I deal with parts of Chapter 10, especially Lasch’s indictment of therapeutic bureaucratic authority and his explanation for the failure of US progressives to champion working people. For more from me: https://lauriemjohnson.com/ https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/ Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/608141959786172/about/

Christopher Lasch’s 8th chapter in The Culture of Narcissism deals with changes in relationships, sex, marriage and family at the time he was living. Many of the points he makes are still worth considering.For more from me:https://lauriemjohnson.com/https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

A preview of what’s coming up in three weeks’ time–a new series on Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, a new book published by Harvard University Press.Here’s the URL to the Political Philosophy Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60814…For more from me:https://lauriemjohnson.com/https://politicalphilosophy.video.blog/

This video deals with Chapters 6 and 7 in Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism. While Lasch is critical both of how Americans teach their youth and how they parent, he doesn’t place all the blame on schools, teachers and parents. Rather, it’s the overly specialized bureaucratic capitalist system that necessitates a particular kind of education, the kind that puts out docile worker bees, and an absentee and guilt-ridden parenting that gives authority over to the child raising expert apparatus of the state and the economy. Everyone involved gets paid, if badly, but no one does a particularly good job.