New is good

AMERI-THINK: Meet an American for the first time, and he’s likely to greet you with, ‘So what’s new?’ (abridged in Manhattan to ‘So, new?’) He wants more than a general progress report. One small part of him means it literally, begging an answer like, ‘Well, I’ve got a new Chevy / lover / food processor’. Because in America, new is good. Americans are the world greatest believers in progress. Life gets better all the time – or should. They expect a 70-year crescendo, starting at not-so-hot, and rising terrific.

Nothing will convince a True American (even an elderly one) that ‘things were better way back when ’. They point in evidence at the history of modern medicine: once there was smallpox, now there isn’t. Old things can be treated with a certain irreverence, since something better is always just around the corner. America is still new – still warm and gently throbbing – and so are the most desirable things in it. 0ver much of the country new property attracts a higher price than old, new shopping malls snatch customers from ‘old’ haunts as soon as they cut the ribbon on the parking lot. New products are greeted with enthusiasm, since advanced versions always include ‘improvements’. No point in clinging grimly to the past, or we’d never have traded gramophones for colour TV’s, buckshot for Star Wars, or headaches for coated aspirin.

BRIT-THINK: Life – and the simple passage of time – does not pre-suppose progress. At best, there are large flat areas. There’s little proof that things get better, and a great deal of evidence to suggest the opposite. Look at defence: we live with the threat of the Big Bang. Look at architecture: Victorians built better houses than we do. Look at sportsmanship: it was fairer play before they invented steroids. Look at AIDS. That’s new.

True Brits loathe newness, and display a profound fear of change. They see modern life as increasingly uncertain, events as random, and ‘untried’ ideas as undesirable. Even small changes can cause Brittrauma, with the nation shaken to its roots at suggestions that traditional red ‘phone boxes may be painted yellow. Far better to preserve the status quo, to hope that custom and ritual will somehow counter the capriciousness of fate. (Britain is the heartland of ‘We’ve Always Done It This Way’). Conclusion: change nothing unless forced. Remember that God usually gets it right first time.

3. Never forget you’ve got a choice

AMERI-THINK: Choice – lots of it – is as dear to the American heart as newness. The point about choice is to exercise it as much as possible. That’s why Yanks elect so many people: Presidents, governors, judges, senators, congressmen and dog-catchers.

Americans never commit themselves to anything for life. Leaders you can’t change – like Monarchs – make them nervous. They reserve the right to review decisions periodically; anything less is an attack on personal freedom, and reminds them of Communism. They even get edgy when fruit they like is out of season. Nowhere do people view restrictions with more alarm. They mistrust package holidays and long-term investments. Contracts of employment must contain appropriate ‘get out’ clauses. They plan vacations and shop for Christmas at the last minute, and make final decisions only when they’ve considered all possible choices. They conduct business by ‘phone, and avoid committing anything to paper. They don’t even like restaurants with set menus. The right to substitute a tossed salad for french fires is enshrined in the Constitution. Americans like to live life a la carte.

BRIT-THINK: The range of personal choice must be strictly limited (this is reflected in the retail industry, where dresses come in four sizes, shoes in one width, and ice-cream in four flavours). Too many options only confuse people, and encourage them to behave in a greedy and selfish way. It’s part of human nature to be happier when our horizons are limited, someone else is in charge, and we know what is expected of us.

That’s why Monarchs are so useful and the class system survives. Since the Second World War more options and higher expectations have spawned the ‘Me’ generation, which does not understand the relationship between the virtue and restriction. It will end in tears or anarchy (which is British for ‘unlimited choice’).