"A new statement challenging the common assumption that human beings are slaves to self-interest and consumerism has been issued by the Baha'i International Community.
A more profound look at human nature would reveal the ability to respond to a higher calling, suggests the document – issued this week for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development as it began its annual two-week session.
"The culture of consumerism ... has tended to reduce human beings to competitive, insatiable consumers of goods and to objects of manipulation by the market," it says.
In fact, "the human experience is essentially spiritual in nature: it is rooted in the inner reality – or what some call the 'soul' – that we all share in common," it states.
The document, titled "Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism," challenges the view that there is an intractable conflict between what people want – which supposedly is to consume more – and what humanity needs.
The statement can be read at http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/10-0503.htm.
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