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The European Dreamby Jeremy Rifkin
Staff Pick
"[Rikfin's] major achievement in The European Dream is to draw together and cohere the complex historical, philosophical, and theological forces that have created such very different worldviews for shaping the future for us and our neighbors across the pond....Full of fascinating (and enviable) statistics about paid vacation, health care, property ownership, and human and animal rights legislation, Rifkin delves into these opposing worldviews to claim that Europe's vision will be the one to guide our future, and it is hard not to hope that his optimism will pay off." Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The American Dream is in decline. Americans are increasingly overworked, underpaid, and squeezed for time. But there is an alternative: the European Dream — a more leisurely, healthy, prosperous, and sustainable way of life. Europe's lifestyle is not only desirable, argues Jeremy Rifkin, but may be crucial to sustaining prosperity in the new era.
With the dawn of the European Union, Europe has become an economic superpower in its own right — its GDP now surpasses that of the United States. Europe has achieved newfound dominance not by single-mindedly driving up stock prices, expanding working hours, and pressing every household into a double-wage-earner conundrum. Instead, the New Europe relies on market networks that place cooperation above competition; promotes a new sense of citizenship that extols the well-being of the whole person and the community rather than the dominant individual; and recognizes the necessity of deep play and leisure to create a better, more productive, and healthier workforce. From the medieval era to modernity, Rifkin delves deeply into the history of Europe, and eventually America, to show how the continent has succeeded in slowly and steadily developing a more adaptive, sensible way of working and living. In The European Dream, Rifkin posits a dawning truth that only the most jingoistic can ignore: Europe's flexible, communitarian model of society, business, and citizenship is better suited to the challenges of the twenty-first century. Indeed, the European Dream may come to define the new century as the American Dream defined the century now past. Review:"Why are so few Americans paying attention to the dramatic changes taking place across the Atlantic, Rifkin (The End of Work) asks in his provocative and well-argued manifesto for the new European Union. Famously, Americans 'live to work' while Europeans 'work to live,' and Rifkin demonstrates statistically and anecdotally that Europe's humane approach to capitalism makes for a healthier, better-educated populace. The U.S. lags behind in its unimaginative approach to working hours, productivity and technology, Rifkin claims, while Europe is leading the way into a new era while competing well in terms of productivity. Rifkin traces the cultural roots of what he says is America's lack of vision to its emphasis on individual autonomy and the accumulation of wealth; Europe's dream is more rooted in connectedness and quality of life. Americans may be risk takers, but Rifkin is more admiring of risk-sensitive European realism, as well as its secularism and social democracy. Exploring the history behind the two continents' wildly differing sensibilities, Rifkin examines the myth of the U.S. as 'land of opportunity' and the two continents' contrasting attitudes to foreign policy, peace keeping and foreign aid. Rifkin's claims are not new, but he writes with striking clarity, combining the insights of contemporary sociologists and economists with up-to-the minute data and powerfully apt journalistic observations. While he may appear to idealize Europe's new direction, Rifkin's comparative study is scrupulously thorough and informative, and his rigor will please all readers interested in the future of world affairs. Agent, Jim Stein. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"[T]hose who would dismiss Rifkin's polemics as rewarmed socialism miss the author's core argument....The point is conversation, not competition." Booklist Synopsis:Rifkin delves deeply into the history of Europe — and eventually America — to show how Europeans have succeeded in slowly and steadily developing a more adaptive, sensible way of working and living. About the AuthorJeremy Rifkin is the bestselling author of The End of Work, The Biotech Century, The Age of Access, and The Hydrogen Economy. He is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, D.C. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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