Brit soap

If the formula for American soap opera is high-life and success, Brits prefer low-life and failure. As Yanks sit transfixed by the private lives of oil tycoons, Brits dwell on the meagre surroundings of the socially deprived. Hence, the continuing popularity of Coronation Street, andEast Enders. If the glossy images and fantasies peddled inDallas andDynasty are gratifying to one side, long-running sagas of grinding poverty are just as compelling to the other. Brits seem to find them soothing. They provide proof if any is needed – that most men lead lives of quiet desperation; nasty, brutish and short. They match the national pessimism about:

1. things changing for the better;

2. things changing at all.

Yanks find it thrilling to think there are yet more dazzling heights to achieve; Brits find it comforting to know that there is always someone worse off than you are.

Strike it rich

It follows that Americans generally want to, while Brits aren’t that bothered. A favourite T-shirt, often seen on the streets of Manhattan, encapsulates Yank-think. It reads: ‘Whoever Has The Most Things When He Dies Wins’. In the absence of other criteria for success, goods and assets will do. Life is very nearly quantifiable in cash terms. For instance: Yanks have never really believed that ‘money won’t buy health’. No one who’s had dealings with the American medical profession would swallow that. As smart old Jimmy Durante once said: ‘I’ve been rich ... and I’ve been poor. And rich is better.’

Brits cherish the ‘rigidities’ in the system, and seek to preserve them ... that they do notsincerely want to be rich. (Well, not that much, anyway. Wouldn’t say no to a win on the pools). Such an idea is entirely outside the experience of Joe Average.

No: Britain is not a failed version of the US financial model. It fails on its own terms. The structure is a dead weight, bearing down equally on the ‘Them’ side and the ‘Us’ side, ensuring paralysis and a certain symmetry. To Yank amazement, the British public seems content, and will vote in huge numbers for any Party promising not to change a thing.

Success story Double standards

BRIT-THINK:Generally, Brits feel that to succeed – especially in financial terms – is, proportionately, to deprive someone else. They see society’s resources as finite, so too great a concentration in individual hands is greedy and anti-social. This perception is not exclusive to Socialists, but is often shared by those on the political right: ‘we-think’. Achievement must be tempered with a sense of social responsibility. Brits don’t like piggies, and will unite in condemnation of anyone suspected of trying to corner a market.

Brit-censure does not extend to high-profile figures awash withinherited wealth. Even the poorest of the poor feel no resentment for the Queen or Royal Family, with their vast (tax-free) incomes and estates. This is because it’s not the Queen’sfault that she is rich. God knows, she didn’t try, and it’s probably a worry to her. (Heavy lies the head that controls the Crown Estates).

Self-made men are admired (Sir Freddie Laker, Sir Clive Sinclair) as long as they don’t push things too far (folie de grandeur). Brits are pessimists, believing that many a reach for the stars ends in a fall to earth. They often warm more to heroes on the way down (Sir Freddie Laker). Ideally, achievement should appear effortless. Success – unless it’s somewhat fortuitous – can look grubby and gauche. Failure is at very least decorous, and rather dignified.Cosier than unmitigated success.