Bicentennial + 50

Norte Americana Isn't So Bad

Rogue Soul recently posted a brilliant pod highlighting the joy of European tourists as they traverse the United States following their countries World Cup Futbol clubs. Her sentiment, that the U.S. is amazing as compared to much of the world, is being mirrored by the elation of these tourists and myself. I was as brainwashed by the communist ethos that pervaded my higher education institutions, including Super Spiritual Ashrams, that espoused Eastern ideals. I lived abroad for fifteen years under that stupor, until the Corona Virus smacked me upside the head.

I flew north from Central America in early 2021 on business and I was met with no masks, happy people, and barbecue in the South of the United States. I thought I had died and gone to heaven because the United Nations controlled Costa Rica where I was living at the time. An extremely draconian UN health policy had drained the beauty out of a once tranquilo country side. I was infuriated by the Farce Flag that my Tico comrades had bought into, especially since the whole country went on strike in 2019 to protest their corrupt government. As I traversed through Florida and Georgia, I experienced a freedom that wasn’t socially possible in a country that had been hypnotized by the Wuhan Wiggle.

What was interesting to me about the Corona Op was that it appeared to be worldwide, especially in countries where it was illegal to defend yourself. [Nice that the Southern U.S. is armed to the teeth.] I had been building all through central and southern Europe in 2014-2015 when the N. African invasion occurred. The small clique of Europeans that I knew barely batted an eye as the demographics of their countries were being pummeled. I often lamented to my friends that the “male” spirit had been neutered in the EU. Oddly enough, I was there during the 14’ World Cup and was having the opposite experience the European Tourists are having now in the United States.

European Observations:

• Gas prices for vehicles were exorbitant. You could fly anywhere for cheap, which I have my theories about, but train and vehicle transportation was 2 to 3x what it cost in the U.S.

• There were almost no hardware stores or pick-up trucks. To a red-blooded North American man that’s heresy.

• Alcohol was prevalent at every meal in all countries except Portugal.

• Men regularly let women be in obviously dangerous situations.

• Food quality was better from an ingredient perspective, but there wasn’t a tremendous diversity of options and portion sizes were half of what I was used to.

• Clothes were about double the cost.

• Most people’s vehicles were a lease-owned by the companies they worked for.

• Guns were illegal.

• Other than politics, most people held the United States in high esteem.

Not having the capacity to travel freely or defend myself was exacerbated in Costa Rica during the Corona Op. We had two to three days a week where we would be fined and our cars would be impounded if we broke protocol. My wife and I had 4 wheelers with no tags up in the mountains, so it didn’t affect us in our bario, but if we were traveling on paved roads the Fuzz was lurking. The restrictions in movement harkened me back to my time in Europe. Moving about easily seemed to be on the decline within the Socialist paradigm.

My sole was renewed when I was mingling at a restaurant during happy hour in southern Georgia when I first ventured back in ‘21. People were out having fun. What a novel idea! Maybe 5% of people had masks on and little kids were running around like there was nothing to worry about. I was in the land of the Free and loving it. This is what the Europeans are feeling right now as they venture about freely and cheaply within our lovely confines. Most U.S. citizens that haven’t traveled abroad have no idea how good we have it here. Thank goodness our distant European brethren are TikToking to remind us of the simple things that we take for granted.

When I peruse Instagram and see these astounded Futbol heads running around the states in a state of jubilant disbelief I can’t help but feel grateful. As a contractor I relay to my crew all the time how easy it is to build here because EVERYTHING is available quickly and is inexpensive. We can literally skin a cat a thousand ways here where you might be given two ways in other socialist haunts. The draw back to such ease is that laziness can set in. In the jungle a lot of our minds were nimble because we just had figuritout! The cavalier essence that built this country by people just figurinitout has led to the cush lifestyle that we are so blessed with.

In the jungle it was obvious that the Gringos were seen as an ATM. One of my Tico friends explained to me that we were all one phone call away from money (resources) and he was right. In other areas of the world there’s an air of desperation, as most people were not a phone call away from extra resources. There are so many resources here that are readily available that the level of convenience experienced is unprecedented. Sure in Europe I could get what I could get in the states, but it took twice as long for twice as much. Expediency and price are massive factors when considering quality of life. The shear immensity of this continent gives us so much natural capital that you can’t help but fall into work because the excess of things that grow here as compared to relatively small population.

The World Cup invasion of tourists parallels one of the themes in an awesome television show from a few years back. The Americans followed spies from the USSR in the 80’s that were planted in Virginia for espionage purposes, but they wrestled with how good life was here as compared to their mother Russia. The father figure wanted to defect because he understood that his children would have better opportunities in the USA and that neither political systems had the moral high ground. His wife had her loyalties anchored to the communist regime through some sort of Stockholm syndrome. The parallel I’m drawing between the 26’ World Cup tourists and The Americans is that the bad guy, The U.S.A, isn’t so bad.

I’m unaware of the psychological term, if there is any, that’s associated with someone’s negative demeanor towards their formative decadent environment. [Leave a comment if you know of a technical term]. In my case, I was just spoiled and was too arrogant to know any better until I traveled….. A bunch. I wasn’t traveling as a tourist in these other countries I lived in. I holed up with locals and took on their customs. As I matured and let go of my Utopian-like idealism, I found myself much like these futbol heads loving N. America. And just like those commy spies in The Americans I realized that all governments are perverse, so why not live in the land of opportunity. Enjoy the Venn diagram of goodness that we have here and that our Footy friends from abroad are getting a heaping taste of!