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Apr. 24, 2005 A book by Jeremy Rifkin, "The European Dream," claims that the lifestyle of Europeans is superior to ours in The United States. He says people are happier in Europe, because they are less isolated from one another, more sociable, and also more "socialist." Governments take better care of people there, and incomes are more evenly distributed. Not only that, but he says we in America are more vulnerable to economic disasters possibly to be caused by imports from China, because of our many kinds of debts. He says we work too hard, and we don't enjoy ourselves enough. Looking up the book at the amazon.com website, I tend to agree with the fourth customer review of Rifkin's book, posted by Ryan Setliff, which disagrees with the whole concept. He says that the socialist policies that Rifkin likes (especially in Sweden) are the very things that make it worse off than America, not better, an example being very high taxes. I think we do have to worry a bit about some of the recent trends, both here and in Europe. For example, we are both being flooded with (1) cheap imports, and (2) poverty-stricken immigrants. I think these are real threats, mainly causing (1) unemployment, and (2) slums full of hopelessly poor people. This worries me, in spite of the fact that my own ancestors were originally poor (VERY poor!) immigrants. (My wife says I'm a pessimist --- maybe so, a little bit. But things are different nowadays.) However, I don't see anything better about modern Europe, compared to America. Before retiring from being an engineering professor, I taught in Amsterdam for 14 summer sessions. Also, I taught in London and Istanbul a little bit, and I visited Sweden quite a lot as a consultant. I did enjoy the "cooperative" and "relaxed" attitude in Europe. And now, having worried somewhat about my former students working too hard after graduation, and about Americans borrowing too much money, I have plenty to criticize about the US. Also I worry about the extreme wealth of some CEOs, versus the hopeless poverty in our slums. But I still think America is better off than Europe. For one thing, inherently, we have much more space, into which we can easily spread out. We tend to have bigger back yards, and bigger apartments or single- family houses. European countries are simply overpopulated --- there's not even any place to convenienly park a car (worse than in the US). These things do contribute to the overall "quality of life." Of course, we don't socialize as much here --- hardly any outdoor cafes, concerts, etc. Americans are possibly "spoiled," with their big backyards, so they just have a private bar-B-Q, instead of joining friends at the outdoor cafe or indoor pub. Here, people usually move to houses far away from their extended families. But at least it's a matter of choice --- many more people belong to a country club here, which is too expensive in other countries. And there are plenty of bowling leagues, Rotary or Lions or Kiwanis clubs, etc., for anyone who wants it. Actually, lots of Americans are glad to get away from some of the extended-family functions and very close neighbors, and they are happy to have more "freedom," so it's not all bad here, by any means. Regarding the economy, Rifkin is factually wrong --- Europe is OK, but not better off than the US. Imports have caused more unemployment there, by far (and worse than their government statistics indicate). What saves us is that we still have more CREATIVITY --- our students think more freely. Almost all new things still originate here, if you add them up. On the other hand, the old products like clothes, coffee beans, etc. are worth less and less each year, while our new ventures bring in billions. Here's a little factoid about creativity: Hewlett Packard, Google, and Yahoo were each started by a pair of drop- outs from Stanford University! (If you don't believe me, look them up in http://wikipedia.org.) And what other country (or continent) can match the combined creativity of Intel, Microsoft, IBM, GE (CAT-scans & MRIs, etc.), Corning (catalytic car exhaust cleaners, etc.), Pfizer & Merck, Apple, lots of new computer start- ups like google, or our fantastic entertainment industry? In fact, what recent new ideas that have been highly successful did NOTstart here? My guess is that the creativity arises from a sense of FREEDOM in our educational system (right from pre- school, and on through college), and in our venture capital and banking systems (unique in the world!), and in our laws. However, maybe our old immigration from Europe was really the original root cause, because mainly just the freedom-loving people bothered to come over here. (Also, we were lucky that the europeans who did come here were willing to integrate into our culture, and I hope that is true of the Hispanic immigrants coming here nowadays --- maybe it will be.) At any rate, we are better poised than Europe, to resist economic competition from China and India. Our masses of Hispanic immigrants are working out OK so far, and the masses of Islamic immigrants into Europe are not likely to be better integrated. ------------ About the author: Dan Shanefield is a retired engineering prof, who worked at Bell Labs and then at Rutgers University. He wrote the book "Industrial Electronics for Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians". Visit his website or email Dan Shanefield: shanefield@ieee.org Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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