Essay - Jeremy Rifkin: the European Dream so We are all Familiar...

JEREMY RIFKIN: THE EUROPEAN DREAM

So we are all familiar with the proverbial American Dream. Whe*****r it exists or not, whether it is attainable or not are questions that better to be left alone at this point *****cause there appears to be a*****her proverbial dream that has emerged that demands our attention. According to Jeremy Rifkin, the idea of ***** dream is not only outdated, ***** ***** also *****ing quickly replaced by the European Dream. "While the American Spirit is tiring and langu*****hing in the past," Rifk***** writes, "a new ***** Dream is being born.." In his book, The European *****, Rifkin lays down the thesis that America has lost its charm, its appeal and almost everything it once symbolized, the new American generation is overweight, under-educated and unnecessarily aggressive with little or no regard for religion. So the American Dream that revolved around tapping in***** opportunities, buying a nice home ***** amassing every kind of consumer good that one could possibly think of *****w sounds "far too centered on personal material advancement and too ***** concerned with the broader human welfare to be relevant in a world of *****creasing risk, diversity ***** interdependence." For ***** reason ***** Dream now needs a *****tter replacement and according to Rifkin, it has arrived in the ********** of European Dream which "emp*****izes community relationships over *****dividual autonomy, cultural ***** ***** assimilation, quality of life over the accumulation of wealth, sustainable development over unlimited ***** growth, deep play over unrelenting toil, universal human rights and the rights of nature over property rights, and global co-operation ***** the unilateral exercise ***** power."

The idea might appear far-fetched to some but ***** has sound arguments to defend his position. The author maintains that everything negative about Europe ********** goes into its favor if we pay closer *****. ***** charge of lower productivity and lower wages for example is one that *****ten emerges when Europe ***** compared to its colossal counterpart America. But lower productivity doesn't depict poor performance; it only symbolizes a desire to balance work and leisure. Why work all the time at ***** cost of your personal life. At least *****s are not prepared to embrace such a *****-pl*****n. They want to be able ***** enjoy little things in life and make enough to do so. Their main purpose is "not to live ***** earn" but to "earn to live." The other charge is the unemployment rate. How could Europe be better when it has a higher unemployment r*****te? Rifkin counters t***** charge w*****h massive statistical data. The author proves that America's unemployment rate is just as high only there is more hidden unemployment than meets the eye. If you include the pri*****n inmates, ***** unskilled and the hopeless, many of whom have simply given up since they were jobless for a long time. ***** problem is ***** inability to see the truth contained in ***** information. And while Rifkin ***** that Gross Domestic Product is not the most accu***** measure of a country's