World Cup fans enamored by US culture should bring home more than ranch dressing

WORLD CUP TOURISTS SHOW THAT AMERICA IS WORTH CELEBRATING: JOE CONCHA Scottish soccer fan “shaunvlog_” proudly declares: “Every Scottish person in America needs to immediately try Chicken Fried Steak, and you’ll realise we and the Americans are kindred spirits.” U.K. soccer fan Sammie Bell has fallen in love with the Cheesecake Factory. Norishige Sato of Japan is blown away by free chips and salsa in Texas. For some reason, Europeans are astonished to see that yellow school buses are real, and you can ride them. Last, but far from least, is Sweden’s Elsa Thora, who came to our country for the soccer, and is leaving with an addiction to ranch dressing.

It’s easy to laugh at the “fish out of water” nature, but the reaction from most Americans is pride. The idea that we’ve had so many luxuries for so long serves as a much-needed reminder that there is much we take for granted. No doubt the early hysteria will die down, and the political Left in our own country is already trying to demonize anything that puts America in a good light.

However, when the World Cup is over, and the last bottle of ranch has been tucked into the checked baggage, there is something our out-of-town visitors should remember: Don’t ever again believe the lies you’ve been told about America. Just a few months ago, a report from the Institute of Economic Affairs shocked citizens of the United Kingdom. Analysts looked at where the U.K. would rank in per capita income among the states if it were to the U.S., and they found it would rank… 51st. This came as a huge shock to Britons who assumed their country would rank in the top ten, especially not below Mississippi.

The disconnect of reality caused the governor of The Magnolia State to respond in the most Mississippi way possible. The reality gap between what citizens of the rest of the world think about America and what is actually true is thankfully starting to close.

However, when they head home, there is one thing that would bring a little bit of American freedom back to their home country: energy dominance. When Europeans visit a Buc-ees, they should marvel at everything available inside, but they should really think about the massive number of gas pumps outside and their prices. As of June 22, here are the average gasoline prices per gallon in the home countries of our friendly visitors: Sweden – $7.02 United Kingdom – $7.90 Germany – $8.06 France – $8.55 Norway – $8.66 Say what you want, but those are prices even Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) would envy.

Just this week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced out of office in part because of his failure on energy. Starmer fought hard for more windmills and even harder against expanding oil drilling in the North Sea. And that’s even before the thousands of visitors return to Europe with tales of affordable luxury in the U.S. Being the world’s leading producer of energy has its privileges, and it didn’t happen by accident.

American energy workers show up 24 hours a day, and now that there’s competent leadership in Washington, D.C., we’re all remembering the benefits are so good that we take them for granted. THE WORLD’S CUP RUNNETH OVER Now that our friends have seen the abundance, convenience, and lower prices that define American life, it will be hard to go home and accept scarcity as sophistication. Ranch dressing may fit in a suitcase, but the bigger lesson will not. What they are really taking home is proof that American Energy Dominance doesn’t just power our economy, it powers the everyday greatness the rest of the world is finally seeing.

The question now belongs to our friends across the Atlantic: How ya gonna keep ’em down in Europe after they’ve seen the lights of Buc-ee’s? Larry Behrens is an energy expert and the Communications Director for Power The Future. He is also author of the book “Power Restored: President Trump’s First Year and the Revival of American Energy Leadership.” You can follow him on X/Twitter @larrybehrens.