NP, exactly but echoes AtD - NPR on One Nation Under God

[jochen stremmel]

The professor has it all wrong, well half of it: In capitalism, if you make
a profit and succeed you're good and become a philanthropist, and if you
fail, you're bad.

2015-04-01 11:17 GMT+02:00 matthew cissell <mccissell at gmail.com>:

> For those of you that missed it, NPR had a piece on a book called "One
> Nation Under God" written by Princeton professor of history Kevin
> Kruse. He examines how the phrase made its way onto US currency into
> US politcal language and above all the 'Pledge of Allegiance. (You've
> heard about that Bellamy guy, right?)
>
>  A take away from the piece:
>      "They use these ministers to make the case that Christianity and
> capitalism were soul mates. This case had been made before, but in the
> context of the New Deal it takes on a sharp new political meaning.
> Essentially they argue that Christianity and capitalism are both
> systems in which individuals rise and fall according to their own
> merits. So in Christianity, if you're good you go to heaven, if you're
> bad you go to hell. In capitalism if you're good you make a profit and
> you succeed, if you're bad you fail."
>
> Sound familiar?
>
> Kruse focuses on the 30's and a bit beyond. As such Vibe and his
> corporation would be forerunners, albeit fictionally, of what Kruse
> documents.
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
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