Brexit abbey
Americans don’t hesitate to express strong views when it comes to guns, wars or taxes. But they turn humble when the matter is international economics. If business leaders, Davos geeks, the Treasury secretary and the President condemn Brexit, U.S. citizens do, too. After all, Americans aren’t sure why Britons voted to leave the EU or what they themselves make of the Brexit drama.
There is, however, a British show Americans do understand and, indeed, love. It is Downton Abbey, one of the cheesiest, most anachronistic and most popular historical drama series in television history. You could hear the sighs across the Lower 48 last March when the image of the rump of Lord Grantham’s light yellow Labrador rolled for a final time in the final episode of the final—and sixth—season. This spring was also the time when the formal contest between “Leave” and “Remain” opened, but public television fans scarcely noticed, so busy were they snatching up Downtoniana.
Still, Downton Abbey and Brexit do have something in common. Indeed, to trace the principles that animate Downton is to understand more of what drives Britons who voted Leave. downton Principle i: Property comes first. Really first—before freedom, equality and love. As the show opens, every character, down to the last footman, knows that the Downton estate has stayed together only because Lord Grantham in his youth took the drastic step of marrying a Cincinnati dry-goods heiress.
So precious is the accumulation of capital that the characters all accept (not agree with) the rule of “entail,” under which the entire estate must pass, part and parcel, to a male descendant, even if that means skipping the daughters of Lord Downton and handing over the mansion to a third cousin once removed. In the Downton narrative the resounding emphasis on property benefits all, leading (eventually) to justice, equality and romance: Lord Grantham long ago came to love his dry-goods lady, the beautiful Cora. And the next generation of Crawleys get to stay in their house because that third cousin in the end marries a Crawley daughter.
The EU respects no entail. Indeed, the Charter of Fundamental Rights relegates property to a status so low it would make Thomas Jefferson uncomfortable. “Dignity,” “equality,” “solidarity” (“What’s that?” one can hear Lady Violet demanding) and “freedoms” get marquee status. Property rights are minor, buried in a mere article—and No. 17 at that. downton Principle ii: downton (Britain) takes care of its own. When Lord Grantham ignores his own instincts and calls in a specialist rather than the family doctor to attend the birth of a grandchild, he is punished with tragedy: The specialist makes the wrong call, and the baby’s mother, Sybil, expires from complications of eclampsia.
At Downton Abbey faraway courts rate as unreliable as faraway doctors. Lord Grantham judges his valet Bates to be innocent of a charge of murder, but a British court convicts him. Later, information materializes that exonerates Bates and vindicates the patriarch.
Europe, by contrast, favors faraway law over local law, custom and regulation. A preBrexit-vote EU plan to ban some popular appliances, including a tea drinker’s favorite, the high-powered electric kettle, set Britons aboil. downton Principle iii: suspect high taxes. The unexpected death of a Downton heir triggers a tax liability so great that it jeopardizes the estate anew. Today Britain’s tax burden represents 33% of gross domestic product. Britons don’t love the idea of going to, say, 45%, France’s level. downton Principle iv: Look West. In this show Europe is where young men go to die or vacation; the U.S. is a source of ideas and those occasional and crucial capital infusions. downton Principle V: Britain improves Britain best. Lord Grantham tempers his obnoxious Toryism over the seasons, eventually noting, “If we don’t respect the past, we’ll find it harder to build our future.” This shift so endears viewers that they forgive even the worst anachronisms (Edwardians said “pander,” not “suck up”; light yellow Labradors weren’t common until much later). Downton evolves from “Little England” toward meritocracy.
To be sure, other impulses, including unstaged, unexpected populist rage and great concern about immigration, motivated Brexit. Yet often pro-brexit citizens articulate the connection. One of these is Downton’s creator and screenwriter, Julian Fellowes. “I believe we should be out. It’s about philosophy,” Fellowes has said.
In short, Americans have something to confess, if only to their TV sets. If they approve of Downton Abbey, they understand—and perhaps even approve of—brexit. But no one said the globalists upstairs have to know about that.
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