Rifkin's European Dream

Jeremy Rifkin has written a new book titled The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. It certainly is a must read for those interested in geo-politics, political science, and sociology. Rifkin is convinced that a new vision of the world is being created in the European Union, one which stands in contrast to the vision of the world advocated by the United States.

There certainly are many positive aspects of the "European dream" as Rifkin outlines: sustainable economic and technological development, communitarian values, greater emphasis on quality over quanity, reasonable work hours and time for leisure("work to live" as opposed to "live to work"). I certainly agree with the European ideal of maintaining its cultural diversity as opposed to the American ideal of the melting pot(although my idea of "maintaining cultural diversity" most certainly differs from Rifkin's idea of it. I certainly do not support multi-culturalism but rather the preservation of Europe's historical ethnic heritages).

Despite many of its positive aspects, it has its negative spots. Mainly that the "European dream" that Rifkin not only outlines but openly advocates is one that is deeply entrenched in the welfare system that has engulfed Europe (the Servile State as Hilaire Belloc named it). Although it presents some advantages to American-style capitalism(and Belloc himself admitted this), nevertheless its still a form of the servile state.

Rifkin also tries to speak favorably of European secularism over American religious devotion, which is a common theme of polemics of Europe vs. America. Massimo Introvigne and Rodney Stark did a study refuting many of the notions of European secularism. T.R. Reid also questions how far Europe has become secularist in his book The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy(which makes arguments very similar to Rifkin's). Reid notes that large numbers of Europeans still travel to Vatican City and Lourdes for religious reasons and recordings of Gregorian chants are among the best sellers in parts of Europe. It's just that religion has become more an individual matter and now lacks its institutional vigour. Although not commenting on Rifkin's book per se, Stuart Reid addressed the relationship between the "European Dream" and the church in his article "Mr.Bush Goes to Europe" in the March 28 issue of American Conservative(sadly there's no link to the article):

"A residual Christianity - more specifically, Catholicism and its strong social tradition - governs much European thinking. In most practical senses, of course, it is absurd to call Europeans Christian. The EU is a thoroughly secular construct. Europeans, furthermore, are as every bit as intolerant as American secularists when confronted with Christian intransigence. All the same, most of the nations of Europe are nominally Catholic, and unlike the United States,those that are not at least have a Catholic past. The EU itself was created by Catholics, with an explicitly Catholic social agenda.The Church supports the European Dream. She does not, however support the American Dream and has consistently preached against what Bush calls freedom -essentially, liberal capitalism and radical individualism. Pius XI held that liberal capitalism and communism were united in their "satanic optimism." The present pontiff, John Paul II, is keenly aware of the perils of freedom. In his encyclical Veritatis Splendor he wrote, "Certain currents of modern thought have...exalted freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute..The individual conscience is accorded the status of supreme tribunal of moral judgment that hands down...infallible decision about good and evil...Claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity, and being at peace with oneself." In September 1993 John Paul traveled to Riga,where he troubled Wall Street by speaking of "Marxism's kernel of truth" and denouncing "the international imperialism of money."...[quoting from John Allen's "All the Pope's Men"] 'Key Vatican officials, especially Europeans from traditional Catholic cultures, have long worried about aspects of American society - its exaggerated individualism, its hyper-consumer spirit, its relagation of religion to the private sphere, its Calvinist ethos. A fortiori,they worry about a world in which America is in an unfettered position to impose this set of cultural values on everyone else.'"

So it's clear that Europe's Christian ideals still play a role in shaping the continent's vision of the world. Even Rfikin admits that the European dream is far more compatible with the teachings of the New Testament then the American dream(although he argues from a perverted notion of what the New Testament stands for and tries claiming the American dream is more in line with the Old Testament, hence continuing the old Marconite Old vs. New Testament polemic).

The European dream should more fully embrace its Christian heritage and entrench itself in the social doctrines of the faith. That would surely provide the world a true alternative to the American dream.