Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age - Essay Example

Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age While the world wars had defined Europe as a warring machine zone, with no peace and stability, and highly characterized by power struggles, there is new promise of a stable and prosperous Europe that is politically stable, environmentally friendly and that takes good care of its vast population (Hill, 7). The post world war II period has completely reshaped Europe such that, it has emerged as a duality continent, where Europe can either be defined as a confederacy of nations, or alternatively as a single nation. The European Union has been the main bond that has held the continent together, and its mandated focus on improving the welfare of the nations within the union has brought about numerous positive changes, which has enabled the countries within the European Union to act as a single entity (Hill, 11). Thus, while America has been instrumental in supporting the revolution and reestablishment of post world war II Europe, it is now emerging that another world power is developing. However, the difference between American as a superpower and the emerging Europe world power is that; Europe has collectively embraced all the social, environmental and economic strategies that will create an economic hub that is less prone to financial crisis, a social setting that affords social, cultural and welfare sustainability for its population, as well as an environmental focus that will enhance environmental sustainability (Hill, 43). Europe’s new promise is to develop a human society that has economic security and empowerment, and which has embraced global new vision for humans; the vision of wellbeing and comfort. The argument of the book is that the social capitalist approach is the best hope for the future generational stability in the world, as opposed to the pure capitalism approach applied by the United States, which has served to alienated its people since the end of the world war II, through creating a society that is lacking in equality and economic sustainability (Hill, 52). The consequence has been the creation of a society that is divided right through the middle, with a certain percentage of the American society joining the higher class, a class defined by immense wealth, while there is still another class on the bottom of the hierarchy that is poverty-stricken. The social and economic inequality has been contributed by the purely capitalist approach, which enables the rich and the owners of the factors of production to continuously enrich themselves, while the lower class of workers rarely gets an opportunity to move up the ladder (Hill, 117). It is such a system that has created an American society where the population obtains less for the value of their money, since when the costs of out-of-pocket services are combined with the taxes that the American pays, the value is equivalent with that of the European population, yet the value of the public services delivered to the Americans are much lower (Hill, 33). Therefore, the hope for the new and emerging democracies should lie on the constitutional reforms applied by the European nations, as opposed to the libertarian approach that is characteristic of the United States democracy. Further, the European healthcare and the social welfare systems are more efficient and effective in catering for the European vast population, compared to those of America, where the provision of healthcare is not equitable and universal, and thus there is no guarantee for the health welfare of the American population (Hill, 272). Additionally, the social welfare system of America is inequitable and does not take good care of the older generation, most of whom, are left to grapple with the problem of catering for their health services after retirement, considering that the social welfare system is not well integrated with the healthcare system, to ensure the holistic caring of the population. Similarly, the labor rights in the European countries are based on an equitable system that ensures that the welfare of the workers is well taken care of, while ensuring that the workers are not pushed down to the bottom of the social stratification by the employers and owners of the factors of production. This has made the European working class a highly economically empowered group, with opportunities for sustainable economic advancement and with an access to humane mechanisms of resolving labor conflicts. This has been possible courtesy of the confederacy of the European Union, which is an institution that has fundamentally taken human rights and labor rights issues with preference and developed universal and equitable labor standards amongst its members (Hill, 149). The future projections of the European labor force are bright, and its opportunities for economic and social advancement are even more promising. In addition, the geopolitical setting of the European countries is highly sustainable, and thus the chances of geopolitical tensions are highly reduced (Hill, 312). The adoption of multi-party parliamentary democracies provides an avenue for more liberal and democratic rule, as opposed to the two-party system adopted by the USA, whose strength is only based on the principle of separation of powers, as opposed to the existence of a proactive political system that is able to check on the excesses of the government and the ruling parties, which in turn reduces the political fractiousness within the countries (Hill, 287). On the contrary, the USA democracy and political system is based on a two-party political system, which increases the chances of a fractious country, where the population is limited to only two party loyalties, which in turn serves to flare up the political tensions between the two factions. While the multiparty system is an efficient and just option to civilized democracy, there are some limitations associated with the two-party democracy system. The multiparty democracy offers greater opportunities for the European population to exercise their democracy, as opposed to the American population that is ridded off alternatives, and only left to pledge loyalties to either of the parties, which would not even be the case, could they have got more alternatives (Hill, 363). Thus, it can be concluded that the emerging world power in the form of the European confederacy is the sure path for human advancement towards a better global future, while also being the best option for advancing democracy, and restraining geopolitical tensions and rifts globally. Works Cited Hill, Steven. Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. Print. Read More