Early MPS members feared capitalism eroded rural life and social bonds

Evidence

Röpke’s concerns about the cultural implications of capitalism did not end with its infl uence on religion. He also drew attention to the collapse of local economies, and in par tic u lar to the decline of traditional modes of agriculture, as signs of the dehumanizing infl uence of unregulated competition on interpersonal relationships. At the 1947 meeting he extolled “the social life of the family farm” and observed that it required economic “units smaller than would otherwise be rational for normal business standards.” Röpke’s respect for ways of life that stood outside the pure logic of competition and his evident contempt for the “proletarian nomads” engendered by capitalist industrialization revealed deep reservations about the social effects of capitalist systems of labor. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 293

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader historiographical debate about whether early neoliberals were anti-capitalist cultural conservatives, distinct from later market fundamentalism. — connects to: The MPS members pivoted from Nazi to Soviet totalitarianism as their main enemy. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 270; Early MPS neoliberals rejected universal industrialization in favor of local diversity. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1291; Early industrial market capitalism depended on reciprocal bonds with workers and communities — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 98 (+1 more)
• SEED: Could feed an essay on the conservative-cultural wing of early neoliberalism as opposed to its Hayekian rationalist core.

Broader Connections

• Early MPS neoliberals rejected universal industrialization in favor of local diversity. #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1291
• Early industrial market capitalism depended on reciprocal bonds with workers and communities #corroborates (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 98
• MPS founders disagreed sharply over whether unions were inherently harmful. #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1004