The Ukraine war struck fear in Europeans on how to stay warm this winter. Months ago, at the earliest sign of trouble, the German minister of energy flew to Qatar. Apparently burning fossil fuels to access more fossil fuels didn’t solve their perceived problem of lacking fossil fuels.

I haven’t heard anyone comment that people have lived in Europe for over 50,000 years without burning fossil fuels, and no they weren’t living on the verge of death all the time either. I grew up thinking we used technology to improve our lives, but I guess we used it to make us more dependent.

In any case, New Yorkers have figured out how to help. Here’s a restaurant with an open outdoor shed. It’s empty of people. If you look carefully, you’ll see the fires in the portable heaters. They’re heating the empty outdoors by burning fossil fuels, benefiting nobody, but just burning fossil fuels, polluting the air, paying to displace people (and wildlife) from their land, and raising prices while lowering availability for cold Europeans.

Here’s a view of the other side, equally empty, equally burning fossil fuels to nobody’s benefit and the world’s detriment. “Ha ha,” they’re thinking, “fuck you, Europe! We’re just burning gas and not even for the fun of it. We’re even losing money doing it, LOL.”

This restaurant isn’t special. Soon, every place in the city with a shed will be burning gas or coal through electric heaters to heat the outdoors. New Yorkers are so disgusted with the practice that they flock to patronize these places. They do it because it’s profitable.

New Yorkers “helping” Europe and humanity brings a tear to the eye.

---

But seriously: what awful people and what an awful part of our culture.

• ← Elements of the brighter future I envision
• Voting litter →