Politics - “The Profession and Vocation of Politics”
Weber asserts, “ What do we understand by politics (Politik)? The term is an extraordinarily broad one, embracing every kind of independent leadership (leitende) activity... Naturally, our reflections this evening are not based on a concept as broad as this. Today we shall use this term only to mean leadership, or the exercise of influence on the leadership, of a political association (verband), which today means a state.” Virtue is a vibrant constituent of valuable politics. Politics are ubiquitous in societal and pecuniary facets. However, Weber centers his discourse on the political undertakings of state headship. Weber’s constricted thesis diminishes the oversimplifications that would have abridged the weight of the lecture. Weber illustrates that ‘politics of force’ has never been effectual; thus, harmony is vital for the politics to be systematic.
Competition - “The Nation State and Economic Policy”
Weber explicates the long-standing economic rivalry between ‘Germans and Poles’: “The two nationalities have competed for centuries on the same soil, and with essentially the same chances. What is it, then, that distinguishes them? One is immediately tempted to believe that psychological and physical racial characteristics make the two nationalities differ in their ability to adapt to the varying economic and social conditions of existence.” Weber’s proclamation conjectures that the scattering of population is based on ‘Survival for the Fittest.’ The Germans have profited immeasurably from their gigantic adaptability which is evinced in their permeating occupation of the bountiful regions.
