For many people, the economic prosperity, development and consequently the overall strength of a country are linked to political decisions, the existence of wealth-producing sources and economic programs.
Very few dare to connect all this with cultural origins and with religious / moral concepts.
However, reality shows that cultural origins largely determine the course of a country and the destiny of its people.
The history of the West has shown that embracing the principles of democratic capitalism and the market economy has led these societies to dynamic and rapid development.
Of course, this only happened where the principles and moral values of Protestantism prevailed.
In countries like Britain, the Netherlands, and later the United States, where the ideas of the religious Reformation had dominated and Catholicism had receded, free enterprise quickly took root, accompanied by the industrial revolution and spectacular economic progress.
Based on the Protestant notions that God’s blessing is seen in man’s achievements in this life, the societies showed admirable action and tremendous achievements.
To gain the favor of the divine, people had to be creative, not passive and successful in life.
“Blessed are the poor” entered the refrigerator of moral values.
These perceptions were very close to the way of thinking of classical Greek antiquity, where citizens had to make remarkable achievements and stand out from the crowd.
Only in this way could they approach superiority and even become demigods. Thus escaping the dramatic fate of common death, which was leading them to the jaws of the horrible Cerberus.
That’s why and despite any prophecies (or maybe because of them) about certain death, many dared to do things.
For thus they escaped the fate of common death and entered the realm of quasi-immortals (see also H.D.F. Kitto, The Greeks. Penguin, 2017).
That is why for many today Protestantism is considered the natural continuation of ancient Greek moral values.
The difference between Protestantism and the stagnation to which Catholicism, Islam and other possible religions lead, which I am not in a position to evaluate, lies not only in the capitalism that facilitates its development but also in the dynamism that pervades society.
In capitalist societies, new dynamic urban centers were created, new important business units, and economic power successively passed to new families or business groups.
In Catholic countries the same families, businesses and large urban centers dominate almost from the Middle Ages until today! The big difference is seen in North and South America.
The dominance of Protestantism in the North, initially devoid of wealth-producing resources, set it on a trajectory of phenomenal growth.
In contrast to the third-world course followed by the wealthy but Catholic South (see also Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. Madison Books, 1990).
So real democracy, dynamic economic development and the dominance of the principles of genuine capitalism are quickly and easily established in a social environment dominated by the moral and religious values of Protestantism.
