{"id":1750,"date":"2026-08-30T06:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T06:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2026-08-30T06:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T06:12:24","slug":"air-conditioning-and-other-american-sins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1750","title":{"rendered":"Air Conditioning and Other American Sins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Expats have never been exceptionally rational creatures, and today\u2019s version is no different. Most have benefited enormously from everything America offered them\u2014pensions, divorce settlements, inherited wealth\u2014and then taken it overseas to complain about the place that made it possible. This tradition goes back to the \u201cLost Generation,\u201d those insufferable rich kids who decamped to Europe, especially Paris in the 1920s, to whine about America. Sadly, many befriended newspaper editors, magazine publishers, and literary gatekeepers, so their prolonged adolescent angst survived and still infects university English departments and bookstores today. By comparison, they look positively right-wing next to the postmodernists who followed, who dressed up tribal resentment in dense academic jargon. But when your literary tradition starts with \u201cwoe is me, I\u2019m fucking rich but I identify with the common man,\u201d it\u2019s not a long leap to full-blown whining and affectation masquerading as art.<\/p>\n

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Expats have contributed precious little to European society. They\u2019re mostly posers\u2014living like landed gentry among the locals while pretending to blend in. Some locals profit from their real estate investments or patronage, sure, but their commentary on America is one-note resentment. They import none of the American capacity for generosity or clear-eyed thoughtfulness. To fit in and be \u201cone of the guys,\u201d they\u2019ll swallow even the craziest falsehoods about the country they left. They\u2019ll praise European showers and washing machines that barely work, insist that owning a dryer will murder the planet, and defend the rude asshole running the corner caf\u00e9 who treats American customers like dirt. It\u2019s self-loathing on steroids. They can\u2019t bring themselves to admit that not everything American is bad and not everything European is wonderful.<\/p>\n

Well, I can. Living in Italy hasn\u2019t made me want to trash my own country. I\u2019m fully aware of what America gave me: a place to live, a roof over my head, an education, a livelihood, and a home for ancestors driven from their homeland by despicable acts. But I\u2019m also American enough to want to contribute to whatever community I\u2019m in. That starts with respecting local customs and manners. But it also doesn\u2019t mean turning your brain off. Sometimes you have to say what you know is true, even if it offends people.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the uncomfortable truth: Europe is failing its poor and elderly during these brutal summer heatwaves. It\u2019s become fashionable among the European and American intelligentsia to claim that air conditioning will kill the planet\u2014or spread illness, or whatever other nonsense they trot out at the same dinner parties where Trump is Hitler, there are 72 genders, pig intestines are gourmet, and eating insects \u201cwasn\u2019t that bad.\u201d It\u2019s nauseating. Stick around long enough and listen to this kind of nonsense and even Abbie Hoffman would be reaching for an NRA membership card.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s stay focused on air conditioning. Europe\u2019s summers have been scorching for more than a decade. Prolonged stretches above 100\u00b0F (38\u00b0C) have been disastrous. In 2022, heat-related deaths reached approximately 62,000\u201370,000 across Europe. Another roughly 63,000 died during the summer of 2024. These numbers rival or exceed major historical tragedies in scale, yet they receive far less urgency than other causes of death. The human toll is compounded by serious knock-on effects: overwhelmed hospitals, spikes in cardiovascular and kidney issues, widespread dehydration, and thousands of preventable deaths among the elderly and vulnerable who simply can\u2019t cope with the heat in poorly adapted homes and care facilities.<\/p>\n

Beyond the deaths, the economic damage is substantial and getting worse. Heat stress significantly reduces labor productivity, particularly in outdoor work, construction, agriculture, and even indoor service sectors without proper cooling. Studies from the International Labour Organization and the European Commission\u2019s Joint Research Centre show that high temperatures lead to measurable drops in work output, increased absenteeism, and lower cognitive performance. In a continent already grappling with sluggish growth, high unemployment (especially among young people in southern Europe), and demographic aging, this adds up. Estimates suggest that without better adaptation, heat-related productivity losses could shave billions off Europe\u2019s GDP annually as heatwaves intensify. Sectors like manufacturing, logistics, and tourism suffer when workers slow down, infrastructure buckles (rail lines warp, roads degrade), and businesses lose operating hours. Southern European economies, which already lag, pay an especially heavy price for clinging to traditional schedules instead of investing in climate resilience.<\/p>\n

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Europe has spent decades mocking American air conditioning while clinging to siesta-style schedules that surrender the hottest hours of the day. Instead of designing buildings and economies for productivity in heat, they just shut down. That might have made sense in an agrarian past. In a modern service economy\u2014especially one already struggling with low growth and high unemployment\u2014it\u2019s self-sabotage. American \u201cexcess\u201d didn\u2019t appear out of nowhere. It came from hard work and relentless adaptation: draining swamps, developing antibiotics, sterilizing instruments, building cars for mobility. Air conditioning is the same\u2014a tool that lets hot places like Arizona, Nevada, and inland California keep functioning.<\/p>\n

Look at Phoenix versus Seville. Phoenix hits 109\u2013115\u00b0F (43\u201346\u00b0C) regularly, yet offices stay open, construction continues, restaurants hum, sports go on indoors, hospitals and airports function. The city adapted to its desert climate. Seville gets almost as hot but essentially closes in the afternoon. Productivity tanks, the elderly suffer, and the economy lags. Similar gaps exist between Las Vegas and Rome, Palm Springs and Sicily, Dallas and Naples, Houston and Athens. No one sweating through an Athens summer calls it glorious. In struggling economies across southern Europe, the fix is straightforward: turn on the damn air conditioning and grab some ice. Nonna shouldn\u2019t die in her apartment because the hospitals are full and she can\u2019t manage the stairs.<\/p>\n

As the saying goes, the definition of stupid is doing the same failing thing and expecting different results. Europe\u2019s allergy to air conditioning isn\u2019t quaint or planet-saving. It\u2019s killing people and economies. It\u2019s flat-out stupid.<\/p>\n

Research from the International Labour Organization, the European Commission\u2019s Joint Research Centre, and others backs this: heat slashes labor productivity, and air conditioning is one of the most effective countermeasures. The argument against AC isn\u2019t entirely false\u2014it\u2019s worse. It\u2019s selectively true. Yes, cooling uses power and refrigerants. But so do the hospitals, trains, data centers, and jobs that keep society running. Europeans love lecturing Americans about guns, yet a continent where heat now kills tens of thousands annually treats a life-saving, economy-preserving tool as decadent excess. It\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Read more Illegal Aliens Deported Last Week Include Murders, Rapists, Arsonists<\/a><\/p>\n

And for crissake, put some ice in your Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

This content originally appeared on Abstract Truth Substack.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expats have never been exceptionally rational creatures, and today\u2019s version is no different. 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