A critical difference between the Brits and the Americans is that the British have the stubbornness and tenacity to bear up under incredible adversity. Americans, on the other hand, are more inclined to remove the adversity than to bear up under it.
Ogged notes that the distinction has wider applicabiilty than just Brits vs Americans, and he's looking for a term to describe it.
Some way to group together what a nation expects, accepts, tries to change, control, destroy, create. I think this will be the "That's How It Is Index." The U.S., has a low THIS Index, and you can see it in annoying things like frivolous lawsuits, but also in fantastic things like the moon mission, or the remarkable record of air safety. Near the other extreme, you have a place like Iran, where planes crash regularly, the roads are deathtraps, and people basically shrug. And the Europeans are somewhere in the middle. I've heard them described as "knowing what's important," but I wonder if they're just less motivated to keep making things "better" and so are able to do the things that people generally enjoy, like eating, drinking, and talking with friends (that is to say, no special knowledge of what's important required).
The stubborness of the Brits that Dave highlights suggests that the THIS Index may reflect one of those hallmarks of cultural identity that each group is rather attached to and, at least in both the British and American cases, embraces with a certain pride.