#sry idk if i actually answered yr question lol

[transmutationisms]

can you talk a bit more about weber (im refering to a post you made earlier today i think)? i know a bit about the protestant ethic theory but not really the historical context in which it was written nor how it's used today. thanks!

so, weber's argument is essentially that protestant (specifically calvinist and puritan) theology played a major causal role in the development of capitalism in northern europe following the reformation. his position was that protestant ethics, in contrast to catholicism, placed a high moral value on secular, everyday labour, but also discouraged the spending of one's wages on luxury goods, tithing to the church, or giving overmuch to charity. thus, protestants invested their money in business and commercial ventures instead, turning the generation of capital into a moral endeavour and venerating hard work and economic productivity as ways to ensure one's soul was saved (as the buying of indulgences was not an option for protestants).

this is a bad argument. at core it is idealist, subordinating an economic development to religious ideology. weber never explains how the actual, material economic changes he wants to talk about were effected by a set of ideas; he doesn't consider the possibility that the ideas themselves reflected in some way the material and economic context in which they were developed; he doesn't differentiate between protestantism as a causal factor in the development of capitalism, versus the possibility that capitalism and protestant conversion both resulted from some other factor or set of factors. <- these types of problems are endemic to 'history of ideas' aka 'intellectual history' because merely writing a history of the (learned, published) ideas circulating at a given time doesn't tell you jack about how and whether those ideas were actually implemented, how common people reacted to them or resisted them, what sorts of material circumstances the ideas themselves were formulated amidst, and so forth.

in the case of weber, it's very easy to poke holes in this supposed relationship between protestantism and capitalism. even in western europe alone, we could look at a country like france, which was quite catholic, never became predominantly or even significantly protestant, and yet also industrialised not long after, eg, the netherlands and england. we could also look at what historian michael kwass calls "court capitalism" in 18th-century france, which was a largely non-industrial form of capitalism that depended on the catholic king's central authority in order to ensure a return on investment. france at this time had a burgeoning luxury culture and a centralised, absolutist government that was closely entwined with the powerful catholic church—yet it also had economic development that is recognised as early capitalist, along with growing social and economic tensions between the nascent bourgeois and petit-bourgeois classes and the aristocracy. this is not even close to being the earliest example of capitalist or proto-capitalist economic development (some predates the reformation!), and again, this is within western europe alone—we could and should also point out that capitalism is not solely a european phenomenon and can and does coexist with other, radically different, religious ideology (i have problems with jack goody's work but this is something i think it can help elucidate).

weber argued that the 'spirit of capitalism' was no longer dependent on the protestant theology that had initially spawned it—but again, here we see issues with idealist methodologies in history. at what point, and how, does this 'spirit' become autonomous? what is it that has taken hold, if weber is not talking about the 'protestant ethic' itself and is also not interested in analysing the material changes that comprise capitalism except as effects of some underlying ideology? well, it's what he sees as a general shift toward 'rationalisation' and 'disenchantment' of the world, leading to an understanding of late 19th- and early 20th-century capitalism as a kind of spiritually unmoored servitude to mechanism and industry. this in turn relates back to weber's overall understanding of the legacy of the 'scientific revolution', which is another can of (bad) worms. there is a lot to say about these elements of weber's thought, but for starters the idea that europe was the progenitor of all 'scientific advancement', that it then simply disseminated such knowledge to the rest of the world (the apotheosis of the centre-periphery model, lmao), and that europe has become 'disenchanted', ie irreligious, as a result of such scientific advancement... is just patently bad analysis. it's eurocentric, chauvinistic, and simply demonstrably untrue in like twelve different ways.

anyway, when i see conservatives and reactionaries cite weber, i'm not surprised. his arguments are conservative (his entire intellectual paradigm in this text was part of his critique of marx and the premises of materialist / contextualist history). but when i see ostensible leftists doing it, often as some kind of dunk on protestantism (or christianity more generally, which is not even a good reading of weber's own understanding of catholicism), it's more irritating to me. i am not interested in 'leftisms' that are not materialist. weber's analysis is a bad explanation of how and why capitalism took hold; it doesn't even work for the limited northern european case studies he starts with because, again, idealist history fundamentally fails to explain how ideology itself creates material change. like, "some guy writes something down -> ??? -> everyone just agrees with him -> ??? -> stuff happens somehow" is not a good explanation of any phenomenon, lmao. if we are stuck on the idea that capitalism, a set of economic phenomena and real relations of production, is the result of ideology, then we will also be stuck trying to 'combat' capitalism on the ideological level. it's unserious and counterproductive. weber's analysis has retained an outsize position in the sociological historiography because it's an attractively simplistic, top-down, idealist explanation of both capitalism and protestantism that makes centuries worth of material changes to production forms into a kind of ideological coup ushering in an age of 'rationalism'. this is just not a text that tells us, leftists, anything politically useful. at best it is an explication of the internal psychological logics of (some) forms of protestantism in (some) places and contexts.

#sry idk if i actually answered yr question lol #weber

[astheravensighs]

F/O Asks to Rile Yo Up: 1 and 10 + Prussia

oh gosh those r actually very easy 2 answer for my hubs lmfaO thank u for the ask!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ there’s a LOT of tw content here so I’m gonna tag them as well as slap em up here in case i forget one!!

so warning for: tw nazi, tw misogyny, tw drinking, tw suicide mention, tw drinking, tw mental health, tw incest, tw hetalia ???? just general tw for like everything honestly sorry guys :O if i wasn’t on mobile id put this under a readmore just in case so pls be careful!! anyway here’s the Hot Takes!

1. a hot take abt this f/o

ok first of all. the official animation? the Source Material (tm)? ugly. he looks like he’s made of legos. like a minecraft skin. a fool. his english voice is also Horrific. 0/10. honestly 99% of the actual canon content of him i just.... i am Not Looking...... additionally: he definitely used 2 be... Problematic. like. v bad innapropriate jokes. a lot of ‘get in the kitchen’ type shit. he didn’t REALLY mean it but like... he’s several hundred yrs old that’s just. he didn’t know it was hurtful bc he’s absolutely a dumbass. he’s learned a LOT since ‘retiring’ bc he has nothing to do but Internet Around and he was like ohh. oh. so I’M the problematic fave. huh. he has made a great effort 2 unlearn the icky shit!! but sometimes it slips out and he feels AWFUL but hes rly trying i promise....

also: unhealthy coping mechanisms galore. boy drinks. i do Not like when peopl drink around me it scares the shit outta me i am the least helpful person 2 text if ur drunk and need help bc i will nope the fuk out and I’m SRY but i just can’t. deal with that lol. but he Really likes drinkin. refuses to go to therapy bc hes a stubborn dumbass. a LOT of compartmentalizing. he basically thinks as long as he’s not sad ALL the time then he’s fine, even if when he IS sad he is severely depressed and has full on panic attacks and breakdowns like twice a year (which is not tru fyi!! u dont have 2 be constantly sad to seek treatment!!! don’t do what he does he’s a dumbass)

2. what made you think ‘of course i had to like THAT character’?

shkahdkfjks the list is a mile long lol.... first of all. the one associated with nazis. of COURSE it would be that one. and obv in my hc he was and is NOT abt it but like. the amt of nazi content for him is deeply unsettling and i Do Not Like...... also: idk specifically why (tho i have a few ideas) but apparently hetalia is a v problematic show/fandom ?? which i wasn’t aware of ??? i watched it in like. 2008/2012 era-ish idk when exactly but i was DEF uneducated in the whole problematicness area so,,,,, of course i had to like the most problematic character in a problematic show what the hell. why. why am i like this. also he’s like. dead ? question mark ? or at least he’s supposed to be ??? so there’s always the potential he canonically disappears and i have to yank canon out of the creator’s hands and put him back 🙃 also the one that has a virtually unknown japanese voice actor so there’s like NO other content for his voice ugh ,,,,,, AND the actor in the stageplay just. didn’t capture him at ALL unfortunately so. not much good content other than fanart where everyone ships him with his brother 🙃

#tw nazi #tw misogyny #tw alcohol #tw suicide mention #tw mental health #tw incest #tw hetalia #tw #trigger warning #major trigger warning #major tw #pls let me know if i missed any!!! this is definitely an intense post i don’t want anyone to be upset by it!! #gray answers #otp: stay awesome #tw problematic #negative #tw negative

[lifeofalaurie]

my uwc story

i remember reading through uwc blogs when i had just found out about uwc and when i was applying and going through all those months of WAITING for the next step...and they were so helpful. im so glad these exist

i first found out uwc through my brother’s friend, who actually went to UWC atlantic college (where im headed!!!!) a few years back. it was one ordinary saturday afternoon (idk if it was actually saturday but that sounds right) and we were carpooling with said friend (usually i dont participate in these but i happened to be in the car that day) and we were talking about next year and whatever and she just kinda said that she wasn’t going to be back next year bc she was going to this ‘abroad’ program. i didnt even really think about it that much. i in fact forgot about it after that...apparently my dad did not.

so my dad would talk about it here and there but i was NOT INTERESTED for that whole year..then...i started researching a bit myself and thought oh this sounds kind of cool. i still didn't really get what UWC even was or if was even a legit thing. it just sounded like another boarding school (a huge NO for me). then i saw that there was a such thing as a “short program” (or maybe someone actually told me about it) and i decided to apply for the one at the USA campus in New Mexico. i remember writing the essays over winter break and thinking they were pretty terrible (there was also a skype interview involved and that was rough) so i was pretty shocked when i found out i had gotten in but it worked out well bc my fam was going to arizona anyway a week before that so i just flew to new mexico myself after that (i say that casually but we had to cancel tickets and get new ones so that i could go to new mexico instead of home PLUS i had to fly for myself for the first time and i was pretty confused). (also, the program is called global leadership forum or GLF)

after hermit’s peak hike (ALL UPHILL FOR A SOLID 4-5 HOURS) i think it was like 8 miles IDK. view was so nice though 10/10

GLF turned out to be an amazing experience and really solidified my trust in UWC and confirmed to me that it was indeed a real thing. i really loved how much we did in those 2 and half weeks or so - camping, hiking, interacting w wolves, having important discussions - and it really pushed me to decide to apply to UWC for real. maybe ill talk more about it in another post!!!!

ok so coming home i did even more research and really really started liking UWC and decided that i might as well try to apply. i knew they never had a certain ‘criteria’ for students but i also knew it was a long and stressful process and involved really digging deep so i really didn’t think much of it (didn’t think i really had a chance) after submitting my written application. and then began the long waiting game...

here’s a nice picture of the sky @ a wolf reservation! just wanted to add a nice pic 

i never joined any of those fb groups or college confidential things for applicants and good thing bc looking at some of them now stress me out so i wouldve probably been even more stressed if i had been involved in that. also i didnt even know they existed until later so thats also probably why.

anyway i had totally forgotten about UWC (more like i was sure they’d forgotten about me or there had been something wrong like my application wasn’t submitted or something) bc i didnt hear back until the end of november (i submitted the application early october). but finding out i was a semifinalist was kind of traumatic bc in my GLF snapchat group one of my friends (who’s going to Pearson this year!!!) said he’d moved on to the next stage and i hadn’t GOTTEN ANY EMAIL. i think i just accepted it that that was the end. but then a few hours passed when i finally decided to check a different email and, alas, there it was. so a few days later, i got an email from my interviewer when we should do our skype interview and it turned out to be the same day i was taking the ACT. good

the interview turned out to be completely ok and actually really great (enjoyable even!!?). if youre at that stage, seriously the best advice i have is to just chill and be honest when youre answering. also, make it more like a conversation rather than the interviewers (yes there are prob going to be more than 1 but i assure u its ok) asking u questions back and forth. think of it as a conversation- that helped me so much to relax. the interviewers just wants to talk to you and find out what kind of person you are and if youre the same one that wrote all those deep meaningful essays from the written application - so if you were honest from the start youll be completely fine...if not, well..sry

after that, school and extracurriculars and life really went up for me and i just forgot about UWC again. i never really told any of my friends about it or anyone except for my parents. i kind of wanted it to be a personal thing- get in or not in the end.

after a really good last day of school before winter break, i went to the town library (lol) and checked my phone and therE IT WAS. I WAS A FINALIST WHICH MEANT I WOULD BE GOING TO THE UWC USA CAMPUS FOR FINALIST WEEKEND. did not know what to expect

waiting for finalist weekend felt looooong

but it came

i flew there myself AND IT WASNT EVEN DIRECT and i remember feeling so independent and proud for making it. it turned out i was one of the later ones and in the last group to be bussed over (but i met a friend on the bus who i still talk to here and there who is going to RBC this yr!!). we were so late we missed the initial meeting and first night of activities and just went straight to the hotel. at the hotel i saw my interviewer and she gave me a hug (<3) and that helped calm me down and it was also really nice to see her in person bc i remember really liking her during our skype interview. then finalist weekend happened. and im pretty sure im not supposed to expose the process so all i can say was that it was actually so genuinely fun and a real good time 

UWC USA <3 

at the end we all exchanged social media and fb and all that and started a messenger group chat -- as nice as it was to be able to connect to everyone, i think it really stressed everyone out. they told us that results would come out early that week (FALSE). THAT WEEK AFTER FINALIST WEEKEND WAS THE MOST STRESSFUL THING EVER. IT TOOK YEARS FOR IT TO GO BY. i remember constantly checking my email between classes and everyone in the group chat wondering if anyone had heard. then on wed night, we all got an email that said the results would be notified by friday instead. the worst

i remember that friday evening i was packing for my first hackathon (it was fun) and thinking the call wouldnt come until later that night. people were freaking out all over the group chat. then, as i was scrambling packing my sweatpants into my bag, the home phone started ringing and i ran..RAN TO THE PHONE. it said my interviewer’s name on the caller ID and i was like OK THIS I S REAL. and i picked it up and it turned out i was too late so i frantically called back probably 10 times on multiple different phones (my efforts did not work). but then, i got a call to the home phone again and it was her so i picked up RIGHT AWAY and when she told me... i kid you not that i screamed and ran around my house a few times. so thats it. it was kind of a really long and sstressful process for sure, but SOO WORTH IT. i definitely learned a lot just from that process bc it makes you think and reflect a lot all throughout. weeee

if youre even thinking about applying please GO FOR IT (well as long as ur in the right age limit, 16-18.... and also make sure you’ve done some research to get a feel for it).. but just DO IT. and u can ask me questions if u want and ill answer to the best of my personal ability (but remember that im just one person and one experience and each person’s experience is completely different)

here is the general website btw:

https://www.uwc.org/

i will probably do another post to explain UWC - at least in my own words and perspective!

<3 <3 <3

[rnaxwellbeaumont]

rules: answer the questions & tag 20 followers you’d like to get to know better.

tagged by @stellabeaumont @queenreginascontour​ @smartlillian @michellenguyens this means a lot i love yall sm !!!!!!! sry this took 58 years to answer i wanted to do it properly

name: stephanie

nickname: steph 

zodiac sign: aquarius

hogwarts houses: I took the test when i was 12 and got gryffindor, then again and got slytherin. took the test a few months back and got raveclaw, which i whole heartedly agree with !! i’m also a pukwudgie in ilvermorny!

height: 5′1... rip

sexual orientation: im still.. tryna figure this out tbh


ethnicity: chinese


favourite fruit: banana, honeydew melon, mango

favourite season: winter

favourite book series: the maze runner !!!!!!!, harry potter and the pjo series marked my childhood tbh

favourite fictional characters:  god frickin damn yall sitting down?? this gon be a long one but ill make it short lol 

non choices (m):

stiles stilinski my number bby for life . showed me what love was. will carry this love to my grave. his and dylan obriens existence helped me through the many angsty teen years. I LOVE HIM MUM

tony stark unfollowed blocked and reported if u slander my dad. if yall dislike him then uve missed his entire character arc and fallen for his confident facade and are unable to recognise a mentally ill hero and i feel sorry for u

sam drake. wow. i hate him. this man has ruined my life. unlike tony i actually invite yall haters to show up at my doorstep so i can educate u on why he does not deserve ur negativity. i will provide u a 24 page essay justifying his actions and that he is a Good Man

sam winchester what a kind hearted soul. a pure gigantic nerdy bean that deserves all the damn love. compassionate, sensitive, cares about literally everyone.

dean winchester. everyones emo fave. riddled with sadness but still is stoic as sweet fuck to convince other ppl hes ok.  i relate. deserves the entire goddamn world and to be happy.

non choices (f):

clementine 8 y/o when she lost everything. can hardly push a table in twd game 1. when she turns 14??? ya girl able to singlehandedly chop down a mf tree AND takes care of an orphaned baby all while straight shootin zombies in the head. a legend. ppl sing songs about her.

ellie williams another 14 yr old thrown into post apoc wasteland (@ humanity get ur shit together). sassy lil shit. strong as mf hell. took care of a grown ass dying old man! ‘ELLIE IS THE LITTLE GIRL WHO BROKE YOUR FUCKING FINGER!!!’

elena fisher a literal angel wow nathan drake doesnt deserve her. world doesnt deserve her. smart. dedicated af reporter. high morals nd sensitive but takes no shit. a queen.

leslie knope a ray of poewrful sunshine !! the most fucken determined woman EVER. a soft marshmallow teddy bear. inspires me to keep hustlin and hold my head high

choices (endless summer):

endless summer characters. just a long ass read. anyways i love them

choices (f):

val greaves a mf woman. merc with a mouth ! takes no shit! cares so damn much about kenna. just about ready to kill dom for hurting her. wow. ‘she who craps lightning’ best mf nickname given ever. jake who?

annalyse adair: this goddess back handed bitch slapped azura nd kicked her uglie ass ! look so damn good doin it too. hold my diamonds raydan, this bich messed w the wrong queens kingdom. feminine strong female character written right !

sei rhuka were all just lowlanders to her. a waste of her mf time. we aint good enough for her. stoic silent strong ass woman. oh . sis also a fucking dragon !

hana lee like the most perfect human to ever exist. does it all. can do it all. better than u in every goddamn way. humble and sweet. an innocent angel. this is all her world we’re just living in it. anyone who hurts her can catch these mf hands!

oh god ive written sm im tired yall are just getting my fem faves for choices ok

favourite flower: umm id ont know? like.. the ones i find pretty lol. babys breath? single daisies? anythin deep purple coloured, roses that arent red?? i love flowers tho gimme them all

favourite scents: lavender, vanilla in food goddamn!!, fresh air lol

favourite color: deep purple, pastel pink, unconventional colours in neon lights idk

favourite animal: dogs, doggos, puppers, woofers, otters, deer, wolves

favourite band: all time low, five seconds of summer

coffee, tea or hot chocolate: coffeeEEEEEE

average hours of sleep: it depends on whether i can fall asleep lmao

numbers of blankets: one 

dream trip: @ my nana inheritance wya?? but italy, i just wanna hit basically everywhere europe tbh. iceland, bahamas, MALDIVES. 

last thing I googled: the mummy 2017 (jsdjkf it was so bad i was laughing the whole way through also totally ripped off uncharted 3 ! only watched for queen sofia boutella tho)

how many blogs I followed: 68.. wtf i didnt realise i followed so little????/

numbers of followers: 282 whaat i just startd this blog like a lil over a month ago i love yall!!

what I usually post about: 110% choices!!


do I get asks regularly: nope but sometimes anons pop in to my inbox asking things directed at me and im like?? are u lost fam// i love u anyway thank u

tag (u mightve done this but im tagging u anyway bc i love you heh): 

@thechrispowell @zaddykatsaros @zahranamazis @hollyashton @ohmymaxwell @ladyashtonofcordonia @ohmysnarkydrake @the-light-of-stars @zigisbisexual @kittenmusicals @firefly-hwufanficwriter @endless-vall @endlessbeaumont @heart-drake @nerdy-twin @jakekatsaros @liamxdrake @maxwelbeaumont @luminous-drake-heh @shazrystyles @quarterbackzig @quinn-kelly @lanapowellblog @davesreyes @protect-drake @beccagreaves @zigsexual @heart-jake @ohmysnarkydrake @diamondsaregold @craighsiao @becky-powell

#tag #about