The national bestseller that shows how the American Dream is languishing, surpassed worldwide by a powerful alternative in the lifestyle of the new Europe.
Customer Reviews
Why Can’t America Be This Cool:
Again, I know I’ve said this a lot in these book reviews over the past few months, but I think this is one of the best books I’ve ever read and one that everyone should read. Jeremy Rifkin (an American) nails the U.S. to the door with facts about how much we’ve devolved as a nation over the last few years and challenges the commonly held view that America is the greatest country in the world. The book is challenging, thoughtful, and historical. Rifkin always couches his arguments in fact with a thorough background in the historical context of each theme. He then presents what the European Union is doing that makes it closer to the “American Dream”. But he doesn’t romanticize the EU or demonize the US. He shares with the reader both the strengths and weaknesses and attempts to paint a better way forward (which I happen to buy into despite my better judgment). It’s a book both conservatives and liberal should read because it cuts away at both of their political posturing. If you think America is fading and going to the bad place (whatever you think the reasons are) you need to pick up this book and give it a chance. It’s really, really good.
Dream Comparisons:
Two big dreams - the American and now, the European. Much of this work explores the differences, which really boils down to a few key points. One is personal - America’s autonomy/materialism vs. Europe’s “relationships” and sharing. The next is religiousity - America goes to church (in good numbers) while Europe doesn’t. As far as religion is concerned, Europe has seen what it does (and does not do) and they’ve made their adjustments accordingly. Finally, they’ve seen what militarization and war does as well, which explains their pacifist nature since the end of the Second World War.
Beyond this, we’re down to the differences in work hours (both weekly and yearly), Europe’s all-inclusive human rights intiatives, their energy efficiency and their use of public transportation. Except for energy use, these are relatively minor, in the large scheme of things. The key point is that Europe and America are different personally, religiously and militarily. But even on this last point the difference is not so great, being that the vast majority of Americans have always been anti-war. The problem is their government has not been.
The author makes a big deal on how the countries of Europe are going beyond their nation-state past. Well, it’s because they have too !! Here, the U.S. is well ahead of Europe - the Europeans are simply following logic which tells them that free trade, a single currency and a common language will make them FAR better off than they would have been if they still lived in their economically divided-up past. But does this mean that the rest of the world will follow suit, in this fashion ? Being as autonomous as most countries of the world are today, I would think not. Free trade and a common currency, maybe, but not full integration. Europe was one entity before with the Roman empire, other regions on the globe were not.
Two big points in the book (that get repeated over and over) are the effects of the Enlightenment and of private property. The author claims that the Enlightenment gave rise to capitalism and materialism and that private property was “critical” to capitalism’s development. Both of these assertions are false. First, the Enlightenment was a scientific awakening, which in turn motivated folks to apply reason to other sectors in society to see if these could advance as much as science had. Improved farming techniques, different marital setups, etc, all changed due to the application of reason and the opening of the human mind, thanks in large part to Issac Newton. Capitalism actually started out during the First Industrial Revolution, which was the merchant (trading) class fueling the cottage industries, beginning in the 1500’s. While we didn’t yet have “materialism”, this is how capitalism began. In the end however, it was steam-powered industrialism that gave rise to capitalism and materialism in the true, big-time sense.
And private property. Well, as far as land and farming go, we had major advances in both farming technique and crop yield *well before* private property. And this advance would continue with the help of the seed drill and steel plow - both of which were the result of factory production, not private property. I agree that private property gave the individual more autonomy than ever before. It’s just that as soon as people got private property rights, they got sucked into the cities to work in factories and live an urban life. Private property happened at the same time as industrialism. And historically, private property didn’t impact *Europeans view* of autonomy, being that they’ve always preferred to be “embedded”, compared to the Americans.
Overall, a good book, however, at least for the facts on how Europe is BETTER than America, as much as it saddens me to report this. This book clears-up some false beliefs, like Europe’s “socialist” economy, which in reality is more productive than the U.S.A.’s, at least in some EU countries. And on how a nation (or region) could be very moral, without being religious.
Fodder for consideration and debate:
I’m about halfway through and have just come to the first chapter that, I confess, is leaving me scratching my head - network commerce.
Aside from that, I’ve found the book so far to be full of ideas to ponder and discuss with others who might be interested. Or… at least it provides more elements through which to filter/view the day-to-day news of the world.
Rifkin brings quotes and thoughts from a multitude of other writers, historical and contemporary, into a thought-provoking stew.
This is not an academic book with a bunch of substantiated and indisputable facts; rather, it offers interesting suggestions and makes conclusions based on aforementioned breadth of thought.
Easy to recommend.
In depth and well written…:
I think this book is for the person who wants an in depth analysis and history of the EU. The book takes into account almost every facet of EU life including markets, science advancement, social metworks, currency/finance, birth rates, etc and offers a reader a thorough history of why the EU countries think and behave as they do. Mr Rifkin takes us back to the 12th and 13th centuries for some of the analysis, which is great, but for the casual reader, can be too much. I found Mr. Rifkin’s analysis and writing very well in hand and very informative. I learned much about the EU from reading this book. I would recommend this book for the people that have a strong interest in Europe and want to further understand its people. Good book.
Over simplified:
As an American who has spent 5 years living in Belgium, I found Mr. Rifkin’s book to be oversimplified and full of stereotypical errors. The first big one was assuming Europe, as a whole, is one monogamous culture. Each country has their own set of beliefs and ideologies, and while these states reconcile their differences vis-a-vis European policy, it is totally inaccurate to refer to a ‘European dream’ as a pan-continent phenomenon. A simple example would be to compare any two states. Belgians are very different from the Greeks, the Spaniards different from the British, the Germans different from the French.
This isn’t just a language issue either. In Belgium, where the people living in the south speak french and the people in the north speak dutch, a distinct difference is made in their culture compared to their ‘linguistic parents.’ Simply put, call a Walloon french or a Fleming dutch, and you will have greatly insulted them. To bring this back home, it’s like referring to Americans as North Americans. The US isn’t the same as Canada, and it certainly isn’t the same as Mexico. Does an American like being called a Canadian? I think not. This is just the same as grouping A Romanian in with a Swede; While they come from the same continent, they have different beliefs and cultural values that very few people are willing to give up. However, these states get along and have healthy, normal relations that insure peace and prosperity for its citizens.
As for calling the American dream obsolete in favor of a ‘European’ one, I would have to completely disagree. This is a matter of interpretation. One poster said that the American middle class is bound to economic enslavement. I beg to differ. The whole point of the American dream is to have the freedom to move away from it. Sure, you can work to get into the US middle class and live a comfortable life, or you can go out on your own and make your dreams come true. Many western European nations have a much larger middle class, where wealth and equality are much more evenly distributed. However, for those who want to break out, they are much more restricted in how they can. And this isn’t to say that there is a right one or a wrong one, it’s just a matter of opinion.
In the end, America isn’t dying. Sure, the American dream is unique to America, but that’s our culture, and, as we have painfully learned throughout history (Vietnam, Iraq II), it’s extraordinarily hard to kill an idea. This book, in my opinion, is detrimental to American opinion on the ‘outside world.’ My recommendation to any American who wants a real take on the way the world is shaping, is to go live abroad for a while. The world isn’t going to bite, and no one will single you out for being an American, unless you do something stupid, in which case you’re singled out for being stupid. The world doesn’t hate us, it’s just the foreign policy they don’t like.
