prodigyking

Somebody emailed me this artilce, God knows from what source. I was to lazy to google the credentials of this guy, but I was puzzled by the idea of Canada joining the European Union.

What do you guys think about this?

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Worlds Apart on the Vision Thing
by Jeremy Rifkin

In a partisan America, where virtually every value has become fair game for criticism and controversy, there is one value that remains sacrosanct: the American Dream -- the idea that anyone, regardless of the circumstances to which they're born, can make of their lives as they choose, by dint of diligence, determination and hard work. The American Dream unites Americans across ethnic and class divides and gives shared purpose and direction to the American way of life.

The problem is, one-third of all Americans, according to a recent U.S. national survey, no longer believe in the American Dream. Some have lost faith because they worked hard all their lives only to find hardship and despair at the end of the line. Others question the very dream itself, arguing that its underlying tenets have become less relevant in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. For the first time, the American Dream no longer serves as the rallying point for everyone in America.

A new European Dream, meanwhile, is beginning to capture the world's imagination. That dream has now been codified in the form of a draft European constitution, and Europeans are currently debating whether to ratify its contents and accept its underlying values as the core values of a new Europe. Europe's vision of the future may have greater resonance -- a kind of grand reversal, if you will, of what occurred 200 years ago when millions of Europeans looked to America in search of a new vision.

Twenty-five nations, representing 455 million people, have joined together to create a "United States" of Europe. Like the United States of America, this vast political entity has its own empowering myth. Although still in its adolescence, the European Dream is the first transnational vision, one far better suited to the next stage in the human journey. Europeans are beginning to adopt a new global consciousness that extends beyond, and below, the borders of their nation-states, deeply embedding them in an increasingly interconnected world.

Americans are used to thinking of their country as the most successful on Earth. That's no longer the case: The European Union has grown to become the third-largest governing institution in the world. Though its land mass is half the size of the continental United States, its $10.5-trillion (U.S.) gross domestic product now eclipses the U.S. GDP, making it the world's largest economy. The EU 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; only 50 are U.S. companies.

The comparisons are even more revealing when it comes to the quality of life. In the EU, for example, there are 322 physicians per 100,00 people; in the United States, it's 279 physicians per 100,000 people. The United States ranks 26th among the industrial nations in infant mortality, well below the EU average. The average lifespan in the 15 most developed E.U. countries is now 78.2 years, compared to 76.9 years in the United States.

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 more dangerous: The U.S. homicide rate is four times higher than the EU's. Even more disturbing, the rates of childhood homicides, suicides and firearms-related deaths in the United States exceed those of the other 25 wealthiest nations. Although the United States has only 4 per cent of the world's population, it contains one-quarter of the world's entire prison population.

Europeans often say Americans "live to work," while they "work to live." The average paid vacation time in Europe is now six weeks a year. By contrast, Americans, on the average, receive only two weeks. When one considers what makes a people great and what constitutes a better way of life, Europe is beginning to surpass America.

Nowhere is the contrast between the European Dream and the American Dream sharper than when it comes to the definition of personal freedom.

For Americans, freedom has long been associated with autonomy; the more wealth one amasses, the more independent one is in the world. One is free by becoming self-reliant and an island onto oneself. With wealth comes exclusivity, and with exclusivity comes security.

For Europeans, freedom is not found in autonomy but in community. It's about belonging, not belongings.

The American Dream puts an emphasis on economic growth, personal wealth and independence. The new European Dream focuses more on sustainable development, quality of life and interdependence. The American Dream pays homage to the work ethic and religious heritage. The European Dream, more attuned to leisure, is secular to the core. The American Dream depends on assimilation. The European Dream, by contrast, is based on preserving one's cultural identity in a multicultural world.

Americans are more willing to use military force to protect what we perceive to be our vital self-interests. Europeans favor diplomacy, economic assistance to avert conflict, and peacekeeping operations to maintain order. The American Dream is deeply personal and little concerned with the rest of humanity. The European Dream is more systemic in nature and, therefore, more bound to the welfare of the planet.

That isn't to say that Europe is a utopia. Europeans have become increasingly hostile toward newly arrived immigrants and asylum-seekers. Anti-Semitism is on the rise again, as is discrimination against Muslims and religious minorities. While Europeans berate America for having a trigger-happy foreign policy, they are more than willing, on occasion, to let the U.S. armed forces safeguard European security interests. And even its supporters say the Brussels-based EU's governing machinery is a maze of bureaucratic red tape, aloof from the European citizens they supposedly serve.

The point, however, is not whether the Europeans are living up to their dream. We Americans have never fully lived up to our own dream. What's important is that a new generation of Europeans is creating a radical new vision for the future -- one better suited to meet the challenges of an increasingly globalizing world in the 21st century.

Canada finds itself caught between these two 21st-century superpowers. Sharing a common border with the most powerful economy in the world makes Canada more vulnerable to U.S. economic and political influence, and some observers even suggest that Canada might be forced eventually to become part of a greater American transnational space. The North American free-trade agreement may be the first step down that road.

On the other hand, Canadians' own deeply felt values are more closely attuned to the emerging European Dream. Could Canada lobby to become part of the European Union? In a world of instant communications, fast transportation and global economic integration, the prospect of Canada's enjoying at least a special associational partnership with the EU is not inconceivable. The EU and Canada laid the foundation for such a possibility in their 1996 joint political declaration on EU-Canada relations, designed to focus on economic, trade, security and other transnational issues. Canada could edge ever closer to its European soulmate in the decades to come.

Glaswegian

Ignores the fact that a lot of people came here from europe because they didn't like how it was run

I like Canada, it isn't a mini-UK and I don't want it to become one

NJ_Dave

Canada can join the EU; they can take our place in it, as the majority of the UK want nothing more to do with the European bureaucracy.

prodigyking

Cmon' guys! Be a little bit more insightful. Movement of poeple and business is a bigger picture than your personal bitterness.

Glaswegian

You call it bitterness, I call it experience

Every so often there is muttering in Alberta that we should quit Canada and join the US or even that we should form a coalition with some of the western states and dump the eastern provinces & states.

I've got nothing against trade agreements with the EU, but having an open border with it would be a nightmare.

iaink

What do I think? I think you're a t**.

Cant be bothered to check the authenticity of something, but can be bothered to post it here. Gee, thanks.

Goodbye, welcome to my ignore list!

Iain
<edited by Ray1968>

<edited by iaink>
Ray, looks more offensive with the **s if you ask me! Although perhaps more accurate?

NJ_Dave

This is not bitterness it is common sense. The USA functions even if it does have it's problems. The EU are trying to emulate the success of the USA, and have done a pretty poor job so far. The whole idea of a 'United States of Europe' is a distant dream, thought up by the hardcore Eurocrats. Europe is a continent not a country, and the efforts to try and turn it into one country have so far wasted a lot of time and money, but have not actually got any closer to the dream. Why has it not worked? Maybe it is the small amount of national pride that is left in the member states. I am British, not European, the French are French, not European, the Spanish are Spanish, not European, the Swedes are Swedish, not European etc. If you compare that to how the USA works, a person from TX is American, a person from NJ is American, a person from LA is American, a person from MA is American etc. The whole sense of identity is what is stopping the EU from working. Why Canada would want to be part of the EU.

prodigyking

Likewise, I think you are a *****!

We are not questioning the authenticity of the article as facts. I just thought that there were some interesting ideas offered in here worth discussing.

Don't like it?***** no need to attack me personally!

<edited by Ray1968>

MikeUK

It an interesting article stretching the difference in the Canadian socialist culture and comparing it to its capitalism American counter part, and attempting to find some alignment in the new socialism that’s growing in Europe..

However I would suggest its really a fancied up critique of the American dream and its failure.
Quite topical for an election year

And just for info, this was published in the Globe and Mail on Tuesday, August 17, 2004

And Jeremy Rifkin, is founder and president of the Washington-based Foundation on Economic Trends.

Glaswegian

****ing ****, you ****ing managed to ****ing verify the ****ing source of the ****ing article.

****ing well done mate.

Sorry, that seemed to match the etiquette of the direction this thread was heading downhill towards

MikeUK

No ****ing problem mate

willmore

This suggestion is nothing new - it has been published before in the Globe and Mail and other papers. We seem to go between Canada joining the EU
and whether to join the US with the protective shield.

The article that I read several years ago now, suggested that Canada would never be able to survive - we would be swallowed up by the States and completely lose our identity - we would never be able to compete.

Did you see the article in the G&M this morning about how China in a fews is predicted to become the largest trading partner with the US leaving Canada behind......we just can't compete!!!

MikeUK

I find it interesting as so many people wonder how Canada should align its self… whist all the time not needing to align at all… we have mineral and agricultural wealth, we don’t need the uber economy that runs industrial Europe or industrial America… mainly because a significant part of our economy is in food and agriculture (I’ve include forestry in that) we’re a net exporter I believe and both the other economies are currently major importers of our materials….
We don’t want to align with the US as the dollar can be consider an at risk currency with the current growing deficit..
The Euro is nice and stable but we don’t trade enough with them to risk a currency shift and alienate the US..
So sitting in the middle being neutral keeps both markets open.

My opinion…

willmore

Yes we do - true, the States in the past few years have been "begging" for our water for hydro. If I remember correctly, a fews years back, they had the adacity to demand from Ottawa that they should be allowed to have free access to all our water at any time so that they can fulfil their needs. California was and still is buying electricity from BC at a alarming rate - so in that sense, yes, we can be competitive, until Bush comes up with some plan so that the States will be self-efficient. I would have thought that the electricity from the Falls would have more than supplied enough hydro.

However with food stuffs - we can't compete. If you have ever gone to the States and compared prices of food while you were there....there is an incredible difference - even with the exchange rate...we are paying a ridiculous price for food - our farmers are heavily subsidised because their just isn't the same market. Why would the States want to import our food when their's is so cheap.

MikeUK

Don't know about the why?

but here's a link to give you an idea about the value and volume..

http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepu...1/export.htm#1