The illusion of "vocational callings"

    I am struck by a concept in Weber’s “The ‘Spirit’ of Capitalism” that I had yet to consider. It is the idea that an inherent “vocational calling” is very much an exclusively Western modern capitalist phenomenon that is directed by Protestant Christianity.

    Growing up in the rural midwestern United States plays a significant role for me concerning this topic. I bore witness to (and myself experienced) my peers struggling to identify their personal “vocational callings” that they were apparently destined to discover. The stress began by age fourteen in our “Career Paths” course and is sure to continue to haunt a significant amount for the rest of their lives. The people who are middle-aged and hate their jobs may think that they just haven’t/never will discover their “true purpose”, or consider their jobs to be a means to an end so that they may enjoy their material goods that bring them happiness. They may believe that they are serving God by acting as cogs that move along the capitalist machine.

    The idea of a “vocational calling” is reminiscent of the divine right of monarchs; their places were predetermined by God himself, and to question their right to throne was to question the most supreme being. One difference being that instead of living a life of luxuries, an Appalachian man views it as his duty to work in the coal mines or a woman believes that her duties do not go beyond the household. They are restricted rather than liberated by their “callings”. Both the rich and the poor are to think that their assigned duties are just, as they were decided by God. And a devout Christian is not to question God.

    If this concept also supported the Feudal system, then perhaps is it largely a Christian creation rather than a capitalist creation?

Is there something inherently different about modern capitalism that will allow “vocational callings” to quietly support its system for a longer duration than Feudalism?