A century ago, Max Weber wrote a short book explaining how Protestants’ striving to lead industrious, honest, productive lives eventually provided a foundation for the rise of Western capitalism. Its title: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.¹ According to Weber, capitalism had existed in other places and times throughout the world’s history—for example in China, India, Rome, and Babylon—but in none of those places was it as resilient and sustainable as in Western Europe and America.² As he put it, a “particular ethos was lacking” in those other societies.³

This work ethic rose directly from the Protestants’ study of the Scripture, and so is more properly called, “The Christian Work Ethic.” Searching the Bible’s pages, they made a fervent commitment to lead lives of hard work, dependability, diligence, austerity, thrift, and integrity. In the process, they created an atmosphere crackling with potential for economic growth and financial innovation.

Though a hundred years old, Weber’s claims have gained new support, this time from Harvard history professor, Niall Ferguson. In an article entitled “The Atheist Sloth Ethic, or Why Europeans Don’t Believe in Work,”⁴ he explores the flip side of Weber’s thesis and concludes that “there is surely something more than coincidental about the simultaneous rise of unbelief in Europe and the decline of Weber’s work ethic.”

As for the decline in work ethic, he observes:

1. Between 1992 and 2001, the Spanish lost 271 work days per thousand employees. The Danish, Italians, Finns, Irish, and French lost between 80 to 120 days. In contrast, the Americans only lost 50 work days.
2. In 1999, the average American worked 1,976 hours, while the average German, 1,535 hours, or 22 % less. Britons fared a bit better, working 12% less than the Americans; the French did worse, working 32% less.
3. While German, Italian, and French workers average more than 40 vacation days a year, Americans average only 14.
4. From 1973 to 1998, the percent of employed Americans rose from 41 to 49 %, while in Germany and France, it fell from 44 to 39 %.

Turning to the rise in unbelief, he reports:

1. In the Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, fewer than one in ten attend church at least monthly. The American rate of church attendance is more than twice that of Europe.
2. While 15 % of Europeans call themselves atheists, “scarcely any Americans” do.
3. When asked if they could say, “My God is the only true god,” less than a third of Britons said yes, while half of America said so.
4. Fewer than 20% in the U.K. would be willing to die for their beliefs; 71% of Americans would.

Ferguson considers alternative explanations, e.g., legislated, low-end work weeks and differing tax rates, but he concludes, “The most remarkable thing about the transatlantic divergence in working patterns is that it has coincided almost exactly with a comparable divergence in religiosity.” Of course, many hard-working Americans are motivated by godless consumerism. And it is likely that, by working less, some Europeans are more attentive to vital family relationships. But one would be hard pressed to demonstrate that European church avoidance either strengthens European families or cools European interest in material things. Weber’s and Ferguson’s point stands, and not surprisingly: Genuine piety and serious labor go hand in hand.

Sad to say, America is also losing its devotion to God. Perhaps much of its work ethic is a fading impression of past spiritual commitments. If so, the European present is America’s future, when it comes to work patterns.

Footnotes:

from the Kairos Journal

First Baptist Church, Perryville, Maryland