Werner Samba, a German sociologist who was contemporary with Max Weber, wrote an interesting book, Luxury and Capitalism. According to his research, the motive force of the early development of capitalism was that the courts and nobles in Europe advocated luxurious lifestyles at that time, which stimulated the development of commerce and technology, or as summarized in the title of the last chapter of his book: capitalism-the product of luxury. This is just the opposite of Weber's. Opponents believe that Protestant ethics, which emphasizes hard work and frugality, is the most important driving force for the development of capitalism.
Sambat said that the decline of religious asceticism in medieval Europe led to a large number of illegal extramarital affairs. In the16th century, hooking up with women has become a brave act of men, otherwise they will be laughed at by their peers. "Therefore, young men are eager for heroic adventure, not so much out of physical needs as to show their sexual ability." Therefore, in society, the aristocratic court is naturally not "custom-free". The maharaja is no longer embarrassed about having an illegitimate child, but thinks it is something worth showing off.
The dissolute lifestyle has made the prostitution industry of prostitutes flourish rapidly. Petrarch exclaimed that the flood of prostitutes had attacked avignon. /kloc-around 0/500, the population of Rome was only 65,438+10,000, but there were 6,800 prostitutes. By the end of 18, there were 50,000 prostitutes in London and 30,000 prostitutes in Paris. High-end prostitutes serve court dignitaries. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, three-quarters of court dignitaries separated from their wives and lived with their mistresses.
Princes and nobles naturally spend a lot of money to please their lovers. Take King Louis XIV of France as an example. His love for Louis de Lavalle prompted him to build a new palace at Versailles. Then, in order to satisfy his mistress' whimsy, he built the Kranyi Castle, which cost as much as 2 million francs. This kind of hindsight is repeated. For Yi Fourteen, every new love is a signal to start a new indulgence beyond the past. In the love with Miss Fangde Danre, this consumption reached its peak, and money flowed out of her fingertips like water. "She spends100000 kronor a month, and she feels strange when others say that she is extravagant." /kloc-in the 0 th and 8 th centuries, the French court was completely controlled by the king's mistresses, who were in charge of all the details of court life. "The court society has cultivated all the customs and habits of a beautiful society", which is what people said at that time, "Paris imitates the court". The court society is shaped by recognized monarchs and concubines, making them put their own marks on all walks of life.
Sambat's logic can be expressed as follows: capitalism is the product of luxury, and luxury is the result of aristocratic men pleasing women and satisfying women's desire for pleasure. In fact, we can take this conclusion one step further: capitalism is the product of women's desires.
Or conversely, women's desires create capitalism. In fact, Sambat has noticed this problem, but did not directly say this conclusion. He fully discussed the role played by women through their influence on the style and internal structure of houses, furniture, opera houses and theaters, restaurants and shops frequented by fashionable people and luxury hotels. He also said that cooking technology would never have been greatly improved without the finishing and taste functionalization widely developed under the influence of women. He also said: "Because of the leading role played by women in the early days of capitalism, sugar quickly became people's favorite food; It is precisely because of the widespread use of sugar that some stimulants such as cocoa, coffee and tea are quickly accepted throughout Europe. The trade of this commodity, the production of cocoa, coffee and sugar in overseas colonies, and the processing of cocoa and the purification of sugar in Europe are all very obvious factors affecting the development of capitalism. "
Feminists will immediately say that this is nonsense. Don't men have desires? Isn't their pursuit of a happy life the driving force for the development of capitalism? But as long as a little observation of history and reality, we will find that men's desires are more social and spiritual, such as fame, status, honor, military exploits, scientific and artistic achievements, while their desires in the material field are relatively simple, such as alcohol and tobacco. As long as you look at the things in the store, it is obvious that at least nine of the ten kinds of goods are specially produced for women.
A man's great desire is a woman. As Sambat quoted, in fact, more than half of men's material desires are produced to satisfy women's desires. Simply put, as far as physiological instinct is concerned, men need women far more than women need men, otherwise rapists in this world should be women rather than men. Women seem to need material comforts more than anything else. Therefore, it is far from enough for a man to win a woman's heart by relying on a strong body, noble social status, profound knowledge and elegant speech. One must have money or power, because power can easily become money. Throughout Chinese and foreign history, artists are talented. If they are poor, it is not easy to please beautiful women, but generally it is not easy to get wives, such as Van Gogh. Scholars, no matter how learned, have nothing to do with beautiful women, such as Socrates, Kant, Hegel, Spinoza and Nietzsche. If an athlete doesn't earn much money and is supported by a young lady for a few days at most, he will never get on stage. An artist like Picasso who has been in love all his life is mainly because he made a fortune. If he has no money, it's no use being talented again. Philosopher Russell is an old romantic, but his clever humor may not be able to "knock down" the girl if his aristocratic family is not rich in money.
If women's luxury is limited to the palace and cannot become the fashion of the whole society, it cannot become the driving force of capitalism. No matter how extravagant a few ladies-in-waiting are, they are not as powerful as women in the whole society. China Since ancient times, court women have also spent countless money for princes and nobles. For example, Zhou Wang has built a wine pool and a Star Tower for da ji. For example, Zhou played a bonfire game for praise. For example, Cao Cao built a bronze sparrow terrace for Er Qiao. For example, Xuanzong is Yang Guifei and Jianhua Qingchi ... But the courts in China are not as open as those in Europe, and the courts in China are closed, opaque and basically isolated from society. Although Qin Lou and Chu Jun were everywhere in ancient China, prostitutes in China did not seem to be as proud of luxury as in Europe. They emphasize talent, style and taste. Even if the luxury in the court was brought to Li Shishi by the romantic emperor Song Like Hui Zong, it could not be an ordinary atmosphere. By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Liu, who was highly respected by Mr. Chen Yinque, was not respected for his luxurious and enjoyable life, but for his talent and personality. From this, we can draw an incidental conclusion: China is so developed, but it has not developed capitalism itself, really because women are suppressed in luxury goods. Imagine if the relationship between Emperor Tang Ming and Yang Guifei and their lifestyle could become a realistic model for ordinary aristocrats and rich children in big cities such as Chang 'an and follow suit. I am sure that from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, China will certainly be able to build capitalism, and its level will definitely be above that of Europe in the early19th century. Why China doesn't develop capitalism, a worldwide problem, has been discussed in academic circles for nearly a hundred years, and no convincing conclusion has been reached so far. I think it is very important that the consumption of women in China is shrinking, and their extravagant desires and feet are restrained and distorted at the same time, which is fundamentally related to the undeveloped capitalism. Now we can see that the consumption desire of women in China has been completely released, and the market economy in China has developed rapidly. Although the theoretical circle does not understand it, business people understand it very well. At least a dozen bosses have told me that doing business is actually making women's money. If women don't spend money, the economy will be finished.
Confucius has long seen the relationship between women and economy. His famous saying is, "it is difficult to raise a woman and a villain. If you are near, you will have no grandchildren, and if you are far away, you will have grievances." It has always been said that Confucius discriminates against women. I think what Confucius actually means is that it costs a lot of money to raise women, but it is quite difficult. Mr. Yang Rungen of Jiangxi Normal University has a new explanation of "woman" in his new book "A New Interpretation of the Analects of Confucius". He said that in the pre-Qin era, unmarried women were called "sons" and "wives" were women who gave birth to children. I extended his point of view a little: originally, women have to spend money, giving birth to children is more expensive, and raising children is more difficult! Of course, Confucius didn't explain it this way. It goes without saying that raising children costs money. Therefore, it is difficult for Confucius to raise children, and the focus is definitely not on children but on women themselves. In my opinion, after a woman gives birth to a child, her desire for consumption can be fully stimulated.
Unmarried girls are generally stingy, and newly married young women are also stingy, but once they have children, you will see that she will go crazy. It has nothing to do with whose money she spends. Her biggest problem at this time is that she can't figure out her own needs and the needs of her children. She often understands her needs as children's needs, and often uses children's shopping as an excuse to satisfy her consumption desires. The variety of children's products far exceeds the actual demand, which is caused by the unreasonable demand of mothers. Therefore, enterprises must develop and operate children's products as the second largest category of goods after women's products.
If you can't afford it, you have to raise it, otherwise no one will carry on the family line, which is also the fundamental reason why Confucius regrets that women are difficult to raise. The lifestyle of women in China, accompanied by Confucianism, has always been at a very low level and failed to make due contributions to the development of capitalism. Now the situation has changed fundamentally.
The liberation of women is actually the great satisfaction of their material desires. The liberation of women is tantamount to opening up an infinitely broad and brilliant prospect for the development of capitalism.