INDIVIDUALISM:Calvin

Calvin has an undeservedly bad name nowadays. He is known in popular culture as the founder of Puritanism,(meaning the morality of super uptightness) the enemy of the laid back. In the sixties when people claimed they were discovering leisure, ethnic food and sexual ecstacy Calvin was the symbol of what they claimed they were shaking free of. He symbolized what was called "the Protestant Ethic" a big drag I hope we'll see that Calvin should be treated with respect and there are several sources that do.
First there is Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" which makes Calvin the most important founder of the modern world. A good instance of practical Calvinism(mentioned by Weber) is "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" a great read about a life of discipline. Franklin was the kind of person we resolve to be after we have debauched ourselves(I'm too old for this) on New Year's eve. he coined phrases such as "a penny saved is a penny earned." Another great presentation of calvinism is Bunyan's"the Pilgrim's Progress.