Each and every person, in the Christian eschatology, is endowed with free will. One can use that free will and choose to be redeemed by accepting Christ as Lord. If one makes that choice, however, it also requires him or her to tend God’s garden. Here we have a Christian version of Barfield’s third stage of consciousness—that is, each person is called upon to make a self-aware choice to accept Christ and, by so doing, to participate in deep communion with the whole of God’s creation.
Although the new interpretation of Genesis has been steadily gaining support across the American religious community, it has not yet become a centerpiece of American religious life. Were that to happen, however, millions of Americans might find themselves on the cusp of a new global consciousness. One’s unconditional love for a suffering Christ would include one’s unconditional love for his creation—a potentially powerful new religious story that could bring those of faith to a new commitment to the Earth and all of its inhabitants. I’d caution, however, that there is still a long way to go from rhetorical reinterpretation of the Genesis story to active personal commitment on the part of millions of Americans to live their lives in a way that reflects a moral responsibility for preventing cold evil and acting on behalf of the biosphere. It’s still too early to suggest that the American Dream might undergo a true metamorphosis and give rise to a universal ethics.
The European Dream, by contrast, has all the right markings to claim the moral high ground on the journey toward a third stage of human consciousness. Europeans have laid out a visionary roadmap to a new promised land, one dedicated to re-affirming the life instinct and the Earth’s indivisibility. I have no doubt of European sincerity in this regard, at least among the elite, the well educated, and the young generation of middle-class standard-bearers of a united Europe. The Europeans I have come to know do have a dream. They want to live in a world where everyone is included and no one is left by the wayside. According to a Pew survey conducted in 2003, solid majorities in every European country say they “believe it is more important for government to ensure that no one is in need, than it is for individuals to be free to pursue goals without government interference.”
33
Only in America, among all of the populations of the wealthy nations of the world, does a majority—58 percent—of the people say they care more about personal freedom to pursue goals without government interference, while only 34 percent say it’s more important for the government “to take an activist approach to guaranteeing that no one is in need.”
34
Similarly, when it comes to extending help to the poor in countries other than one’s own, a Gallup poll conducted in 2002 reports that nearly 70 percent of all Europeans believe that more financial help should be given to poorer nations, while nearly half of all Americans believe rich countries are already giving too much.
35
Europeans also want to be globally connected without losing their sense of cultural identity and locality. They find their freedom in relationships, not in autonomy. They seek to live a good quality of life in the here and now, which for them means also living in a sustainable relationship with the Earth to protect the interests of those who will come later. Eight out of ten Europeans say they are happy with their lives, and when asked what they believe to be the most important legacy of the twentieth century, 58 percent of Europeans picked their quality of life, putting it second only to freedom in a list of eleven legacies. At the same time, 69 percent of European citizens believe that environmental protection is an immediate and urgent problem. In stark contrast, only one in four Americans are anxious about the environment. Even more interesting, 56 percent of Europeans say “it is necessary to fundamentally change our way of life and development if we want to halt the deterioration of the environment,”
36
making them the most avid supporters of sustainable development of any people in the world.
Europeans work to live, rather than live to work. Although jobs are essential to their lives, they aren’t sufficient to define their existence. Europeans put deep play, social capital, and social cohesion above career. When asked what values are extremely or very important to them, 95 percent of Europeans put helping others at the top of their list of priorities. Ninety-two percent said it was extremely or very important to value people for who they are, 84 percent said they put a high value on being involved in creating a better society, 79 percent valued putting more time and effort into personal development, while less than half (49 percent) said it was extremely or very important to make a lot of money, putting financial success dead last of the eight values ranked in the survey.
37
Europeans champion universal human rights and the rights of nature and are willing to subject themselves to codes of enforcement. They want to live in a world of peace and harmony, and, for the most part, they support a foreign policy and environmental policy to advance that end.
But I’m not sure how thick the European Dream is. Is Europe’s commitment to cultural diversity and peaceful coexistence substantial enough to withstand the kind of terrorist attacks that we experienced on 9/11 or that Spain experienced on 3/11? Would Europeans remain committed to the principles of inclusivity and sustainable development were the world economy to plunge into a deep and prolonged downturn, maybe even a global depression? Would Europeans have the patience to continue sporting an open, process-oriented form of multilevel governance if they were facing social upheaval and riots in the streets? These are the kinds of tough challenges that test the mettle of a people and the vitality and viability of their dream. Regardless of what others might think about America, the American Dream has stood the test, in good times and bad. We never lost hope in our dream until very recently, even in the darkest hours. Will Europeans be able to say the same about their own nascent dream?
And finally, there is the question of personal accountability, America’s strength and Europe’s soft spot. Europe can attempt to legislate its dream. It can issue directives, sign global agreements, set up task forces, and establish benchmarks. That’s pretty much what it is already doing. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a sign of Europe’s commitment to fulfilling its new dream. But if the personal sense of accountability and responsibility is not deep enough and thick enough to weather the inevitable storms that will accompany the new journey, then, all of the legislative and executive actions and intellectual support notwithstanding, the European Dream will fail.
My biggest concern, having spent nearly twenty years of my life working in both Europe and America, is whether Europeans’ sense of hope is sufficient to the task of sustaining a new vision for the future. Dreams require optimism, a sense that one’s hopes can be fulfilled. Americans are flush with hope and optimism, Europeans are less so, as a people. Still, they are guardedly hopeful about their new union. And the public opinion surveys show that a younger generation is measured in its optimism. Perhaps that’s all we can or should expect. The kind of unexamined optimism that has been so characteristic of the American Spirit has not always served us well. In a world of increasing global threats, tempered enthusiasm, balanced against a realistic assessment of risks, might be more appropriate. But there’s also a deep pessimistic edge ingrained in the European persona—understandable, I guess, after so many misbegotten political and social experiments, and so much carnage over so many centuries of history. Failures can dash hopes. But they can also make a people stronger, more resilient, and wise. Overcoming cynicism for Europeans is going to be as difficult and challenging as we Americans overcoming our naïve optimism. Still, no dream, regardless of how attractive it might be, can succeed in an atmosphere clouded by pessimism and cynicism.
At the risk of ruffling feathers on both sides of the Atlantic, perhaps there are lessons to share. We Americans might be more willing to assume a collective sense of responsibility for our fellow human beings and the Earth we live on. Our European friends might be more willing to assume a sense of personal accountability in their individual dealings in the world. We Americans might become more circumspect and tempered in our outlook, while Europeans might become more hopeful and optimistic in theirs. By sharing the best of both dreams, we may be in better stead to make the journey together into a third stage of human consciousness.
These are tumultuous times. Much of the world is going dark, leaving many human beings without clear direction. The European Dream is a beacon of light in a troubled world. It beckons us to a new age of inclusivity, diversity, quality of life, deep play, sustainability, universal human rights, the rights of nature, and peace on Earth. We Americans used to say that the American Dream is worth dying for. The new European Dream is worth living for.
NOTES
CHAPTER 1: THE SLOW DEATH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
1
Decker, Jeffrey Louis.
Made in America: Self-Styled Success from Horatio Alger to Oprah Winfrey
. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. p. 92.
4
Miller, Perry.
Errand into the Wilderness
. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984. p. 11; Winthrop, John. “A Model of Christian Charity.” 1630.
5
Cullen, Jim.
The American Dream
. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 24.
6
Morgan, Edmund S., ed.
The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653-1657.
New York: Harper, 1965. p. 8.
7
Melville, Herman.
White-Jacket; Or, the World in a Man-of-War
. (1850) Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 2000. ch. 36.
8
“Americans Struggle with Religion’s Role at Home and Abroad.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. March 20, 2002.
www.people-press.org
11
“Spirituality and Faith Undergird and Motivate Americans to a Surprising Degree: News-Release.” The Gallup Organization. March 4, 2003.
www.gallup.org
12
Gallup, George H. Jr., and Byron R. Johnson. “Religion & Values: New Index Tracks ‘Spiritual State of the Union.’ ” The Gallup Organization. January 28, 2003.
www.gallup.org
14
“Religion & Politics: The Ambivalent Majority.” The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. September 20, 2000.
www.people-press.org/reports
15
“American Values: A Survey of Americans on Values.”
The Washington Post
/Kaiser/Harvard Survey Project.
16
Robison, Jennifer. “Religion & Values: The Devil and the Demographic Details.” The Gallup Organization. February 25, 2003.
www.gallup.com
20
Brooks, Deborah Jordan. “Substantial Numbers of Americans Continue to Doubt Evolution as Explanation for Origin of Humans.” The Gallup Organization. March 5, 2001.
www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr
22
“Poll: 40 Percent of Americans Believe in Apocalyptic End.”
DayWatch
. March 25, 1999.
23
Leland, John. “Afterlife for Everyone: Heaven Comes Down to Earth.”
The New York Times
. December 21, 2003.
24
“Among Wealthy Nations U.S. Stands Alone in Its Embrace of Religion.” The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. December 19, 2002.
www.people-press.org
26
Ibid.; Inglehart, Ronald. “Cultural Cleavages in the European Union.” Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. 2002.
27
Inglehart, Ronald. “Cultural Cleavages in the European Union.”
28
“Among Wealthy Nations U.S. Stands Alone in Its Embrace of Religion.” The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
29
Ferguson, Niall. “Why America Outpaces Europe (Clue: The God Factor.)”
The New York Times
. June 8, 2003.
32
Inglehart, Ronald.
1990 World Values Survey
. Table 2-2. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, 1990.
34
Smith, Tom W., and Lars Jarkko. “National Pride in Cross-National Perspective.” National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. April 2001.
35
“Living with a Superpower.”
The Economist
. January 4, 2003.
36
“What the World Thinks in 2002.” Pew Global Attitudes Project. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 2002.
37
Lipset, Seymour Martin.
American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword.
New York: Norton, 1996. p. 20.
38
“Views of a Changing World.” The Pew Global Attitudes Project. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. June 2003.
41
“What the World Thinks in 2002.” Pew Global Attitudes Project.
42
Hastings, Elizabeth Hawn, and Phillip K.
Index to International Public Opinion, 1988-1989
. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. p. 612.