The book concentrates on political problems and the proposed solution. The technical problems are not discussed and it appears the author isn't aware of them. The unadulterated optimism prevalent in the book is wholly unwarranted. Unrepresentative anecdotes and misunderstood analogies are used as arguments. It's a laudable goal but maybe it would be worthwhile to partner with someone who understands science for a book like this. ( )

Jeremy Rifkin is an economic and social theorist who is making a mark on the world stage especially in Germany as they plan for a future world and begin to integrate their version of the "Third Revolution". As we see exhaustion of our natural resources, declining productivity, slowing of economic growth, rising unemployment, and increasing inequality, Rifkin believes we need to rethink our economic models. In this documentary, he lays out a road map to usher in a new economic system. This "Third Industrial Revolution" he describes is gradually unfolding with the convergence of three pivotal technologies: an ultra-fast 5G communication internet, a renewable energy internet, and a driverless mobility internet, all connected to the Internet of Things embedded across society and the environment. It is about a world where sharing and communication with each other replace our obsession with power of the individual we observe in the "Second Revolution".

Nous sommes à la fin d’une ère, celle d’une économie fondée sur les énergies fossiles, le travail à temps plein, une gestion marchande du monde... et entrons dans ce que Rifkin appelle la troisième révolution industrielle, qui va bouleverser nos manières de vivre, de consommer, de travailler, d’être au monde. Une analyse lumineuse et providentielle de l’avenir de nos sociétés.

The third industrial revolution? (TIR) See my fB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Roman-P/373354592772218?ref=hl … The 1st industrial revolution was based on steam power engine, railway infrastructure and factory mass production. The 2nd one was based on oil discovery, combustion engine and automotive infrastructure. The 3rd one, according to Jeremy Rifkin’s book, is now at its beginning and will be based on green renewable sources of energy, energy storage technologies, smart electric grid and probably electric car infrastructure.
There is more to Rifkin’s book: It’s a skillful, erudite prediction of future society development, clear description why human activities contribute to entropy of the universe and many other interesting things, but there is also a good example of intellectual carelessness. According to Rifkin, the 2008 financial collapse was mainly caused by a steady increase in the price of oil. Not a word about a residential market boom driven by US government provided or guaranteed mortgages to people with doubtful repayment ability. Not a word about criminally greedy moneymen who learned to mix various financial assets with doubtful mortgages and then quickly selling the resulting packages to naïve investors all over the world before the packages became the worthless heaps of mortgages on unsellable properties.
There is also a good example of misty-eyed socialist idealism. According to Rifkin “Today, hundreds of millions of people are … willingly giving their own time and expertise, mostly for free, to advance the good of others. Why do they do it? For sheer joy of sharing their lives with others in the belief that contributing to well-being of the whole does not in any way diminish what’s theirs, rather, increases their well-being manyfold.” It appears that Rifkin believes that something similar to communism is after all achievable, not by communists but by capitalists with the new TIR psychology. Can you believe him?
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