The one thing I cannot stand about life in London is the hidden expense of daily living – economically and socially.

Income taxes are usually a relatively moderate 22% on the average salary. This pays for your National Insurance (social security pension, which *I* will never have the luxury of collecting), and full health insurance. Not such bad things in and of themselves, and I admit it is refreshing to walk into a doctor’s surgery or hospital, and walk out without ever having to reach into my wallet.

however there are a million other insidious ways the government takes more then it’s fair share. there’s the council tax – a local government fee which is usually £400+ per year, depending on where you live. then there’s the congestion charge – £5 a pop anytime you want to drive into the city centre during working week hours. there’s the speed cameras – £60 fine for every offense, no matter how minimally over the speed limit. there’s the parking permits, and parking fines should your pay and display ticket run out whilst you are trapped in a post office queue. there’s mot (automobile inspection fee), and road tax (registration fee). there’s the insane price of petrol (equivalent to about $6 USD per gallon!), the insane price of tobacco (equivalent to about $10 USD per pack), the insane price of public transport (how about a $2 USD bus ride, or a $16 USD daily tube travelcard), the insane price of food ($2 for a dozen eggs).

it all adds up, little by little. in the states, you can easily get by on $20/day if you are frugal. here, £10 a day is a laughable ideal. and it’s spirit crushing. for all the talk about human rights, your life is invaded at every turn. you are constantly recorded, told what is good for you, what you can and cannot do. there are millions of “traffic calming measures” like speed humps and roundabouts and buildouts (narrowing the lanes to one car width). here you can go to jail for anti-social behaviour (rowdiness, excessive noise, hanging out on street corners, general nuisance behaviour) and hate speech (racial epithets or unpopular far-right political views). anything considered unsavoury or extreme has a law against it, and there’s one CCTV camera for every 29 people in the UK.

and for all the taxes and regulation, i find little evidence of a superior quality of life. Racism and poverty and benefit fraud exist here. Crime and public safety are still a major concern of day to day life. Utilities and services are often more poorly managed (witness my rants about the tube). The uk is not any sort of utopian society.

it’d be one thing if there were measurable improvement for all the restrictions we put up with, but instead all i feel is a deep sense of disheartening disillusionment and bone-weary tiredness.

it took seven years in nyc to feel this worn out, ground down, wrung out by minor trials of daily life. congratulations, london – you’ve achieved it in two.

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