The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

by Jeremy Rifkin

Book Overview

Examines the decline of the American Dream as Americans are increasingly overworked and underpaid and describes its alternative as exemplified in the lifestyle of the New Europe, one that is more... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585424358
• ISBN13: 9781585424351
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Tarcherperigee
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A European comment

As European, a very proud one, I can only agree to Mr. Rifkin's analytical view of my continent. I have been living in the US for 5 years now, and it still struck how little you folks enjoy life. We have one life only, and you spend the msot of it, running, working, exercesing, and with fake ideal of eternal beauty whereas we might not look superpowerful as you, but we do like to live I strongly recommend this book to people who want to open their eyes to a reality beyond their borders there is a whole world beyond your boundaries and Mr. Rifkin's book will show you.

An enlightening work

I read this book already being deferential to Europe for its foreign policy. I had long thought that Europe was "ahead of the game" in terms of the way the world is going. Rifkin's book, however, provided a wealth of information and analysis of where Europe's policy is coming from and where it is going. I was startled by some of the facts pointed out in the book, such as how much more crime and poverty the United States has versus Europe. Rifkin's winding journey through the Western World and its history touches a plethora of topics, but they all tie in to his message. He evidently has a very broad knowledge of world affairs, culture and history. Some reviewers have said "it's easy to see which side he's on" but I say, "so what?" Taking sides is what one has to do when one feels something is right and it deserves to be argued for. This is not an encyclopedia article. Coming from someone who tries to keep abreast of where the world is heading, I found Rifkin's book thoroughly persuasive. Some of the information is already a bit dated, (the EU constitution) but it doesn't detract from the strength of his arguments. I hope the title of the last chapter "Universalizing the European Dream" becomes a fulfilled prophecy.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves: Recommended Reading

I was a bit skeptical when I started to read this book, but after a few chapters, it is hard to find fault with many of his arguments, and overall the author is convincing in spite of the odd lapse in judgement about not for profit institutions. In any case, the book is not about the future or trends, it is about the present state of affairs, the current reality today, and the heart of his arguments is based on hard numbers such as crime statistics, education numbers, employment, industrial productivity, economic activity, all numbers that are essentially impossible to refute and stand on their own. The book has a measured and thoughful pace, and is not an anti-American diatribe, nor the rantings of a vegetarian, or racism, or similar such nonsense. Jeremy Rifkin has a number of books out on current affairs including some relating to the use of hydrogen as a fuel, see for example the well known book: The Hydrogen Economy. I was not aware of the present book until I ran across the new paperback at our local bookstore. At first I did not know what to make of it but the social numbers presented are solid. It is a well written and a well researched book about 386 pages of text in medium font plus a number of pages of notes, etc. I highly recommend the book, and suggest reading it cover to cover. In short, the 20th century was a time of change. Europe was fragmented and run by colonial empires at the opening of the century. Over the first half of the century, Europe had two highly destructive wars with tens of millions killed. By 1945 it was a social basket case, virtually destroyed in central Europe, and divided between the USSR dominated states and the western European democratic states. In contrast, the US was united from sea to sea with a single language, free of internal strife, good communications, a developing rail and road system, lots of land and many resources including oil, minerals such as copper and steel, pulp and paper, and some of the best farming lands on the planet. The US had great success, but as the century closed the dark side of the US free enterpise system and the "American dream" became evident. The US has the world's highest number of poor, the highest crime rates, and the most in jail, about 1 in 100, and in general some of the worst social numbers among the industrialized nations. Europe on the other hand, seems to have found its footing after 1945, pulled itself together, the USSR has left, and slowly Europe has emerged as a socialist super state. Interestingly, it has simultaneously achieved high industrial productivity rates with low crime rates, much lower, and in general much better measures of social development than the almost pure free enterprise USA. How did we get there? Why are we different? What are they doing right, and what is that we are not? What has changed between 1945 and 2004? Why is crime high in America and low in Europe, while industrial productivity and techniology has caught up and passed the US

Compelling Reading

Rifkin provides a sorely needed counter-perspective to the current American assumption of the universalism of its values. By tracing the transplanting of Enlightenment ideas to the undeveloped New World, Rifkin shows how the American character of staunch individualism and unfettered expansionism were created. While these qualities have made America a superpower, Rifkin calls to question their efficacy in the new era of globalization where sustainability and collective action may prove more important. Rifkin outlines how Europe is conducting its own experiment in creating a system of cooperation among disperate partners which may prove more compatible with the emerging new world order. Currently, many European countries score very high in quality of life measurements, while the United States lags behind most of the industrially developed nations in many critical areas, like access to health care. By accepting lower levels of materialism, Europeans have more "quality time" for people and activities important to them. Rifkin does point out the potential pitfalls of this European experiment (e.g., tough enough in a hostile world?). Still, examining another system -- which is successful in different ways than America -- provides an opportunity to reflect on how American values may or may not mesh with the rest of the world.

Exceptional - combines insight and data

What made this book exceptional was its combination of insight and data... i.e. it was able to cover a very sweeping set of topics without getting lost in excessively general opinion. I thought the most striking ideas in this book were the author's demonstrations of the fundamental differences in outlook between the populations of the US and Europe. The story we often get in the US is that the alternative vision of Europe is primarily made by EU elites. Rifkin shows on a wide range of issues, including views of the death penalty, the environment, social programs and foreign policy, that this is simply wrong. In fact, the European population sees the world fundamentally differently than Americans do. The book is strongest when it deals with economics and public policy, the author's fields. It is considerably weaker in the sections where it tries to explain topics like the "new science", in which the author is obviously not a specialist. Three of the most interesting questions I thought this book brought up for America, for anyone who wishes to look inward, were: 1) A question about the past: How much was the "American Dream" a unique feature of the US's seemingly boundless land that is simply not workable in a rapidly shrinking world? 2) A question about the present: The American people consider themselves very religious but how much do they live the Gospels? 3) A question about the future: Given that military strength throughout history, everywhere, has been based on economic strength, can the US sustain a unilateral, zero-sum military policy when economics is becoming more and more about win-win solutions?