Speed is scary

2012-10-24

Pushing the limit | Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune

Americans, as a rule, are a fearless people, except when it comes to driving faster than 55 miles per hour on their ridiculously wide open roads.

Growing up in Germany, we always thought of American speed limits as typical government overreach, infringing on the God-given right to drive at any speed you like. Only after moving here, I learned that in this one case, it’s not the government’s fault. Americans are genuinely scared of speed.

Guns and the frontier

2012-08-12  

Colt Walker Model 1847 | Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes you meet a truly great mind, brilliant in so many ways, totally awe-inspiring. But after a while you may also find that there is a scary streak of insanity running somewhere deep down between the folds of his oversized brain.

That’s probably how even the most sympathetic Germans feel about America and its obsession with firearms.