November 22, 2009
UTNE READER

The European Dream

(Page 9 of 9)

September / October 2004
By Jeremy Rifkin 
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But there's also a deep pessimistic edge ingrained in the European persona -- understandable, perhaps, after so many misbegotten political and social experiments, and so much carnage over the centuries. Failures can dash hopes. But they can also make a people stronger, more resilient, and wiser. Overcoming cynicism is going to be as difficult and challenging for Europeans as overcoming naive optimism is for Americans.

These are tumultuous times. The European Dream is a beacon of light in a troubled world. It beckons us to a new age of inclusivity, diversity, quality of life, sustainability, universal human rights, the rights of nature, and peace on earth. We Americans used to say that the American Dream is worth dying for. The new European Dream is worth living for.

Jeremy Rifkin is the best-selling author of numerous books, including 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. Excerpted from The European Dream (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004).

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