Calvin was not only the proponent of this pre-destination doctrine, he (and in particular, his successors) suggested that God would let people know about his after-life plans for them. As a God of not only justice, but also compassion, he would offer wealth to some members of society. This would be a sign that these men and woman are among those blessed with eternal salvation (residing in heaven). Sadly, other members of society would be offered very little, thus living a life of poverty. God has assigned these wretched souls to an eternity in hell: they might as well grow accustom to the abuses of eternal damnation while still living on earth. One of the remarkable social analysts of the 20th Century, Max Weber ( ), has written extensively about this theology of power and control in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. As the name of his book implies, Weber considered this “ethic” to be the primary source of our current alignment with capitalism and the societally productive accumulation of wealth.
The Stigma of Madness
All of this points to the association between the stigma of poverty and the stigma of sin (internal locus of control) or the stigma of damnation (external locus of control). It is not very hard to move from this stigma to the stigma of psychopathy (especially given the dominance of our first assumptive world for many centuries in Europe). If some members of our society are “mad” because they have been possessed or have been sinful, then a stigma is immediately assigned to them. They either deserve to be “mad” (internal locus of control) or sadly have been victims of a villainous intrusion (external locus of control). In either case, these psychopaths must be isolated, controlled and in all ways, cast aside—much like those who are poor.
There is very specific and tangible evidence regarding the interplay between poverty and psychopathy. Many of the early “asylums” established in Europe (and the United States) during the centuries following the middle ages housed both the poor and mentally “unfit”. In France of the 18th and 19th Century, for instance, we find poor houses that were filled with those who could not pay their debts and those who were delusional and irrationally violent. They all lived together and often exacerbated each other’s maladies. These incarcerated souls were indeed preparing for a post-life in hell. They were already becoming acquainted, through their pain and suffering, with their future, eternal co-inhabitants in the land ruled by Hades.
