Pi-Consulting

Winston Churchill jokingly – and affectionately – called them “Two great nations separated by a common language”. The “separation” he referred to did mean that “You say Tomaytos, and I say Tomahtos”, but that part never got in the way of the idea that here was a very “special relationship” indeed. As countries, Britain and America seem to many outside observers to form a kind of indissoluble “Anglo-Saxon Front”, resolutely seeing the world in pretty much the same way, following the same basic domestic and foreign policies, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder to see those policies enacted.

Brits and Yanks may like each other a lot, and visit each other’s countries enthusiastically come vacation time. But does this mean that the two nations share most of their fundamental attitudes? Pi has tested that thesis over several years now, and found it to be almost completely without foundation. More on that below.

Now the august British weekly newspaper The Economist has weighed in with its own findings on the subject. In March this year, they commissioned a simultaneous poll on both sides of the Atlantic, with YouGov asking the questions in the UK, and Polimetrix doing the honors in the US. A thousand respondents in each country were quizzed on their fundamental attitudes to a wide range of “things in life”. “Broadly”, reports the Economist, “the differences between the two countries look more striking than the similarities”.

The full results of the survey make fascinating reading, and can be found at www.economist.com/anglosaxon. Highlights: “The gap between Britain and America is widest on religion. …Britain is famously a post-Christian society, and Americans are …rediscovering the faith of their fathers”. “Britons are more international than the Americans, and keener on free trade and globalization”. Instinctively polarized opinions are more visible between members of the US population, with Britons more disposed to see their fellow-citizens’ point-of-view. By contrast, “Only nationalism seems to unite America’s left and right”. Just don’t look for the fervent American kind of patriotism in the UK these days. In January this year, the figure of Britannia was banished permanently from British coinage. The UK’s national flag has been reduced to a kitsch prop for noisy football fans, when not draped provocatively over the contours of a Spice Girl, or providing the backdrop to irreverent cartoons of Prince Charles looking goofy on a coffee-mug.

If doubts remain as to how different American and British attitudes can be, Pi can now dispel them. We Pi-Charted (what else?) both nations, and realized that they headed in fundamentally opposing directions on way more than half of Pi’s attitudinal measurements.

The average American professes a long-term commitment to “The American Dream”, a culture of ‘can-do’ go-getting, self-fulfillment, serious commitment to acquiring money and getting ahead. The American way is to live by your religious convictions, care what people think of you, “do the right thing” at home, trust in those in authority, and leave the rest of the world to get on with its own affairs.

The equivalent attitudes in the UK are those of short-term thinkers, restless and impulsive opportunists, with little faith or respect reserved for either Earthly or Heavenly authority. British conventionality means shoulder-shrugging resignation to an unsatisfactory state of affairs. After all, what can you do? Better to dedicate your efforts to the pursuit of fun, entertainment, and materialistic opulence.

Pi’s blogmeister is strongly reminded of the old joke about the difference between an American factory worker leaving through the factory gates on Friday night, and his British equivalent. The American watches his boss sweep by in a huge Lincoln, and says “Damn, one day, I’ll have a car like that”. The Brit watches HIS boss speed past in his Rolls Royce, and mutters “Flash git, he should be riding a bicycle like everyone else”.

Joined at the hip? We don’t think so. Pi rests its case, no foolin’.