I am presently readinga href=”http://www.amazon.com/European-Dream-Jeremy-Rifkin/dp/1585423459″ Jeremy Rifkin’s book “The European Dream,”/a which is quite an interesting comparison between the United States of America and the “United States of Europe,” as he calls it. It is as much about the American Dream as the dreamers and their European ancestors. The book is however full of sweeping generalizations. Though I can find some truth in most of what he writes, I find it hard to swallow statements likebr /blockquote“Americans covet exclusive space. Each person strives to be self-contained and autonomous. That’s why we put a premium on privacy. Europeans seek inclusive space - being part of extended communities, including family, kin, ethnic and class affiliation. Privacy is less important than engagement.”/blockquotebr /Which doesn’t make much sense if I consider Microsoft ran into problems with European privacy rights where Americans didn’t care. This morning a complete stranger told me her friend Gerald just had a triple bypass some days before his 70th birthday. Not that I asked. Maybe it’s just me, but these things happen to me constantly on this side of the Atlantic. I yet have to find a German who’d tell a random seat neighbor on a plane about her daughter’s affair with the pharmacist. So much about the Americans’ desire for privacy.br /br /Another example:br /blockquote“We Americans [...] if we can afford it, we’d much prefer to place our home at the very top of a hill, and at a distance from our nearest neighbors, afford us a daily reminder of our autonomy.”/blockquotebr /That must be why millions of Americans have gathered in mega-cities like LA, Chicago and New York.br /br /That being said, I am not sure how much to trust Rifkin’s elaborations on the American Dream either. Thus, I though I’ll pass on the question: what does the American Dream mean to you?div class=”blogger-post-footer”"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” ~ Albert Einsteinimg width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/22973357-6544275292646246711?l=backreaction.blogspot.com’//div