Quote Originally Posted by gaelic cowboy View Post
I seriously doubt there was a concerted effort to transplant Protestanism to encourage "Free market" views that strikes me as fantasy.

Far more likely is that Protestanism ie the American version had become established and wealthy enough to spread out into the world.

Voting, property rights, education and remittances from America allowed Catholics to jump a rung on the ladder simple as that.
Maybe not a "concerted effort," but it most definitely was one theme of that missionary work.

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At least at the turn of the 20th, there were a number of Protestants who very clearly linked socio-economic success with Protestantism, and at least some acted on that belief.