The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has urged people to curb their appetite for consumption, saying that a failure to do so kills the joy in people and has the capacity to ruin the world.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, who is on a 10-day tour of Ukraine, was answering questions from cultural figures, scientists and the public from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus on Tuesday on leading Ukrainian TV channel Inter.
Kirill recalled asking a wealthy person whether he found joy in buying a new thing, and said he received the answer: "Yes, when I sign the check."
"Unchecked consumption removes this joy. A person robs himself," he said, adding that such people start seeking "other measures of satisfaction," for example what ranking they were given by Forbes magazine.
"Should all of society reach this level of consumption, the earth will not bear it," the patriarch said.
He cited a forecast that the earth`s resources will only last for 40 or 50 years should the whole world reach the level of consumption of the United States.
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