London has become a city state, divorced in many ways from the rest of the country.

In the New York Times Sunday Review of October 13th Michael Goldfarb says that property in a London has become a “global reserve currency”. Well put! Every year, regardless of the world economy, property prices in Central London have risen about 10% (9.7% in the last year), a better rate of return than the super-rich can get outside of a lucky streak in Las Vegas.

This has made London a no-go area for the British, who are queueing up to move out into some other, affordable, place. The multi-millionaires who are flocking in from China, Russia, the Middle East, Greece and Italy, are delighted to find that property tax is a fraction of what it is in New York, Washington DC, Athens or Moscow. Exacerbating the problem for people born in London is the fact that young EU citizens, anxious to perfect their English, have taken the low-paid jobs (waiters, shop assistants etc) that young British people once had, while of course the Polish plumber (usually excellent) is now famous.

This shall makes London interesting, with Israeli shops next to Lebanese shops, next to Portuguese shops, next to Greek shops, and English English heard less and less every day, and born Lobdoners only visiting the city to go occasionally to the theatre.

I don’t like invasions, even if they are peaceful. Nor did Epicurus, who believed in leaving people alone and not changing their culture without permission. He also believed in pleasure and enjoyment of life. The foreigners in London enjoy life well enough, but what about the English, who cannot possibly afford the mortgages necessary to live in the town in which they were born, and do not earn the money now necessary to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world?