Check out this comparison of the European dream vs. the American dream, and why the European dream makes more sense, is more progressive and better! It's brilliant.

Jeremy Rifkin, in his book, The European Dream:

Quote:

(Pages 13 – 14)
"The American and European dreams are, at their core, about two diametrically opposed ideas of freedom and security. Americans hold a negative definition of what it means to be free and, thus, secure. For us, freedom has long been associated with autonomy. If one is autonomous, he or she is not dependent on others or vulnerable to circumstances outside of his or her control. To be autonomous, one needs to be propertied. The more wealth one amasses, the more independent one is in the world. One is free by becoming self-reliant and an island unto oneself. With wealth comes exclusivity, and with exclusivity comes security.

The new European Dream, however, is based on a different set of assumptions about what constitutes freedom and security. For Europeans, freedom is not found in autonomy but in embeddedness. To be free is to have access to a myriad of interdependent relationships with others. The more communities one has access to, the more options and choices one has for living a full and meaningful life. With relationships comes inclusivity, and with inclusivity comes security.

The American Dream puts an emphasis on economic growth, personal wealth, and independence. The new European Dream focuses more on sustainable development, quality of life, and interdependence… The European Dream is more cosmopolitan and less territorial… Americans tend to think locally while European's loyalties are more divided and stretch from the local to the global. The American Dream is deeply personal and little concerned with the rest of humanity. The European Dream is more expansive and systemic, and therefore more bound to the welfare of the planet.”

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Happier Abroad Grand Ebook
Meet Foreign Women

"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

I've heard of Rifkin before and he comes across as another ideological hack who doesn't seem to live in the same reality as the average person. But as usual, anything that happens to be congruent with Winston's worldview will be given a free pass and summarily praised. A while back I found this one review of his book interesting: http://www.techsoc.com/eurodream.htm


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"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -- Albert Einstein

No one is infallible, but what Rifkin says makes sense and his writing is very scholarly. He must be very bright. And it concurs with my experience. I'm sure most Europeans would agree with it.

What does he say that is factually false?


_________________
Happier Abroad Grand Ebook
Meet Foreign Women

"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

Winston wrote:

No one is infallible, but what Rifkin says makes sense and his writing is very scholarly. He must be very bright. And it concurs with my experience. I'm sure most Europeans would agree with it.

What does he say that is factually false?

Holy shit Wu, I totally forgot that if something concurs in your own experience, no matter how limited it may be than it must to factually correct. That's totally great that most Europeans would agree with it, I imagine most Americans would disagree but I'm not about to trot out such lame a** subjective arguments as these to make my point.

f**k it.


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"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -- Albert Einstein