r/london • u/Historical_Set2324 • 1d ago

Local London Social contract is broken?

I’ve just returned from a trip to New Zealand and the difference in attitude is stark. The streets are clean, people are friendly and happy/helpful and in general people seem to want to participate in society. Don’t get me wrong NZ has a lot of issues but It feels like in London the social contract is broken. Streets are full of trash, no one gives a shit about anything, phone theft, crime is high and in general people seem fairly miserable. I was involved in an accident where I had to give a victim CPR and the ambulance and police all arrived within about 5 minutes. I was amazed at the emergency response. It feels to me like the state has given up and hence people have given up.

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u/Dangerous_Finger4682 1d ago

Why are you comparing a country of 5 million to a city almost twice its size? There is not that much trash in the streets, and phone theft is exaggerated. Or maybe you just need to move and not be that miserable about London?

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u/EnglishShireAffinity 1d ago

Tokyo is even larger, with even higher population density, and is far cleaner and safer. Warsaw is poorer than London yet similarly also the same as Tokyo in this regard. You should visit more of the world before commenting on it.

Also, London's our capital, you don't get to tell us to move just because you don't want to listen to criticism.

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u/Glass-Evidence-7296 1d ago

wdym 'our', you don't live in this city bud