blog.hkw.de Haus der Kulturen der Welt

Rifkin agrees to Steinmeiers agenda and clearly stresses that climate change  has to be the top priority; Rifkin predicts that climate change will dominate politics in  the next 50 years. He praises Steinmeier for being the first foreign misister who emphasises the importance of geopolitics.

He then explains his famous idea of “The European Dream” and the downfall of “The American Dream”. For Rifkin, Europe is in the better position to tackle the problems of Global Change: “Europe is the most bizarre experiment in history”; because “the European experiment did not turn out the way Europe wanted it to be”.  It is not a state but a network, not hierachical, but it still works; Europe became a geographic and financial union and many young Europeans develop a European conciousness”
Rifkin now points out to the different ideas of freedom. When an American thinks of freedom they think of individuality, autonomy and mobility. In contrast to Europeans, to whom  their dream is a good quality of life: Americans think of exclusivity; Europeans on inclusivity; Europeans emphasise solidaritry and that no one is left behind; Americans  emphasise economic growth and individual opportunitiess;  Europeans focuse on sustainable development and collective well-being. According to Rifkins, Europe has to promote these ideas to the rest of the world in order to tackle the most important issues:
“Europe has to lead and America will follow” and “the legacy of the Gerneration is to rescue the planet”