[Peace-discuss] the European Dream

[Lisa Chason]

This was forwarded to me by a friend in Europe. Interesting turn of idea
-- the European dream.
Lisa
 
 
 I have been surprised at the amount of anger/rage which Bush & Co. have
generated in me, especially lately. I don't like feeling this way and
can't
recall ever feeling like this for any other president in my long life. I
read a wonderful article in the current Utne Reader by Jeremy Rifkin on
the
European Dream which turns out to be the exact opposite to the American
Dream. To paraphrase, the American Dream emphasizes autonomy, and the
more
wealth one amasses the more independent one is in the world. Freedom
means
becoming self-reliant and and island to oneself. wealth equals
exclusivity
and thus security. The European Dream assumes that what constitutes
freedom
and security is not found in autonomy but in embeddedness. Freedom means
having access to many interdependent relationships "The more community
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." Bush's America is the logical endgame of the American Dream
and until that dream changes within the hearts and minds of the American
people, we will continue to reach for world domination, unbridled
wealth,
exclusion of those who do not or cannot "play the game" of what we
define
as success.

I doubt that Bush has ever acted out of any motive but greed and
self-interest. But look at his parents. Look at Barbara Bush who
responded
to the first unwelcome photographs of flag-draped coffins returning from
Iraq with the comment, "Why should I bother my beautiful mind with
this?"
Look at the torture of animals when he was a child which went unheeded
by
his parents as only being "boys will be boys." George W. Bush & Co. are
the farthest end of the American Dream continuum. He is what this
country
will become if we do not change and adapt to the utter destructiveness
of
our present course of warmongering, environmental degradation, greed,
and
disregard for the weakest in our own and our global society.

I lived in Europe for many years and felt more at home there than I ever
have have in this country where I was born. Europe is not perfect, by a
long shot, but it's going in the right direction. The old American Dream
is dying. It's inevitable. The question is, can we build a new dream
before we are all destroyed?

Lesley
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