as opposed to the chattering classes The intellect of the non-intellectuals versus the insight of excited minds… This is the sort of thing I find myself thinking about. It was the butcher in Douglas shopping centre. Yesterday, I bought some lamb’s liver for Grace. 39 cents it cost for her main course. So I said: "You know you can live well on next to nothing if you put your mind to it… "Ah, you know social welfare payments are scientifically worked out…" he responded "You mean… "Yes, but you know you need the Protestant Ethic to live on it… "Oh … " says I, with Max Weber’s "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism" flooding back into my head. All those years studying sociology in UCD, and now I find the butcher has read the same book. "But that’s the problem. Can they live the Protestant Ethic way? That’s the problem…" I don’t have to go far to have my mind-juices stimulated. Grace ate all the liver with broccoli and a bit of soup for moisture. _________________ ps: the proper name for the essay is "The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism".