By Paul Bean

Yesterday I returned to the United States after more than a week in the UK and parts of Scandinavia.

I was there to speak about geoengineering at a health and wellness festival titled “The Wellness Way Festival,” hosted by the UK’s number one health podcaster Philly J. Lay. 

While there, I discovered quite a large number of differences and similarities between Jolly Ol’ England and our home here in New England, more specifically Vermont. Here’s what I discovered:

Free Speech:

Similar to our home state of Vermont and really New England as a whole (except for maybe New Hampshire) their rights to Free Speech are under assault. In Vermont, we know what it’s like to have our voices suppressed by not just government censors, but our peers, colleagues, and even family members. We have been silenced at board meetings, muted on zoom calls, and even mocked for even daring to question the status quo on Covid, climate change, DEI, and a wide variety of other related topics.

The major difference in England, however, is that most do not even realize there is something they should be standing up for, simply because they never even had the thought. 

“I would counter that it’s not even under assault,” one attendant of the Wellness Way Festival told me. “Maybe most people don’t even know what they would stand up for. Or what they would wanna put their voice to. That’s truly a truth within themselves.”

From my experience of mingling with everyday English people and exchange student friends, I get the sense this is very true. 

They don’t even realize there is something to speak out about and they have way less violent or angry reactions when you share your perspective. 

Sure, some people get offended or upset there when (for example) you tell them “I didn’t take the Covid shot,” but for the most part I found that many were genuinely curious why I did not. 

They had just never really heard of people that wouldn’t. They never questioned whether they should have or not.

You can not really say the same about a lot of New Englanders or Vermonters. When they find this out, not only are they not curious WHY you made your choice, but they often get angry. 

That being said, Free Speech in the United States is a lot more potent, alive, and effective than England and maybe even all of Europe.

One thing many of the English told me was that many people have been jailed for talking about immigration, specifically, and how immigrants have driven up the cost of living in England to insane levels. 

VDC Internationally Known for Free Speech:

This was one of the coolest experiences I had overseas.

At the Wellness Way Festival where I spoke as a guest, I met Alex from with Spartan Child Protection Team.

He walked right up to me and said:

“I know who you are. Vermont Daily Chronicle! Free Speech forever. I do my research.”

We had a nice conversation about VDC, our work, and what he does in the UK. Alex is a Scottish man who is a Free Speech activist and pedophile hunter. 

He became aware of our page last year during the whole pedophile “MAP Camp” scare and has been following us since and is even an occasional viewer of our podcast. 

My Friend English Pat and the Second Amendment 

I genuinely believed this before my travels and now it’s even more confirmed —

One of the biggest reasons our right to Free Speech is better than all other nations is because we have the guns to back it up. 

One of the questions I asked the English was, “Does America have too many guns?” So many said yes, we do, often citing school shootings (a tiny fraction of gun violence in the US) and other mainstream media narratives.

“There’s not much gun crime here,” said my friend Patrick from Manchester. “There’s a lot of gun crime in America and it’s because guns are much more available because they’re legal, to some people, I just feel like they’re easier to get ahold of, which is why there’s more gun crime.”

Another Englishman named Dan Astin Gregory had a much different perspective, specifically surrounding our First and Second Amendment rights. 

“Culturally we haven’t had the same experience. We don’t have the same direct connection to something like the first or second amendment,” said Dan. “So our view on the world won’t be informed by that history, so any view that I may have would be of my own observations, second hand or third hand as opposed to first hand.”

”I am someone who believes in non-violent resistance,” Astin-Gregory continued. “ I’d like to believe that one day we will live in a world where we can end violent conflict. You can argue that a gun is neutral until it’s in the hands of someone who has intent, just like social media.”

Trump

How quickly things turned political when people realized you were an American!

“Who did you vote for?” “Did you support Donald Trump?” “Do you support your President?” were some of the most commonly asked questions on my travels, especially amongst females below and within my age bracket. 

If I am being honest, this was a lot of fun for me. Thankfully I didn’t have a single experience that was bad as I explained to the best of my ability my view, and ultimately the country’s view on our current president. 

People were genuinely curious and wanted to know “what the heck is going on in America” and many found my perspective to be refreshing.

So much of what they hear about America in their mainstream media are outright lies, misinformation, and information lacking context.

In my experience, listening to the BBC Radio stations with my brother, I actually found their reporting on American news to be accurate and informative, but again lacking context. 

They all think Donald Trump is just like this insane, crazy man. They think he’s just impulsive, ridiculous, stupid, etc. 

I found this to be the case in not just the UK but also in Norway where everyone referred to him as “unpredictable.”

“Unpredictable,” I thought to myself… “why should our president have to constantly show his hand to the rest of the world that hates us/him?”

Thoughts on America 

I spoke to people from all over Europe. French people, Spanish people, Swedes and Dutch. Everyone has the same mentality about our great nation: entitlement. 

For some odd reason, Europeans seem to feel entitled to national security provided by the American taxpayer. They think our President’s new trade policy is “stupid,” and “unfair.”

In one conversation with a French guy, he simultaneously stated that “we should be doing more to help Ukraine” and that “We shouldn’t be allowed so much military and economic influence in Europe.”

They all seem to want to have their gateau and eat it too.

When mentioning that Trump might actually be able to end the Ukraine war, many scoffed at the idea. Almost like they don’t actually want the war to end… No one wants to believe that Trump could do it. I experienced these reactions among the English, Norwegians, French, and Germans. 

They all think he is just the most stupid person ever. So if and when the war does end with the help of President Trump, I wonder if anyone I spoke to will remember our conversations and perhaps change their hearts on America.

Almost Getting to Meet Vice President Vance in the UK

Finally one story I had to share with you all.

You may be familiar with the Englishman that has taken the internet by storm with his hilarious videos of grilling, cheeky pints, family time, and English pride! A-BOSH! 🇬🇧

Thomas Skinner, the English media personality and entrepreneur, has recently caught the attention of the American media, including me. Why? Because he’s awesome! 

Prior to going to the UK, I’ve had a handful of interactions with Skinner on X, but none like the one last weekend:

“Havin’ a cheeky pint at my favorite local pub in London after a long flight from Boston (first pub I’ve ever been to here😂). @iamtomskinner let’s have a pint mate! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇸 A-BOSH!” I wrote on X, with a video of me having a beer next to the Tower Bridge.

“Enjoy Brother, Bosh,” he replied. He then DM’s me, saying:

Unfortunately, because I was there in the first place to speak at the Festival, there was no way that I would skip that to meet Thomas…

But then just two days later he posts the following image of him and Vice President JD Vance writing

“Here is a pic of Me and Vice President @JDVance towards the end of the night after a few beers🍻 I’m overdressed in my suit, but when the VP invites you to a BBQ, you don’t risk turning up in shorts an flip-flops😂 Cracking night in the beautiful English countryside with JD, his friends and family. Once in a lifetime. Bosh❤️🇬🇧🇺🇸”

Now, can I be sure if I had gone to have a beer with Skinner that I would have been able to meet the VP? I have no clue. But at the very least it was one of those odd coincidences that just had me scratching my head… 

Last week Vice President Vance visited the UK for a combination of a family vacation and official engagements, starting with a meeting and fishing outing with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent to discuss issues like Gaza and Ukraine.

Additionally, Vance met with U.S. troops at RAF Fairford and held discussions with political figures like Nigel Farage, reflecting both personal and diplomatic objectives during his trip.

RAF Fairford is part of the joint base operation that my brother is part of stationed there Serving the USAF. 

None of us knew JD was going to be in the vicinity. 

Nonetheless, this is a brief summary of my travels, and man what a whirlwind it was! I am so thankful to be home safely and back in our great nation where we truly do have rights.