America vs. Europe.

While Americans stubbornly pursue the ever-elusive American Dream, Europe is quietly and steadily creating its own vision for the future. In The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream (Penguin, $25.95), Jeremy Rifkin describes the emergence of this phenomenon, and outlines its potential. He argues that America's tradition of isolation and individualism is ineffectual in the modern era, while the European Dream, which values human rights over individual performance and community over self-sufficiency, fits nimbly within the dimensions of today's interconnected world. As a result, the author says, quality of life and economic growth in Europe are outpacing that of America. The book takes a macro-level approach to the subject, and doesn't leave us with a lot of perspective on how this dream is manifested in the day-to-day lives of Europeans. But by naming and defining this new vision that is quietly stealing our thunder, Rifkin challenges us, as Americans, to sit up and pay attention.