But unlike Americans, Britons like their reality to be depressingly, and sometimes tediously, real.

ECONOMIST: We love you, Big Brother

There is no debate going on and the result will be one-sided and depressingly divisive.

ECONOMIST: Police complaints

Whereas some see in Pakistan's arrest of Mr Baradar hints of a strategic shift against its old jihadist proxies, it seems depressingly more likely to be an attempt by the ISI to grab control of the Taliban's negotiating position.

ECONOMIST: Pakistan wants a say in ending the war, and it knows how to ask

Begin with the depressingly long list of reasons to be pessimistic.

ECONOMIST: The gods that have failed��so far

Depressingly, treatments do not seem to be advancing as they have done with adult cancer.

ECONOMIST: Children and cancer

Depressingly for football fans, it is not going to be easy or quick to change.

BBC: Trailing Singapore's 'football match-fixing boss'