Marketers and advertisers have the power to change the culture of society. The 1960s were a time of student protests, demonstrations against the Vietnam War and American imperialism. The hippies represented the bohemian lifestyle and culture that rejected conformity and traditional values. They wanted a world in which love would dominate, not power or wealth. The worst crime a hippy could commit was selling out to commercial interests. As illustrated by Thomas Frank in his 1997 book, The Conquest of Cool, advertisers and marketers picked up and promoted the liberalism of the hippies, because it broke down the rigid control of people’s behaviour. If people abandoned thrift and conservatism and tried experimenting with things that were once forbidden this would mean more consumption of goods and services.

So what was once anti-establishment became mainstream as advertisers adopted the symbols, music and identity of this counter-culture. Sexual liberalisation in the 1960s gave business-minded people commercial opportunities to exploit. For example the pornography industry transformed itself from being a taboo, shady industry to being a mainstream part of our culture - today pop videos contain soft porn imagery and society readily accepts it. The hippies’ message, of love and not war, opposing the establishment and commercial interests, was conveniently marginalized.
Is there an alternative?

As we have examined in this paper, Western Capitalism gives rise to a competition for wealth and status. This results in anxiety, depression, and a never-ending “rat race”. Government polices that are focused on economic growth fail to address our non-material needs, such as our need for family, love, compassion, security and the community. Furthermore, the mass media shapes and conditions our attitudes and behaviours so that we become the consumers that the system would like us to be.

The happiness that comes when we live our lives in accordance with our human nature is clearly lacking. The thinkers of the enlightenment were wrong to assume that wealth would bring happiness and hence the pursuit of wealth should be the main aim for society. Perhaps they did not pay much attention to human nature, or perhaps it was not well enough understood at the time they developed their ideas. Since the premise that wealth equals happiness is at the base of Western Capitalism, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to reform Western Capitalism to make its goals and values consistent with human nature.

If we want happiness then we need to search for an alternative to Capitalism that is based on a completely different conception of the purpose of human existence, one that is consistent with our nature. There is today an alternative to Capitalism and that is Islam. Perhaps because it is an alternative, Islam is always presented in the Western media in the context of terrorism and fanaticism.

The core beliefs of Islam are that mankind has been created by a Creator; that we have been given revealed texts that we should follow; that death is inevitable for every person and that human beings will be accounted for how they behaved whilst they were alive; that eternal reward or punishment await them after their deaths.

Using Maslow’s model we can assess how Islam addresses human needs. Firstly let us consider Maslow’s lowest motivation - the desire for basic needs. In Islamic traditions it is well known that in an Islamic society, individuals - whether Muslim or Non-Muslim - are obliged to seek work to earn their daily living, if they are not able to meet their basic needs from wealth or assets they already possess. If they are not able to do so - perhaps there is no work available or they suffer from some disability - then the responsibility to support them falls first on their immediate family members. If the family members are unable to support them because of their own poverty then the duty of care to meet their basic needs falls upon the community and the State. The Islamic traditions disparage the person who sleeps satiated whilst his neighbours are hungry.

At the next level in the “hierarchy of needs”, Maslow identified the need for safety and security. Islam exhorts individuals not to involve themselves in activities such as stealing, fraud, and murder; people who engage in such activities are told that they will face serious punishments from their Creator. At the same time, it is well known that Islam defines exemplary punishments for individuals who are caught whilst engaged in such criminal behaviour.

Moving to the next level is the need for love and belonging. This is served principally in Islam by the family unit. The notion of family and the relationships and responsibilities that follow from it are central to Islamic teaching. The relationship between husband and wife is not one of master and slave as depicted by Western media; rather it is one where each partner has their own distinctive role. Islam encourages the partners to behave in a way that establishes a strong bond of love between them. To sacrifice the rights of your partner, such as their need for help, support, and time, because of outside interests such as work is something that is strongly discouraged. Each partner has rights that must be fulfilled. Similarly the bond between parent and child is one based on guidance, love and responsibility. When the children are small, their parents are responsible for nurturing, educating and looking after them. And when one’s parents became ill or infirm through old age, the responsibility switches back to the children to care for their parents.

When it comes to earning self-esteem, Islam has attached great importance to values and behaviours such as piety, honesty, being just, helping others and engaging in many other actions where there is no self interest involved. As a result in an Islamic society, respect is earned by behaving in a manner that demonstrates these values and behaviours rather than through status and wealth. The more that people respond to Islamic teachings to help the poor and the needy, look after their aged parents, sacrifice time and money to address problems they perceive in society, the more respect that others in society will give them. From a materialistic aspect, Islam does not limit the accumulation of wealth and luxury items to any given level, as it is not an ascetic or monastic faith whereby the religious must give up all material pleasures for the sake of the afterlife. Rather Muslims are encouraged to enjoy the world, and the goods and services that human effort produces are part of that. What Islamic texts do forbid strictly is for people to become haughty and arrogant because of their wealth.