In the United States, we often hear that the U.S. is the world’s greatest place to live. There is still much good to be said about the United States, but there is also increasing dysfunction.
In his 2004 article, “The European Dream,” [1] Jeremy Rifkin dared to compare the U.S. way of life to that of the European Union. He wrote “[I]t saddens me to say that America is no longer a great country. Yes, it’s still the most powerful economy in the world, with a military presence unmatched in all of history. But to be a great country, it is necessary to be a good country.”
Many other people have expressed concerns with the direction of the U.S., of course. Rifkin’s article goes further by letting the objective facts do most of the talking:
[The European Union’s] $10.5 trillion gross domestic product now eclipses the U.S. GDP, making it the world’s largest economy. The European Union is already the world’s leading exporter and largest internal trading market. Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies.
[I]n the European Union, there are approximately 322 physicians per 100,000 people, whereas in the United States there are only 279. The United States ranks 26th among the industrial nations in infant mortality, well below the EU average. The average life span in the 15 most developed EU countries is now 78.01 years, compared to 76.9 years in the United States.
Children in 12 European nations now rank higher in mathematics literacy than their American peers, and in 8 European countries children outscore Americans in scientific literacy. When it comes to wealth distribution — a crucial measure of a country’s ability to deliver on the promise of prosperity — the United States ranks 24th among the industrial nations. All 18 of the most developed European countries have less income inequality between rich and poor. There are now more poor people living in America than in the 16 European nations for which data are available. America is also a more dangerous place to live. The U.S. homicide rate is four times higher than the European Union’s. . . . Although the United States is only 4 percent of the world’s population, it now contains one-quarter of the world’s entire prison population. While the EU member states average 87 prisoners per 100,000 people, the U.S. averages an incredible 685 prisoners per 100,000 people.
Europeans often remark that Americans “live to work,” while Europeans “work to live.” The average paid vacation time in Europe is now six weeks a year. By contrast, Americans, on average, receive only two weeks. Most Americans would also be shocked to learn that the average commute to work in Europe is less than 19 minutes. When one considers what makes a people great and what constitutes a better way of life, Europe is beginning to surpass America.
The EU Constitution contains a clear commitment to “sustainable development . . . based on balanced economic growth,” a “social market economy,” and “protection and improvement of the quality of the environment.” The EU Constitution also promotes “solidarity between generations,” a provision that encourages the current generation to leave a usable planet for the following generations. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights also promises each citizen preventive health care, guaranteed time off from work, parental leave, social and housing assistance.
What strikes me about Rifkin’s comparison is that it will evoke two very different types of reactions from two types of people. The first type, including many of the readers of this blog, will react with concern–they will take these facts as a wake-up call to consider what can be done to improve the United States. The second type, including those now holding political power in the United States, will react with anger and derision. The will fire off incessant ad hominem attacks. They will attack those who promulgate these ideas and they will condemn and deride Europeans because, well, they are Europeans. They will flee to their spin-meisters to figure out new ways to cover up these problems and shut down the discussion. In the meantime, the United States continues its long slow slide.
Ideas really do have consequences. Rifkin writes that much of America’s condition arises from a peculiar conception of “freedom.” For Americans,
freedom has long been associated with autonomy. An autonomous person is not dependent on others or vulnerable to circumstances beyond his or her control. To be autonomous one needs to be propertied. The more wealth one amasses, the more independent one is in the world. One is free by becoming self-reliant and an island unto oneself. With wealth comes exclusivity, and with exclusivity comes security.
Europeans have a different conception of “freedom”:
For Europeans, freedom is found not in autonomy but in embeddedness. To be free is to have access to many interdependent relationships. The more communities one has access to, the more options one has for living a full and meaningful life. It is inclusivity that brings security — belonging, not belongings.
In short, the current American version of freedom is (unwittingly) limiting, apprehensive, untrusting, short-sighted and self-consuming.
The first step toward solving critical problems is to recognize those problems–to have the courage–yes, and the patriotism–to look those problems straight in the eye.
It is not clear that Americans are ready to do this difficult work. Until they do, Einstein’s advice is apropos: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
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