Peter Rudd
Being told you can be President some day – as American boys and girls are – can make you more ambitious and hopeful in the beginning; more morose when you realize it’s not happening; and prone to illusion throughout.
Being told you will never be PM – as happens in the UK – will acquaint you with the truth very early in life and may set you on the course of pulling every punch.
Ricky Gervais on some differences between Brits and Americans.
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, I would say that Americans are more “down the line.” They don’t hide their hopes and fears. They applaud ambition and openly reward success. Brits are more comfortable with life’s losers. We embrace the underdog until it’s no longer the underdog. We like to bring authority down a peg or two. Just for the hell of it. Americans say, “have a nice day” whether they mean it or not. Brits are terrified to say this. We tell ourselves it’s because we don’t want to sound insincere but I think it might be for the opposite reason. We don’t want to celebrate anything too soon. Failure and disappointment lurk around every corner. This is due to our upbringing. Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States. Brits are told, “It won’t happen for you.”
The Difference Between American and British Humour, Ricky Gervais, Time, Nov. 09, 2011
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