Walter Benjamin - Capitalism as Religion

...A comparison between the images of the saints of the various religions and the banknotes of different states.

...Link between the dogma of the destructive - but for us both redemptive and murderous - nature of knowledge, and capitalism: the balance sheet as a knowledge that both redeems and eliminates.

It adds to our understanding of capitalism as a religion to realize that, to begin with, the first heathens certainly did not believe that religion served a 'higher', 'moral' interest but that it was severely practical.  In other words, religion did not achieve any greater clarity then about its 'ideal' or 'transcendental' nature than modern capitalism does today.  Therefore it, too, regarded individuals who were irreligious or had other beliefs as members of its community, in the same way that the modern bourgeoisie now regards those of its members who are not gainfully employed.




-w. benjamin.  selected writings, v.1.  harvard press.  1996.