Abstract
The 21st century world is facing two immense challenges: how do we enact a desirable quality of life for a burgeoning global population of 7 billion people? And how do we accomplish that in a way that does not burn up the planet in a Venus atmosphere of our own creation, due to excess carbon emissions, pollution, and other downsides of development? That is a tall order to fill, yet it is the defining task of our insecure times.
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References
Jeremy Rifkin (2004), The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, p.69.
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, “Country Comparison: Electricity — consumption,” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2042rank.html, U.S. per capita consumption is 12,470 kwh, E.U. per capita consumption is 5774 kwh
Steven Hill (2010), Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age, Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 183.
WWF (2008), Living Planet Report, Gland, Switzerland, October 2008, p. 36–38, http://assets.panda.org/downloads/living_planet_report_2008.pdf. Europe’s Total Ecological Footprint was rated at 4.7 hectares per person while the U.S. was rated at 9.4 hectares per person
“Before austerity, sizable social benefits,” Washington Post, April 24, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/world/before-austerity-sizable-social-benefits/2011/04/24/AF22IvdE_graphic.html
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Jonas Pontusson (2005), Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America, Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, p. 117–18. See also the work of Klas Levinson, researcher for the former National Institute for Working Life in Sweden, one of the world’s experts on codetermination.
Julianne Pepitone, “Forbes 400: The super-rich get richer,” CNNMoney, September 22, 2010, http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/22/news/companies/forbes_400/index.htm
For American figures, see “Understanding The Benefits,” SSA Publication No. 05-10024, January 2010, ICN 454930, p.4. and “Social Security Provides a Foundation on Which to Build Retirement Security,” Social Security Administration, www.ssa.gov/pubs/10055.html. Also see Stephen Beard, “German pension system showing age,” Marketplace Money, May 15, 2009, www.marketplace.org/topics/business/next-american-dream/german-pension-system-showing-age; Reuters, “Possible French pension reform proposals-FACTBOX,” July 13, 2010, www.forexpros.com/news/interest-rates-news/factbox-french-pension-reform-proposals-148090; Edmund L. Andrews, “Germany Clears Way for Pension Reform,” New York Times Service, published in the International Herald Tribune, May 12, 2001; “Germany’s Pension Reform,” The Economist, May 10, 2001; and “Go Private, Says the State,” The Economist, May 10, 2001.
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Hill, S. (2012). Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way is still the Best Hope in an Insecure Age. In: Schuman Report on Europe. Springer, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-2-8178-0319-7_5
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