I wz an rli Irazṃs scolr, n I grīv fr ẃt Britiś stydnts hv lost
(Transcription of a Guardian editorial of 27 December 2020)
Mî tîm in Yṛp trnsformd mî ǎtlŭc; ɖoz hu ʈnc Brexit z ol abt treḑīlz ignor ẃt els wz at stec
Jūłn Baggini, 28 Dsmbr 2020
Ɖ prîm̦inistr ofrd ɖ cuntri a “fīst” ɖs Crisṃs bt mni v s stl hv’nt bn ebl t djst it. Ɖ truʈ z it wz nvr vri aṗtîzñ, nt so mć an uvn-redi trīt az a ćīp redimīl. Boris Jonsn’z treḑīl dz nt brñ “glad tîdñz v gret jô” bt fînl conf̣meśn ɖt a speśl rleśnśp hz bn trnd intu a pyrli trnzax́nl wn.
T ɖ mrcanṭlist Brex̣tirz, eni losz incŕd r mir trîflz. Tec ɖ end v ɖ Irazṃs scīm, ẃć inebld stydnts t spend tîm in uɖr membr stets’ yṇvrṣtiz. Cmperd wɖ fiśqotaz n levl pleyñfīldz ɖs me sīm lîc smōl frî. Bt a fīst wɖt ɖ trimñz z jst anɖr mīl, n a treḑīl wɖt culćṛl tîz mcs fr a mć śalowr rleśnśp wɖ ǎr Yṛpiyn nebrz.
I lrnt ɖs frst-hand. In 1989, I wz wn v ɖ rliist Britiś stydnts t ptiṣpet in ɖ scīm, ẃć hd bgun tū yirz rlịr. Cnfyzñli, I spent mî ōtmtrm in ɖ Irazṃs Yṇvrṣti in Roṭdam.
Nǎ ɖt six munʈs or mor traṿlñ ɖ wrld on a gap yir z ɖ (olbiit sspndd) norm, 10 wīcs on ɖ uɖr sîd v ɖ Ćanl me sīm modist in cmparisn. Bt Irazṃs alaud fr a depʈ v ingejmnt wɖ uɖr cuntriz ɖt no amǎnt v cerfrī bacpacñ cn īql.
Mî frst ñclñ v ɖs cem ẃn w wr invîtd ǎt fr birz wɖ sm v ǎr ny Duć pirz. Wn asct m ẃt mî speśl inṭrests in f’loṣfi wr. I wz ʈroun. Nwn bac hom wd evr asc sć an rnist qsćn abt yr unḍgrajụt studiz. I mumbld smʈñ abt Kierkegaard, ɖ subjict v mî diṣteśn. “Hm,” sd ɖ stydnt. “I ʈnc h wz meḷncolic. Ẃt abt y?”
In an instnt, ɖ absrdti v Britiś anti-inṭlecćlizm hd bn xpozd. It wz nt ɖt ɖ Duć stydnt wz tecñ himslf tù sirịsli bt ɖt ǎr afctd insūsịns twdz ǎr studiz wz r’dikḷs.
Uɖr Irazṃs stydnts wl hv hd difṛnt ipif̣niz. Bî bcmñ imbedd in foṛn yṇvrṣtiz, w si nt onli ẃt z vałbl in culćrz w r ofn qcr t paṛdi ɖn t unḍstand, bt ẃt z strenj in ǎrslvz.
Ɖs cnsrnd ɖ matr az wel az ɖ manr v ǎr studiz. F’loṣfi in most Britiś yṇvrṣtiz larjli ignord 20ʈ-snćri conṭnntl Yṛpiyn f’loṣfi. I me hv noun ɖt ɖr wr mor ʈñz in hevn n rʈ ɖn wr drīmd v in ǎr f’loṣfi, bt rīdñ Merleau-Ponty n Foucault I dscuvrd ɖt f’loṣfi itslf cntend mor ɖn w drīmd v bac hom.
It wz fitñ ɖt ɖ Brlin Wōl fél ẃl I wz in Roṭdam. Irazṃs wz a simbl v ɖ iroźn v wōlz, ɖ friyr muvmnt nt onli v gdz n srṿsz bt v ppl n îdīaz. Ɖs wz olwz ẃt matrd most abt ɖ Yṛpiyn project. Ɖ Britn ɖt w nǒ n smtmz luv tde dd nt bcm ẃt it z bî sīcñ îṣleśn.
Ɖ îdīa ɖt ɖ Yṛpiyn Ic̣nomic Cḿṇti (YIC), az it wz ɖen, wz orijiṇli sold t s az nʈñ mor ɖn a tredñblóc z a miʈ. Ẃn w jônd ɖ YIC in 1972, ɖ ɖen prîm̦inistr, Ted Hīʈ, sd: “Ɖ cḿṇti ẃć w r jônñ z far mor ɖn a comn marcit. It z a cḿṇti in ɖ tru sns v ɖt trm.” H xpliṣtli sd ɖt it olso cnsrnd “sośl iśuz ẃć afct s ol – invîrnmntl qsćnz, wrcñcndiśnz in inḍstri, cnsymr pṛtx́n, ed t dveḷpmnt eriaz n voceśnl trenñ”.
Ɖ traɉdi v ɖ Brexit sāga z ɖt ɖ ces fr ɖ culćṛl valy v YY membrśp wz bérli īvn md, fr fir it wd onli fan ɖ flemz v naśṇlist antiṗʈi t Yṛp. Bt sins it wz olwz a culćṛl batl, nt an ic̣nomic wn, ɖs amǎntd t a rfyzl t fît at ol. Rmembr ɖt ɖ līvrz’ raliyñ cōl wz t “tec bac cntrol”. Ɖ £350m a wīc t spend on ɖ NHS wz a dītel, nt ɖ hart v ɖ maṇfsto.
I b’livd ɖt cntinywñ ǎr membrśp v ɖ YY wz in ǎr bst ic̣nomic inṭrests, bt ɖt z nt ẃ I votd t rmen; lîc mni hu wontd t līv, hǎ inṭnaśnl agrīmnts afct GDP z nt ɖ bi-ol n end-ol. Fr m, cīpñ ɖ rîts t tred n travl dz nt compnset fr dmiṇśñ ɖ priṿlij t ingej n lrn.
Jonsn’z treḑīl z a Crisṃs trci wɖ nn v ɖ trimñz ɖt mc it paḷtbl. It’s lîc biyñ gvn a giftvǎćr, a jôlis creditnot wrʈ les ɖn ɖ preznt w wontd.
Ʈancs t Covid, ɖ nebrz hv’nt bn rnd fr Crisṃs ɖs yir, n ʈancs t Brexit, in fyćr w’l b spendñ les qoḷtitîm wɖ ǎr Yṛpiyn nebrz tù. Ɖ wōlz r gwñ p agn n no amǎnt v tredwindoz cn compnset fr ɖt.
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Jūłn Baggini z a raitr n f’loṣfr; hiz lêtist bc z Hǎ ɖ Wrld Ʈncs
