Jeremy Rifkin’s European Dream Now Available in Estonian

On Wednesday, March 7th, the American philospoher Jeremy Rifkin’s book European Dream was presented at the Open Estonia Foundation. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves attended the presentation and spoke shortly about the author and the book.

“Most of the books that discuss the European Union have been written by those who have lived in Europe all their lives,” said Ilves. “Rifkin is notable, as he sees Europe from outside, and that allows him to remind us the underlying idea of Europe,” Ilves continued. “The European Union is based on willingness to forego short-term national goals in order to achieve long term joint goals. Unfortunately, Europe is about to forget that idea, especially some former member states that are adverse to competition. This conflicts the idea of Europe,” emphasized Ilves.

The ecxecutive director of Open Estonia Foundation Mall Hellam said that the decision to support publishing the book European Dream in Estonian was made to stimulate the debate that has cooled down in Estonia after joining the EU. “We would like to hear people discuss the future of Europe at cafes, at home, and at various NGO meetings. We wish that Estonians knew and felt close to the Europe that we all belong to,” noted Hellam.

Jeremy Rifkin’s book “European Dream” analyzes the attitudes of Europeans and Americans in their relationships towards work, religion, freedom, human rights, and asks a number of provocatice questions. Comparing the American and European values, ways of living, and views on society, Rifkin tends to prefer the European model and developing it further.
“We, americans, like to say that the American dream is forth dying for. Well, the new European dream is forth living for,” writes Rifkin.

More information:
Mall Hellam
Open Estonia Foundation
+3726313791
mall@oef.org.ee
www.oef.org.ee