March 27, 2005
AND THIS YEAR’S AWARD FOR BEST SELF-PARODY GOES TO...
And now, the European Dream (Eric Sylvers, International Herald Tribune, March 26th, 2005)
He stares you straight in the eyes as he tells you the world can be a better place and that the European Union has the best chance of making it possible. He says it with such conviction that you know he believes it and he gesticulates with just enough emphasis that you find yourself believing it, too.So it goes with Jeremy Rifkin, consultant to companies and governments on both sides of the Atlantic, a best-selling author and president of the Washington-based Foundation on Economic Trends research institute. Rifkin's books are as varied as they are plentiful - there are almost 20. But for more than a decade he has railed against globalization and the widening income inequality between rich and poor countries and within the United States.
"In a frontier economy, unfettered capitalism makes sense," Rifkin said in a recent interview in Turin, where he participated in a conference organized by the World Political Forum to mark 20 years since the beginning of perestroika, the series of liberalization measures undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev in the final phase of the Soviet Union.
"But times have changed and Adam Smith's dictum of everybody pursuing their self-interest doesn't make sense anymore now that everything and everybody are interconnected." [...]
Rifkin does note that Europe is plagued by its own problems, including bloated welfare programs, a rigid labor market and an aging population. But he says that can be solved, at least in the short term, with more vigorous integration of the European Union.
That will not be easy, he concedes, because the nation-state remains the paramount governmental institution. But it is possible if the member countries begin to see the region's 25 countries like the 50 states are seen in the United States, he says.
"Europeans must start comparing Germany to California," Rifkin said. "Both are the biggest states in their region, yet Germany is larger so the EU comes out on top."
Posted by Peter Burnet at March 27, 2005 10:24 AM
Oh boy, economic advice from Jeremy Rifkin. That's about as sound as taking advice from all those people who told you 20 years ago to put all your money into gold to avoid the coming crash in the U.S. finanical markets.
"Europeans must start comparing Germany to California," Rifkin said. "Both are the biggest states in their region, yet Germany is larger so the EU comes out on top."
Now that Gray Davis is gone, that may not be true a couple of years down the line, which would show Californiams are much smarter at picking Austrians as their leader than Germany ever was.
Posted by: John at March 27, 2005 10:46 AMI first became aware of Rifkin in his "Bicentennial Project" days. Still pimping for some sort of half-arsed socialism, as usual.
Posted by: PapayaSF at March 27, 2005 1:53 PMExcuse me, I should have written "Peoples Bicentennial Commission".
Posted by: PapayaSF at March 27, 2005 1:58 PMMake that "People's Bicentennial Commission". I'll stop now....
Posted by: PapayaSF at March 27, 2005 2:00 PMI'd like to know which corporations pay this guy? SELL!SELL!SELL!
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford, Ct. at March 27, 2005 2:41 PMI got a kick out Rifkin's The End of Work: it rips off Alvin Toffler's "Third Wave" model of mankind's technological progress without a shred of credit, and basically has jobs vanishing from every industry in perpetuity.
It was released in 1995, when US unemployment hovered at about 5.5 percent. In January of 2005, unemployment was at 5.2 percent. It's a new Depression!
(Just ask Pat Buchanan.)
Posted by: Ed Driscoll at March 27, 2005 4:09 PMI've learned to ignore his crazy assertions since I first read his earlier book, "Beyond Beef." His basic argument in that book was that due to the increased demand in beef consumption in developed countries (i.e., the US and Japan), cows were going to need more green pastures to graze on (leading to an increase in "massive and catastrophic" global deforestation) and were going to fart up enough methane to cause a significant increase in global warming. (In a nutshell, the world was going to end because of cows grazing and farting.)
After reading that book, I treated myself and a friend to a nice steak dinner at Morton's in Mr. Rifkin's honor.
Keep in mind this was published BEFORE the Adkins diet/hi protein, beef-eating craze! LOL. Poor man must have been apoplectic!
Posted by: Anne at March 27, 2005 4:47 PMI've learned to ignore his crazy assertions since I first read his earlier book, "Beyond Beef." His basic argument in that book was that due to the increased demand in beef consumption in developed countries (i.e., the US and Japan), cows were going to need more green pastures to graze on (leading to an increase in "massive and catastrophic" global deforestation) and were going to fart up enough methane to cause a significant increase in global warming. (In a nutshell, the world was going to end because of cows grazing and farting.)
After reading that book, I treated myself and a friend to a nice steak dinner at Morton's in Mr. Rifkin's honor.
Keep in mind this was published BEFORE the Adkins diet/hi protein, beef-eating craze! LOL. Poor man must have been apoplectic!
Posted by: Anne at March 27, 2005 4:48 PMIf Germany is California (great line about Austrian leaders!), then which countries are North Dakota, Mississippi, Loiusiana, Vermont, Utah, Delaware, Nevada, Indiana and Wyoming? It seems that too many EU members are competing to see who can compare to Puerto Rico, and in ways that insult Puerto Rico.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at March 27, 2005 5:03 PMVermont probably embodies the EU headquarters in Brussels. Rifkin won't make nice about France, because almost 80% of their electricity is nuclear, and they keep building those blasted breeder reactors.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 27, 2005 11:13 PMThe EUnicks will take to heart every thoughtlet Rifkin utters. We must hope his effect on them will be as consequential as Rasputin's was for the Romanov.
Posted by: Luciferous at March 28, 2005 12:25 PMRifkin is a nutter. His ability to people to continue to publish his garbage is truly astounding.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at March 28, 2005 12:52 PM