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2/ I have lived in Germany for two decades and have observed the pro-A/C contingent here go from total defeat to now being on the verge of victory. The reason is normies. I remember visiting a local grocery store in my neighborhood just after it installed air-conditioning.
3/ This was 2016. You'd see dozens of people enter the store from the hot sticky weather outside and visibly transform, chattering with surprise and pleasure. Of course, people spent 3x as much time and 1.5 times as much money in that store to get relief from sticky heat.
4/ After this experience, they realize the only way to achieve truly comfortable temperature *and humidity* on a hot summer day is air-conditioning. They save up €250 and buy a portable "monoblock" unit for their apartment. Loud and inefficient but gets the job done.
5/ But these are ordinary middle- and working-class Germans, who are just as pragmatic as people anywhere. The urban haute bourgeoisie -- bureaucrats, public media executives, NGO employees, humanities grads, journalists, professors, lawyers, judges, etc. -- are the holdouts.
6/ First of all, *every one* of these people has a story about visiting the USA and nearly freezing to death in an over air-conditioned store or office. Every. Damn. One. I can predict exactly when they will wheel out this traumatic tale, I just let it unfold naturally.
7/ This anecdote conveys two pieces of status-related information. First: "I can afford to travel overseas." Second: "Americans are ignorant and wasteful." To these people, A/C is the ultimate American solution to a problem. Instead of accepting nature as it is, Americans
8/ use expensive, wasteful technology to artificially change the environment to fit their fat, lazy lifestyles. They insist on defying and conquering nature, not "cooperating" with her. And they don't care if they cook the planet while they do so. I'd be lying if I said
9/ this argument was 100% bogus, there's certainly some truth to it. But the European urban haute bourgeoisie turns it into a rigid ideological aversion to any form of air-conditioning. They wear understated linen clothes, their children play with wooden toys, and they
10/ buy organic food and "sustainable" everything. There's certainly no way in hell they're going to put a loud, energy-hogging piece of *American* technology into their quaint high-ceilinged apartment in a 140-year-old building. Which is fine, except for one fact:
11/ These people regard these decisions not just as their personal lifestyle choices, but rather as a *model for all of society*. They regard themselves as a revolutionary vanguard of advanced ecological consciousness which must aid the less enlightened to reduce their carbon
12/ footprints. And these people *run German society*. They dominate in public broadcasting and urban planning circles. Just a few weeks ago, on the main evening news show, which is watched by millions, a journalist doing a feature on a heat wave mentioned air-conditioning
13/ only to have the studio moderator immediately break in and say "Yes but air-conditioning is a climate-killer" and the remote journalists nodded in agreement, as if this were universally accepted self-evident truth. Which, among the circles *they frequent*, it is.
14/ Urban planners and people who create construction codes in Germany are also brigadiers in the anti-A/C jihad. All across Europe and the UK, urban planners and bureaucrats and officials are preparing "heat reduction" plans to cope with increasingly frequent European heatwaves.
15/ As often as not, these reports never even mention air-conditioning. They talk about "cooling centers", "misting stations", "cooling vests", sunshades, blinds, louvers, more trees, more parks, complicated evaporation cooling systems, adjusted work rules, etc.
16/ But never once do they even mention air-conditioning, even when addressing "vulnerable populations" such as schoolchildren or hospital patients or seniors. It's almost as if these planning bureaucrats take a perverse pride in ignoring the elephant in the room.
17/ And the irony is that sustaining all of these complex, inadequate solutions during long heatwaves is more expensive and inefficient than just installing A/C. Which is safer and cheaper: Rounding up all 85 residents of a nursing home and transporting them
18/ to a makeshift "cooling center" where they'll be sprayed with mist in front of fans -- or just putting an air-con unit in each resident's room? The answer is obvious to a pragmatic normie, but is unacceptable to a "sustainability"-obsessed member of the laptop class.
19/ Which is why it's pretty common on sweltering days to hear Germans complain about the "goddamn 'eco-this' 'organic-that' pencil pushers" who continue to force them to sweat for hours in overheated hospitals, classrooms, and offices.
Every French person - zero exceptions - has the same story about the one time they used AC and got sick.
The psychology of the hatred of air conditioning is similar to psychology of hatred of nuclear energy, which Germany exemplifies perfectly
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Michael A. Arouet
@MichaelAArouet
Germany switching off its perfectly fine nuclear power plants, but keeping coal power plants instead to fight climate change in one picture. Enjoy your air quality.
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They hate most solutions: nuclear, urban density, structural reforms, market mechanisms, poor world infra investment, immigration restrictions, etc.
It's not about emissions. It's status, power, resentment, vibes.
The irony is Germany shut off nuclear power and mostly heat their homes with methane gas. It takes far less energy to cool a home 20º F with electricity than it does to heat one 30-50º F by burning methane. If everyone moved further south and cooled their homes with nuclear, wind
Here's a simple trick to get the Europeans to use air conditioners. Give them a bunch of heat pumps, and once they're all installed tell them "oh yeah by the way, these can also cool your house!"
The elites will never see it coming.
GIF
In Finland I haven't noticed any ideological resistance to AC. I believe it's the same in other Nordic countries. It’s interesting, since up here in the north we don’t need it as much as in warmer countries down south (there aren’t many hot days, and a lot of houses stay cool
Side benefit of AC is that it keeps the humidity low which is better for storage of firearms and ammo.
Do you think short-term rentals are changing minds? I’ve spent a bit of time in France and Italy and every rental we stayed in was air conditioned. I wasn’t even looking for that as a requirement, they just had it.
Sadly accurate.
The disdain for abundance is a bit of a tragedy.
We often fall back on the old habit of using 'Western' as synonym for 'modern' -- but that ignores both the backward-looking EU and forward-looking Asia.
Great thread. Did you see how AC is becoming a political signifier in the US itself?
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Annalisa Fernandez
@BecauseCulture
Replying to @billybinion
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I live in Portugal and we don't have any restrictions to AC that I know of. I'm currently in bed with AC at 16⁰C and loving it
GIF
Great thread. Thanks. Is there at play though a sort of bourgeois hypocrisy you see in so many other subjects? Like they publicly despise AC but use it privately?
Nice thread. Now do the apathy toward ice in drinks throughout continental Europe.
"Hey, Sven. The American wants a second cube in his drink. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Nothing brings me more joy than knowing that Europeans are sweating through every summer as a way to express their anti-Americanism. 
Have migrants demand air conditioning and things will change
The European mind is loathe to admit that American ingenuity has surpassed their collective contributions and that their relevance is waning worldwide. Even admitting to small, seemingly insignificant things like Air Conditioning seems existential to them.
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Jabroni Whisperer @minarchis1
Replying to @memeticsisyphus
Given population distributions, lack of AC in the WHO European Region is actually significantly deadlier in total numbers of attributable deaths compared to the availability of firearms is to American citizens.
Just more proof that the Green Agenda is a death cult.
This mentality is definitely why Europe is a lost cause. They used to be conquerors but now have simply been conquered. Americans and Chinese love AC.
You can’t “cooperate” with temperature, only suffer it or conquer it in some way
When it gets hot in Paris my French aristocrat friend goes and stays with her family on the coast of Brittany
This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen someone waste what appears to be a significant amount of his time on.
Log off buddy.
Maybe A/C could do for Germany what it did for the American South:
Fancy mental gymnastics. These types overthink every room and every situation and inevitably start to even dictate towards perceived issues they are only grasping at for some sense of scale. They’d lead you off a cliff if it meant they had to admit where they were wrong.
We will be in France for 8 days next month, eating and sleeping on an air conditioned river boat. In comfort.
Do these same people not have AC in their vehicles? Or are they that committed, they don’t have a car at all?
I think the continent is just learning *why* it's prototypically American...it's damn *hot* sometimes
I am both American and European and I definitely side with Europe here. But why is this such a popular discussion now? Seems to have become part of the culture wars?
Yes, Germany and the rest of the EU is held hostage by hippie commies who are anti-humanists. What else is new.
They’ll fire up coal plants and raze nuclear power plants to the ground. If they could they’d return to the Middle Ages (in many a way they are) while America and
I installed it in my house three years ago. Use it most of the summer.
What’s even worse for Europeans is because they built their society around not implementing air conditioning, they don’t have the energy available to support such an implementation.
Europe would be brought to its knees if people decided they want air conditioning. They just
My rich European relatives moved out of the EU to an Asian country where AC is prevalent & paid a ton of money to have the AC removed from the residence they bought. It wasn’t enough to just not used it, the equipment & ducts needed to be removed entirely.
Such a silly people.
If you told me that the German Green movement was a Soviet intelligence op aimed at undermining the West that somehow took on a life of its own I would believe you.
Germany is further north than every single major US city. The southernmost point of the UK is further north than every state but Alaska. The south east is on similar longitudes to the northern Sahara. Europeans don’t have any concept for how hot the US is.
The Germanic world is especially consumed by Neo-Malthusianism, hence the success of the Green movement there. This observation of yours doesn’t apply to the rest of Europe. Latins, Greeks, and Slavs don’t have anything against aircon.
I think this also explains why having AC units at home is more popular in the former Eastern Bloc countries than in Western European ones. IMO it's because the Eastern Bloc's inhabitants tend to be much less ideological, and more pragmatic, on average, than Western Europeans.
Europe is not a country. I don't know how Germans handle AC, but I can tell you that in Greece, every apartment has 1-2-3 AC units. Then again, it's not uncommon to see 45 C in Athens, so the needs are totally different
My theory so far is that it’s mainly the climate that impacts such dynamics. Look at Southern Europe vs Northern Europe, Southern China vs Northern China. Since the climate is changing, so does the attitude, and normies are just pragmatic. How about US? Is it different there?
Will any American stop ever saying "Europe" when they have only experienced living in one country of the 27 that are part of EU?
Plus the A/C being prototypical American is a concept straight from a movies of the 80s.
I love being American. Wearing my understated linen clothes, surrounded by wooden toys, drinking my acidic filtered water out of glass, thriving, chilling with my AC (heat pump) completely oblivious to the idea that it could be a Whole Thing.
well-said. Same bourgeois will happily use the AC on their Barcelona city weekend break or vacation rental in Sardinia; happily enjoy it in their offices... and all the while, electricity is available at NEGATIVE prices when you need AC thanks to photovoltaics
In some ways it’s simpler. A common belief (I would say superstition) in Europe is that being in a cold room or drinking ice cold water is bad and it will make you really sick. It’s irrational, but subconsciously accepted as “common sense” for generations.
The point about AC making the environment worse, is true.
Throwing heat out into the street makes the outside of cities way, way less pleasant to live. Hotter, more humid.
The easy solution, of course, would be a coordinated installation of AC units on top of buildings
oh my fucking god bring back salon dot com articles about white fragility
I’m so done hearing about air conditioners in Europe, find a new inconsequential thing to be a pseud about
And then I read this and laugh...
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Michael A. Arouet
@MichaelAArouet
Germany switching off its perfectly fine nuclear power plants, but keeping coal power plants instead to fight climate change in one picture. Enjoy your air quality.
Don’t be the dad without life insurance.
Get same-day coverage with Ethos life insurance.
Good thread. I like historical / European ways of managing heat, e.g. traditional architecture, greenery, and good urban planning. But these are complements to (and not substitutes of) air conditioning.
Saying this as a European and the proud owner of an AC unit.
street walk. Europeans are afraid that using ac will go against the custom of street walking
The very fact that people are discussing about whether air conditioning is necessary in Europe is really fascinating to me. It’s like living in a century ago 
The dumbest thing about these eco conscious anti-A/Cers is that heating is far worse for the environment than A/C and yet you don’t see the same dumb crusade there.
Wow. That's crazy. Lots of Americans have a similarly illogical bias against BEVs.
ask yourself 'what would Russia and China want for Germany' and that is quite often what their elite class tells the public they should have
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Skeletor 
@TheMuppetPastor
And I’m proud to be an American
Where at least I have AC
And I won’t forget the HVAC guy
Who gave that right to me
And I’ll proudly stand up
Next to him
And install one here today
Cause there ain’t no doubt
I love cool air
God bless the USA! x.com/IntuitiveLulu/…
TIL that urban planners and public broadcasting employees "run German society".
The sustainability crowd is masking the real issue. Europe does not have the social license to develop its own resources. By crying "scarcity", it absolves itself of having to deal with the situation and has the normies thinking they are doing it for the greater good.
Stop the FUD right here. AC is widely accepted and used in Europe. Just because more people don't like it or don't have it doesn't mean anything.
I repeat AC is not prototypically American.
The question I have is why no ceiling fans? Simple, useful, efficient technology that would make most summer days much more bearable. But there are almost none.
idk about germany but here in italy (rome) everyone who has AC is considered cool , friends like visiting me because i have ac. no one mentions the environment, they mention the cost of the bill and thats it lmfao
“*every one* of these people has a story about visiting the USA and nearly freezing to death in an over air-conditioned store or office.”
Only women complain about this.
Reference 8 years ago
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Mark Plackett 
@MarkPlackett1
@simonahac Comprehensive report here on Cooling costs and climatechange in EU x.com/PURIX_Int/stat
Could be a cost benefit for utilities to pay for Insulation retrofits to avoid HVAC peak load
Philippe Fabry have a similar theory, it is "distinction sociale" by leading class, from urbanized areas (Benelux&West Germany, plus metropolis). They bless their own lifestyle, show their virtue... too bad it's in french and for members only
Well said, to the point. A/C settings in the US tend to really be off though, the sudden difference is quite unpleasant and screws you over when wearing light summer clothing for the heat. There's some truths to the drama people are putting on, although it's of course exaggerated
This is killed in DE by WEG - you can't install split without agreement because it "defaces" the outside of building. Then 1 gets it, all want it, so elec needs upgrading. Got AC in my house 5 years ago. And yes, I have been in US hotel bar in Jan with the AC on full blast...
Meanwhile in parts of East Asia, access to AC is almost treated like a fundamental right
Your entire thread applies word for word to France too, with the exact same protagonists !
With one difference making it even wilder : they still use the "climate killer" argument in spite of French electricity being 5-10x less carbon intense than Germany's, thanks to 
!
!
"air conditioning" is right-wing coded (individualist) coded, "heat pump" is left-wing (collectivist, sustainable, ecological) coded. It's the same machine! But right-wingers hate heat pumps, and left-wingers hate air conditioning. It's all posturing, like anything else in life.
Surely those same air conditioners, when run in reverse-mode are the very heat pumps being pushed by that same class of people?
For some me parts of the EU, where I am in Ireland, for example, this entire dialogue is somewhat academic.
Was totally wild to me to feel hot in an airport, like the Düsseldorf one.
>Air-conditioning is seen as prototypically American
so are cars, phones, computers and F'n electricity, but they have no issues with those.
So happy I’m not a mainland European. I’ll enjoy my cheap energy and air conditioned spaces
I love how the "wasteful Americans" story passes right over the storyteller's (massively carbon-spewing) transatlantic flight.
is growing - their buildings are made to hold heat no dissipate it and permanent catastrophic climate realignment is going to make most of Europe unlivable unless they do something to help themselves.
Lots of text and whining to just acknowledge without wanting that "others found workarounds" to a problem that lasts at best ¼ of the year.
Do you think they'd entertain the idea of vertical in-ground heat pumps using plain water in the pipes? What about hydronically cooled and heated floors?
Would they entertain the idea of deep awnings, cupola exhausts, & ridge vents on thermostats? Anything?
Their problem
German public office buildings are not allowed to be build with Aircon if I recall. Interestingly they fail to push heat pumps, but would be very succesful if they allowed aircon with heating option and it would be more efficient heat pump in heating as well. CRAZY
This is all pointless.
Europeans are wrecking the environment, making global warming worse by bringing in millions of people who will 1000x their carbon footprint by becoming richer.
They simply can't afford it. Europeans and Canadians have no money because it all goes to taxes for "free" healthcare.
The most important thing invented for productivity in the last 70 years. Italy could do with more of it.
They don't like AC because they can't afford it thanks to their insane policies; they're just rationalizing it
Millennial early 30s German girl I work with, will sheepishly admit she comes into the office to cool down (no AC in her apt). Everything is climate cult to her: the “heatwave” meaning “summer” is “climate change”, and the AC accelerates climate change.
Too funny.. I'm first gen Canadian from German immigrants and I grew up with this attitude 100%
and I use AC very sparingly despite brutal hot flashes and this crazy summer.
and I use AC very sparingly despite brutal hot flashes and this crazy summer.
At the core, Americans are pragmatic & Europeans are not. Europeans like to do funny little dances with themselves to make themselves feel superior until they finally end up doing what Americans do out of necessity. Immigration will be the same as their air conditioning battles.
It's even dumber as Germans are installing PV systems everywhere which produce superfluous energy during the summer time that nobody consumes.
“Air conditioning is a climate killer” is a take so retarded only a Europoor could come up with it
Once the Islamists, imported from sweltering countries, are in charge, western Europe will become cooled within an inch of its life.
Good riddance to anyone who suffers in hot, humid weather when they can plunk down 250 euro for a magic box that can make their lives wonderful. And all to spite we Americans, who couldn’t give a single sh*t what they’re doing or why.
Exactly, this is how we are :) and let‘s Face it: you dont neee A/C in Germany except 2 weeks of the year
Ok pretending like you’re better than everyone else has very funny consequences
Look, the fact of the matter is that Europeans are now a collection of poor unindustrialized people. They look for primitive solutions to free them from the yoke of Russian energy, because Europe's technology has declined to the point where they can't produce their own.
My fellow Canadians can be an idiotic lot at times but we like our AC. We still have a segment of our population who believes paying a carbon tax will mitigate the effects of climate change.
Funny how they hate America enough to let their own citizens die in heatwaves rather than use our tech, but don’t hate us enough to stop taking our money or military.
Europe is nothing but museum at this point. And in another two decades, they will be fully taken over by Islam. Then they will have something to really complain about. I’m so glad I’m an American
Suffering needlessly is a mental disorder. If it's hot use air conditioning, if it's cold use heating.
Do they not use the climate control in their cars either???
This anti-AC thing is entirely an American delusion, I’m European and everyone I know, literally everyone, either has AC at home or wants to have it
You could have simply summarised your targeted and slanted posting as the musings of a North American with an Inferiority complex.
Don’t be the dad without life insurance.
Get same-day coverage with Ethos life insurance.
muscles are the heaters of the body, the ave. euro govt worker has no muscles and bodies atrophy horribly thus no heaters thus freezing in AC rooms
As an American this whole discussion is baffling.
I thought the greenie trend was towards high-efficiency, low-emission electric heat pumps. Which also can do A/C. And can be run with no climate impact off nuclear.oower plants.
...wait...you guys really have let them fuck you
This entire left wing tech blind narrative needs to end. These problems are not existential and will be solved within a generation. Please move on to AI capture or something that actually matters.