As IF Times

As most are keenly aware, it’s summertime in the northern hemisphere.  As should be evident, there will always be days of uncomfortably high temperatures in summer as there are stretches of uncomfortably cold and or wet conditions in the winter.  Is this abnormal?  What is abnormal?

The answer is; it depends who you ask. You will find ‘studies’ from all and sundry parties invoking their views on this.  But all that is irrelevant.  The salient thing to know, is that we can moderate our environment to make these weather swings habitable.  It’s called technology.  It’s called human progress.

The advance and harnessing of new technologies and discoveries has made previously hostile environments, habitable.  It has enabled humans to create, to build and to advance their societies. It is what separates the human species from the rest of the animal world who are entirely at the mercy of their environment.  The fact that this self-evident reality is disavowed by so many in our time is emblematic of just how pervasive mental disorders have affected populations.

Of course there are societies which eschew to a large part, the advances of modern technology. The Amish and Mennonites prefer to remain attached to their ways of doing things, preferring to live in the same fashion as their ancestors, ignoring most modern machinery and devices. The Amish take it more seriously as they don’t even use electricity.  These are choices these societies make to live in their way.  The Muslim world have their own, much more oppressive dictates for their people.  As closed societies within a larger free society, they can do as they wish.

In the larger society, people are less likely to be as principled.  They prefer to benefit from the conveniences created by technology in order to live more comfortably…which is the whole point of technological progress.

At the moment, an oppressive heat wave has enveloped much of Europe as temperatures soar to over 110 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods.  Unlike North America, European cities are not generally equipped with air conditioning, thus, living is not only uncomfortable, it’s dangerous for much of the elderly and the very young.  More than 1300 deaths have been attributable to excess heat in this particular heat wave according to the WHO.

It would make sense that those who purport to value human lives would find some means to stop these preventable tragedies. And you’d be wrong.  Governments there are doing the exact opposite.  In the UK, people are being fined for using their air conditioners.  In France, your neighbors need to agree to allow you to install an air conditioner for your flat.  The social media post above shows the mentality of those who are so bereft of common sense that death is preferable to comfort.

Somehow, the acceptance of self-destructive behavior in the guise of social awareness has officially crossed the line into mental illness.  In any free society, people are allowed to inflict self harm…as supposedly free thinking individuals.  Heck, in Canada, it’s officially supported by the government.

When the urge to impose your views on others or worse to mandate them as government policy, then the society is no longer free.  It has then devolved into a giant HOA with self righteous ninnies making the rules. We all witnessed this on a global scale with the COVID fraud.

The existence of people eager to impose their will on others is not a new phenomenon.   Every society has their own rules of expected conduct and behavior.  Every religion has their codified standards of social interaction.  Every bikers’ club, every bowling league can make up their own rules.

None of this is odd.  What is odd is that in our lifetime, people feel that they have the right to coerce others NOT in their group to abide by rules made up by them.   What’s more odd is that people fall in line. The line graph of ‘tolerance’ for other communities has gone from urging people to wear pride buttons to now requiring them under duress of ostracization.  We’re now at the point of the graph of not letting people get relief from deadly heat because, you know, the planet.  Peak absurdity is that people in a society are encouraged to meekly accept the behavior of aggressive ideologues against their very existence…with the support of governments.  We now even witness white people protesting…against white people!

We now experience alien cultures imposing their views on their host nations going as far as demanding, demanding that host nations bend to their values.  At no time in history can I think of any civilization willingly give up their sovereignty and culture without a fight. Men would defend their societies, to the death if necessary to preserve what they hold dear.  Only male sensibilities will preserve a nation.  In fact, the founding of an entire nation, the most successful one ever, America, was founded on this very principle.  What’s changed in our lifetime is not the emergence of  tyrants of all stripes;  it’s the emergence of the meek and effete in host societies.  It’s the acceptance of surrender to long held values created by people attuned to reality. There has never been a successful society governed by the meek.  Any society unwilling to push back against threats to their very existence is unsustainable.

The largest sporting event in the world is happening right now and likely hundreds of millions of soccer fans (or football to Euros) have travelled to North America to witness the World Cup matches firsthand.  The venues are scattered amongst a number of host cities in Canada and Mexico but most notably, in the US.  The biggest by-product of the World Cup is really its main feature, that is, to draw tourism into host nations.

For many fans, this was the first ever visit to the US and the reactions to their experiences have been the most viral thing on social media.  There has been an explosion on Instagram and Tik-Tok by tourists expressing their amazement.  One fan in particular, a Freddy from Germany, has documented his trip from the airport on the east coast through his journey across the US south to Houston on social media.  He is shocked, literally shocked at the disconnect from what he’s been led to believe about the US versus his actual experience. Freddy is showcasing his real dose of American culture.

The sheer physical size of everything in the US is what seems to awe the tourists.  The immense distances between places is unimaginable to Europeans accustomed to walking from place to place.  As someone noted, you can drive for 17 hours and still not leave the state of Texas.  Speaking of size, everything is bigger.  Walmarts and Costcos are gigantic.  The iconic Buc-ee’s , notionally a gas station in the south will have 120, yes 120 gas pumps and their in-store product selection of goods boggles the European mind.  They realize that when someone says, “I’ve visited the US”, that it’s meaningless.  The US is quite literally 50 different mini countries. It would be as if you claimed to have visited Europe if you’ve spent a week in Paris.

There are of course, some stereotypes which are true about America. There is always amazement at the iconic serving sizes of food at restaurants in the US.  Regular portions would make main dishes in Europe look like finger snacks. Free drink refills.  Ice. Air conditioning. Pleasant service people. A deep love of country. These are all common things to Americans, but an amazement to Europeans.

But the one common observation amongst all the social media posts is just how hospitable and genuine they found Americans.  They are noted as being generous, welcoming and salt of the earth people.  It’s certain that this is surprising to many because of the images perpetuated by decades of media representing them as redneck hayseeds who will shoot you at the most minor provocation. Of course, this is actually true in Northeastern states; fortunately, those were not the venue cities.  In the south, tourists were welcomed with affectations of familiarity and hospitality, quite different from the experience they were expecting.

Our German tourist Freddy even discovered country music and the biggest country star at the moment, Ella Langley, even invited him to one of her concerts. Ella is by far the biggest star in the US.  Only in America.

So, why is this so? The answer possibly lies with the fact that media, both domestic and international, have always portrayed the US as a cultural backwater and professing that their own nations were superior. Even the usually haughty British tourists were surprised at the experience they were not prepared for, with some expressing an interest in moving here. It brings to mind the old saw;  from the perspective of a frog who lives in a well, the sky is only the circle of light that they can see above their heads.

It’s a bit surprising that only now, people are finally seeing for themselves a part of the world that had always been a caricature portrayed by media… and politicians.  Whether in the US, or Canada, or Mexico, visitors have found out what the world is really like outside of their own well.  They observe that people are the same everywhere and to harbor any misgivings about an entire nation based on hearsay is simply ill-informed propaganda.

So the takeaway is, go see for yourself; don’t pay attention to the propaganda spewed by media and politicians. Maybe this is the greatest epiphany to result from the World Cup activity.  If nothing else, people can return home from their experiences here and think more expansively and critically about their own living conditions and how it compares to those of others in the big world.  More importantly they should return with a renewed sense of skepticism over what they’re being fed at home. People should experience, not just believe. After seeing what’s out there, some are expressing on social media the now famous Ella Langley lyrics about their own nation, “ I can’t love you anymore”.  It also brings to mind the observation made famous by the Tin Pan Alley song after the American soldiers served in Europe after WW1, but now in reverse. ” How ya gonna  keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?”