New York City is a money-driven society. The argument could be made that every city and almost all cultures (minus tribal cultures that do not use currency) are money-driven. BUT, I think NY takes it to the extreme…yes, I mean too far. I haven’t been anywhere in the world where everyone lives, eats, and breathes money the way people in New York do. I won’t describe the people as “New Yorkers”, since I don’t think you have to be there more than a few weeks to be sucked into this money-crazed vortex.
Young people, old people, and everyone in the middle is driven by monetary success. And there’s plenty of it to go around there. So, many think a young person would do well spending a few years in “The City” to gain some good professional experience and live the fast-paced lifestyle. They can settle down elsewhere, right? I beg to differ. Young adults in America are increasingly less responsible and more easily moldable. They rely on their surroundings to form their values over what was taught in their families (namely because family unity and any focus on identity has all but been thrown out the window). Also, today’s young adults have had the benefit of a fair number of years without major, broad-reaching issues (no wars on US soil, no depressions, etc.), so ‘everything will always be good’ is the common sentiment; everyone’s got Superman syndrome. Nothing bad can happen to you, of course.
The reality is that the money-driven — rather money-is-the-top-priority — mentality is incredibly dangerous to our young Americans. What happened to the “do what you love, work hard at it, and everything else will fall into place” theory? Okay, even I’ll admit that can be a little utopia sounding, but I would prefer our youth having that approach over do-whatever-it-takes-to-make-dough ideals.
Interestingly, I’m not as worried about the effect NY (money-ville) has on its resident’s career choices, professional ethics choices, or even any temporary change to a more superficial lifestyle due to the money-driven surroundings. I am worried about the effect it has on people’s self worth, value for life, love for humanity, and the long term effects it has on the persona as well as ego. Remember, we are talking about young, moldable Americans. When our youth makes decisions with money as a top priority, we are in real trouble. When there are others to care for (most commonly, children), the reality of money’s decently large role in our lives quickly sets in, but our youth is getting into this mess waaaay to early, and they don’t know how to handle it. Respect-for-elders turns into respect-for-the-wealthy-and-well-connected. Self worth is determined monetarily rather than by inner confidence and peace. Natural judgment of others is not based on personal experience and “connection”, but rather by their level of financial-success aura.
In the fear of sounding like The Donald, I will say I know a lot of people in NYC, they’re fabulous people, and I wish good things for them. I also know that the quality of life (is that index based on cost of living versus average income??) NYC has been really improving over the years and people there do seem to be dropping some of the heavy/ugly baggage that typically came with NYC, like being considered generically rude people.
But, I would really like to hear what people have to say — specifically those who agree with me — and of course, the current/former “New Yorkers” who agree with me are even better! Okay, I’ll admit, it might be fun to get those crazed Yankee fans to go off on this post; the ones who do it like raging lunatics are showing their true NYC spirit and the ones who do it calmly are either too scared to let their hair down or are the real nuts who are just boiling inside. You have been pre-analyzed, so judiciously craft your comments.
Let me start by admitting that I haven’t been getting many comments on my blog, so I posted this entry partially to generate some conversation, although now I am thinking it might only induce “hatements” — I guess that would be the equivalent of “hatemail” for blog comments. I hope I will not have to pull the plug on it — maybe I will just add another disclaimer at the top.
Now to respond to your comment:
Wow. I think you have accomplished both of my pre-analyses — you have shown your true NYC spirit and are still boiling inside. I guess I didn’t consider it could get to someone enough to exhibit both.
“This is a nonsensical blog” — do you mean this particular post or the entire blog?
“First – what a pleasure it must be for you to be one of the few people in the entire world who is not at all dependent on an income.”
— huh? I am dependent on an income. What made you think I wasn’t?
“Second, you describe New Yorkers as “genetically rude”, so you must be a scientist – which is all the more impressive because you are now a scientist who is not dependent on money.”
— I guess you didn’t actually read: 1) I didn’t describe New Yorkers as rude; in fact, my post is about the state of the city, which I also acknowledge could be said about other cities, perhaps the whole country, and maybe even society as a whole — in fact, someone from NJ who is now in Charlotte stated they thought Charlotte was more money-driven than NY (I’m not sure I agree, but is a comment none-the-less) 2) I stated that the country has labeled them “generically rude” (your quoted text is incorrect), baggage that they are successfully shedding 3) I am not a scientist, although I do like science 4) again, I am dependent on an income
“Fascinating.”
— indeed
“At the end of the day, the sacrifice that New Yorkers make to allow you to create such a narrow-minded perspective of a city, I’m going to guess, you’ve never lived in is worth it because the reality without such a city would be devastating to someone who would write such a blog.”
— I have lived in NY, thank you.
“You are welcome. ”
— How did you know I was going to thank you before I even commented? Along with being a raging lunatic, you are also refreshingly psychic.
This is a nonsensical blog – and I almost feel badly for even commenting on something so ridiculous. But I will. First – what a pleasure it must be for you to be one of the few people in the entire world who is not at all dependent on an income. Second, you describe New Yorkers as “genetically rude”, so you must be a scientist – which is all the more impressive because you are now a scientist who is not dependent on money. Fascinating. Finally, the way so many New Yorkers lead their lives is far more focused on humanity, value for life, and respect, and progress than anywhere else in this country. At the end of the day, the sacrifice that New Yorkers make to allow you to create such a narrow-minded perspective of a city, I’m going to guess, you’ve never lived in is worth it because the reality without such a city would be devastating to someone who would write such a blog. You are welcome.