Are Londoners obsessed with money?

More than elsewhere in the UK, and more than almost any other city, London seems to be full of money obsessed, selfish and egocentric people.
What you earn, where you live, what car you drive, seem to matter more here than anywhere else.
It is the natural destination for anyone driven by greed and keen to become the next IT exectutive with a Boxster and a smug attitude.

Is this what gives London it's buzz? Has this always been the case?
Is London more or less in tune with reality than other places?

Has anyone else noticed this or am i just jealous?

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yeah I know what you mean. i find London really draining and exhausting, everybody seems in such a rush to do things quicker, get there faster, spend more, sleep less and crap on the little man. i was waiting at green park station the other day with a friend for the tube, when it came the carriages were packed and about 400 people waiting tried to pile and crush themselves into the already packed carriages. the timetable board said that there would be another train in 2 minutes – we waited for this and the carriages were all but empty with plenty of seats available.
this just seems totally indicative of london. it’s like competition for “competition’s sake” everyone racing against each other for no reason.

and money is no exception i think lots of londoners are obsessed with money – not so that they have a lot of it so that they can buy things that they want – but just so that they’ve got more than everybody else. purely competitive.

right, finished my rant now!

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I don't think that the love of money thing is particular to London but more of a thing that's come over from the US to England lately. Its a shame that people are so busy wanting more things that they don't have a chance to truly appreciate what they have already!

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Not all are obsessed with money, but most are obsessed with themslves.

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Wise man once say: "Never underestimate the power of the present moment”

I think that’s Taoism or something, but yeah, I agree with Graham, I think people can be so caught up with planning for what they can achieve tomorrow that they forget about what they’re going to do today. And I think that the continued quest for more and more money is a great illustration of that. “I won’t go and do such and such today cos I’m saving for this, that and the other next year.”
Get out and live you life today, I say.

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If you're on a low income it can easily look that way. When I first came to London I was 28 (19 years ago!) and working as a nursing assistant - by sheer chance I was living in Notting Hill and working in Chelsea - which only served to point up my lack of affluence! Actually I think it's more to do with yuppies and the global consumer machine (yep, Tony, I'm having a go at you again, mate). London, like all big cities is a mixture of all types of people and has many subcultures - it's not all greed and cut-throat trading. My guess is you haven't lived here very long yet - but stick with it.

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