More Than a Whisper

Trev:

I got my British Passport a year before the Brexit Referendum. As someone who believes the C20th introduction of passport control was simply the physical role out of Global Apartheid, getting another passport has its ironies. Rather than burning Dompas like Madiba, I was collecting another one of the things I don't believe in. I came on a Migrants Program that gave me the opportunity because of my education, salary, language, age and work experiences. Kind of like a lottery for those who have previously won the lottery. Still, I was proud. Like a recovering Alcoholic, the description of Britain at my Citizenship Ceremony reminded me of the scene of Marcus Aurelius in the Gladiator. "There was a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile." There were people from all over the world becoming citizens of a country that seemed to stand for so many things I believed in. Then 2016 happened and whispers became shouts.

More Than a Whisper

Alex:
The way you pitch it is as if the primary reason behind Brexit was closing the borders. You and I have very similar beliefs. We both want this "Rome" with an open society that is inclusive. We both believe in Freedom of Trade, Movement, Services, and People. I didn't see the Referendum as anything other than a vote of no confidence in the INSTITUTION of the EU. Not Europe. Britain can't physically leave Europe. It is a part of it. All the crying and gnashing of teeth makes out as if all Brexiteers are racists and xenophobes. What about the European border in Ceuta? You can't paint the EU as this Liberal Democracy. I was voting against a Brussels run by technocrats.

Paul: 
I didn't actually think the vote would go through. I have just been a Eurosceptic for years. I was undecided when I stepped into the voting booth, but I didn't feel it would be right to moan about the EU and then vote for them. I have business in Europe, but the European regulations make my life an absolute nightmare. I prefer hiring Brits. I really didn't think Brexit would actually happen, and even when it did, I didn't think there wouldn't be some sort of deal that allowed life to carry on pretty much as normal. It doesn't make sense for anybody for us to not be able to keep on doing what we do. Anyway, if things don't work out, I am okay. I'll just close up shop and go traveling.

Stewart:
I don't really follow all this nonsense. I have my own stuff to worry about. There is no point in worrying anyway. The people in London will do what they do and life will go on. It is not going to affect me. I voted for Brexit because the NHS is creaking at the seams with all the immigrants in the waiting rooms, and the jobs going to people who aren't even from here. Look after your own first I say. Don't have guests until you can afford to keep your house in order. You have to choose. If you want to have a Welfare State that looks after people, it is simple maths that you can't afford to look after everybody else too. Get rid of that stuff, and then sure... people who can afford to look after themselves are welcome to come.

Angela:
The reality is we are a small island. Environmentally, we can't afford to have more people here. 60 million plus is probably too many already. There aren't enough houses, which is why housing is unaffordable for the people who were born here. I am all for being accommodating to others, but there is the question of sustainability. The roads are clogged. The trains are clogged. The Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are being filled with new housing that doesn't have the necessary schools and facilities. We may be a rich country in theory, but there are lots of problems we need to sort out. Leaving the EU is the only way we can do that.

Michelle:
There are fundamental political differences between the UK and the EU. You either believe in central decision-making technocrats, or you believe in devolved responsibility. In the UK, you hire and fire your political representatives directly. I can meet with my Member of Parliament, and it doesn't matter how much of a big wig they are, they have to serve their constituency. Nigel Farage certainly doesn't represent my views, and I resent being associated with him because I am against the EU. There is some irony that he has never ever won a seat in the UK, and his voice has been handed to him by Europe. Nigel is not the voice of Leave.

Trev:
The problem I have with these views is that they are mostly ideological. Much like my "I don't believe in Passports". The problem is Passports are a real thing. It doesn't matter if I believe in them or not. At the end of the day, I have to use them to move around. I am a deep pragmatist. What we do matters. Results matter. Yes, beliefs matter, but in the real world, we have to work with other people. The EU may have chosen Proportional Representation over "First Past The Post" seats. That has advantages and disadvantages. South Africa made the same choice. The inability of minority parties to get a voice in the UK is one of the disadvantages. Sustainability, Resource Allocation, and Regulatory Simplicity are all important... but we can't just vote for everyone to agree with us. The EU is much more likely to reform from within. It is better with the UK in it.

Andrew:
I have severe Brexit Fatigue. There are more important issues that which club different Rich countries belong or don't belong to. "Meanwhile in China" the world is carrying on while the Government of the UK grinds to a halt in this big talk shop. Whatever happens, won't change that much anyway. Like the Y2K "Crisis", the Global Financial "Crisis", the news always needs some Armageddon event to keep it entertained. Proper Crises like the World Wars, the resulting global flu pandemics, and the starvations in China and (now) Venezuela are proper things worth worrying about. Not how long it takes to fill in some bloody forms so you can sell your stuff or have to put another sticker on it. Britain "exiting" Europe is like a divorce where the spouses stay living in the same house. It's ridiculous, and we talk about it too much.

Alex:
I would probably change my vote now. I still believe I voted in good conscience the specific question that was asked. I wanted to leave the EU. I didn't want to end Freedom of Movement or any of the other nastinesses that get attributed to me because I think the EU is a bullying Leviathon. I think we have handled the negotiations terribly. Other politicians could have done a better job at negotiating with the EU instead of pandering to them. All the political parties are pretty weak at the moment, at a time when we needed strong leadership.

Trev:
I worry that the price of Brexit is simply a dismantling of the United Kingdom. The real world price of Britain leaving the EU, in my view, is that the UK will be dismantled. Ireland will reunify (I can't see any other solution to the "Backstop" issue) and stay in the EU. Scotland will then be left with a choice between the UK and the EU, and politically I think Scotland is more aligned with the EU. Andrew is probably right that "all will be fine". Relatively speaking, I do think there are bigger issues to worry about. It just makes me sad. I certainly feel that the first few sparks of seeing Britain as an "X years sober" alcoholic are at real risk of quite a few years of falling off the wagon. I am positive. I do think we can sober up again. It just didn't need to be this hard. 

[Alex, Paul, Angela, Stewart, Michelle and Andrew are fictional]

Kinshasa

King Leopold II is a strong contender for the person responsible for committing the most evil acts in human history. The Congo was his personal property after the 'Scramble for Africa'. He used a Mercenary Army to extract vast sums which were redirected to construction projects in Belgium, becoming known as 'The Builder King'. Consensus is that these buildings cost about 10 million Congolese lives. Leopoldville was renamed Kinshasa in 1966, after a village that was in the area. Today Kinshasa has an urban population of around 12 million people. It is the largest French speaking city, recently surpassing Paris. It is on the banks of the second longest river in Africa (after the Nile). On the other side of the river is Brazzaville, which is the capital its neighbouring country. The second closest capitals after Rome and the Vatican City.

Leopoldville 1884

Continental Stories

Melilla Border

If continents are defined as discrete landmasses, then there are four continents (Afro-Eurasia, Americas, Australia and Antartica). There is no 'real' definition. They are spoken of by convention. Carthage and Rome fought three Punic Wars between 264BC and 146BC. Carthage then became the Capital of the province of Africa Proconsulis as part of the Roman Empire. The Mediterranean is a lot calmer than the English Channel. The Suez Canal is shallow, narrow, and man-made. At various times between 711 and 1492, the southern part of Spain was under the control of those who also controlled Northern Africa as Al-Andulus. Today, Melilla and Cueta are two heavily fortified Port Cities which are officially a part of Europe but on the south side of the pond. Until 1963, Algeria was considered a part of France. In 1957, when the European Economic Community was formed... Algeria (as part of France) was part of that group. Pan-Africanism began as a concept in the C20th century. The African National Congress in South Africa was formed as the South African Native National Congress in 1912.

Afro-Eurasia

Pan-African Flag

Homelands and Nation States

Apartheid involved the creation of Homelands for people of specific ethnic groups - creating homogenous Nation States. The idea fed off the post World War I dismantling of Empires, and post World War II dismantling of Colonialism. The idea of self-determination requires defining 'The People' in exclusionary terms. Four of South Africa's Bantustans (Bantu means People, -stan means land in the Persian language) were declared independent, although this was not recognised outside South Africa. Europe was also divided into new Nation States over the last 100 years. This involved population swaps, and standardisation of religion and language. The European Union project is in part an attempt to unwind the consequences. 

Homelands at the end of Apartheid in 1994

The long-term plan of creating these Homelands in South Africa was to strip Black South Africans of their South African citizenship. To stop them coming in (to "take control of the borders"). The philosophical connection was made to the separation in 1947 of Pakistan (i.e. -stan) and India, effectively into Muslim and Hindu states. Estimates of the deaths related to the partition of the British Raj are between 250,000 and 1.5 million. In South Africa, it is estimated that 3.5 million people were forcibly resettled to the Bantustans in the 1960s through to the 1980s. The allocation of people to homelands was fairly arbitrary - especially where people had never visited "where they came from" or had parents from different groups. The tying of people to land has been bloody.

British Indian Empire ("British Raj")

1858-1947

South Africa was still reliant on the labour of the Black Population. As in a world where we are now comfortable with the free movement of goods, capital and services. It is the free movement of people that aren't the same as us that seems to cause concern. Eventually, the White South African government capitulated...

"every effort to turn the tide [of black workers] streaming into the urban areas failed. It does not help to bluff ourselves about this. The economy demands the permanent presence of the majority of blacks in urban areas ... They cannot stay in South Africa year after year without political representation."

F.W. de Klerk on 1987 National Party general election campaign

Portuguese

Linguistic Map Southwestern Europe

Before languages were printed, and when most of us were illiterate, the words we used were very local. When the Romans arrived in Portugal in 216 BCE they brought Latin languages with them. As the Roman Empire collapsed the Germanic Migrations started, but those people quickly adopted late Roman culture (fairly common as 'conquered areas' still normally had way more people from the conquered). After the Moorish invasion, Arabic became the administrative language from about 711 CE. Portuguese eventually evolved from the medieval mix spoken in the Kingdom of Galacia. This became the administrative language used (Lingua Franca) as the Portuguese started exploring Africa, Asia and the Americas. Modern Portuguese adopted many words from Classical Greek and Classical Latin during the Renaissance. This started as recently as 1516. Today, Portuguese is the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also has co-official status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, and Macau in China.

Portuguese Language

Vulgar Romance Rhythm

Before printing presses and with the majority people illiterate, the type of Latin actually spoken in the Roman Empire wasn't the 'proper form'. Like Afrikaans diverging from Dutch in South Africa, our ears seem more open to influence. We get the rhythm of things rather than being obsessed by the form. "Vulgar Latin" was the Roman Kitchen - and led to the national languages of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania and France. Romance Languages. It varied greatly by region and time period. Despite modern standardisation, this is obvious in the United Kingdom (the Romans left in 410AD) in the way people in different cities and of different ages speak with identifiably different accents and word choice.   As the Roman Empire collapsed, the kitchen gained spices from the Gothic and Frankish conquerors.

Roman Empire 117AD

Cairo

Cairo, which now has a population of 9.5 million, has long been an important global city. It managed to avoid Europe's late middle ages stagnation, but being a key trade city, got hit by the Black Death more than 50 times between 1348 and 1517. This reduced the population to between 150,000 and 300,000. Then a new route around the Cape of Good Hope was opened which allowed spice traders to avoid the city. When the Ottoman Empire took control, Cairo became second fiddle to Constantinople/Istanbul. Napoleon arrived in 1798 and the population was still just 300,000. The joint British/Ottoman forces defeated the French in 1801. Although the British left, immense debt was built up in the public works to build modern Egypt. This was used as a pretext for British invasion in 1882. By the end of the 19th century, just 5% of the population were European, but they held most of the top Government positions. World Wars, Cold War, Energy Crises and rising Nationalism came next. Being an important city is volatile.

Cairo Citadel

Moscow

Moscow is the largest city entirely on the European continent. It has 13.2 million people in the city limits, and 17.8 million in the urban area. One of the nicknames for Moscow is the 'Third Rome'. After the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the Grand Duchy of Moscow started to see itself as defenders of the Orthodox Faith. This was central to Byzantine identity to distinguish themselves from the Barbarians, from the North-West and from the East, who had overthrown the previous Empires. Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople declared himself Kayser-i-Rum, "Caesar of Rome". Ferdinand and Isabella who built up the Spanish Empire, bought the titles and imperial rights from the heir of the last Byzantine Emperor. The Barbarians became the Emperors. The Emperors became the Barbarians. And repeat.

Moscow

Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Istanbul was once known as Constantinople and Byzantium. Its commercial and historical centres, and two thirds of its population, are on the European side of the Bosphorus Strait (which separates Europe and Asia, there, a little further North you have make up other play play divisions). Istanbul is the world's 7th largest city proper. It was founded in around 660 BCE as Byzantion, and reestablished as the Imperial Capital of Rome by Constantine (the first Roman Emperor to claim conversion to Christianity) in 330 CE. It stayed the Capital of the Byzantine Empire after the fall of the West, and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire when it was conquered in 1453. The population of the city has increased tenfold since the 1950s, as migrants have come to the city in search of a better life.

Istanbul

Voting Away

I am a Soutie. There were 48 people from all over the world at the ceremony when I became a British Citizen. It was a beautiful thing. The speech spoke of Britain as an idea, like Marcus Aurelius spoke of Rome in The Gladiator, 'There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile.  And I fear that it will not survive the winter.' This is not the story of Britain I grew up with in South Africa. It is not the way Britain is viewed around the world. It was something that was worth believing in. When the Referendum came, I was gutted. My European Citizenship was voted away. A brutal reminder that we aren't essentially anything. Anything temporary can't be who we are. So I am not South African. Not British. Not a Soutie. I am the relationships I have with people. No one can vote those away. Today, I voted. I voted Liberal Democrats because I believe in a world where we don't convince people. We empower people. 

Empower

Tacit Knowledge is powerful. We should push decisions as close to where the understanding lies as possible. Often we understand, but we don't know how we understand. As soon as decisions are extended beyond intimate groups, they lose nuance, and people get summarised into 'the people'. Although central decision making can allow for a much bigger impact, the world is complex, unambiguous and uncertain. Whether we go left or right can have unintended consequences. Making small, micro-ambitious decisions allows us to learn with the only certainty that the engine of that learning will be our mistakes. The four freedoms of movement (people, goods, services, and capital) are learning tools that partner the written word, numbers and money. We learn and empower through exchange and sharing. Democracy should be a tool of empowerment, not a tool of power.

Single Market

Freedom of Movement of People, Goods, Services and Capital

Local is Lekker

I believe in the Four Freedoms of the European Single Market - goods, capital, services and people. I also recognise that all these freedoms create strains that require buffers. Buffers protect what is important to us, while giving us breathing space to learn. 

Globalisation has created strain. It sucks that as a Soutie, living in the United Kingdom, with much of my family in South Africa, my community is so stretched. It also means I hop from very different sets of issues when I am in each place. Earning, and re-earning the right to call myself 'local'.

The consuming issue in the UK is Brexit. 'Great' Britain of the past was the colonial overlord of the world. Britain and France each have one of five permanent seats on the UN security council, and GDPs that put them in 5/6 place globally. Don't blink... that is going to change. 

Colonial Empires in 1914

Colonialism in 1945

After giving each other a snotklap in the World Wars, the European Powers had to learn to work together rather than being heads of Global Empires.

European Union

As part of the European Union, one of the great frustrations of many who wanted to leave was the 'lack of democracy'. The EU has 28 member states and an estimated population of 510 million. The European Council comprises the heads of states, and defines overall political direction. The European Commission acts as the cabinet - proposing legislation and implementing decisions. There is one member per state, but they represent the general interests of the EU rather than their member state. The European Parliament is directly elected, and seats are allocated according to population, but larger states have more citizens represented per MEP. Seats are allocated by proportional representation.

It is clear that the UK is going to have far less control over Europe than it would going alone. Luxembourg has population of 576,000 and the same seat on the Council. It is also going to have far less control than it had when it was an empire.

Those in the UK who voted for Brexit would have wanted more decision making power. 'Taking Back Control'. Ironically, the other big issue in the UK is Scottish Independence. Many in Scotland also want more decision making power... mainly from London, and are more content with Brussels.

The big challenge going forward will be letting go of the idea of government as a centre of power, and democracy as an instrument of majority (whether by population, GDP or fire power) rules. Somehow we need to create agreed common frameworks in which people and communities can feel empowered, rather than ruled.

A big issue in my other local place is decolonisation. South Africa was from 1910-1961 a dominion of the British Empire. It would be useful perspective for those talking of taking back control to read a little of the history of what that control meant to the controlled.

Perhaps I have lost the right to press too hard in either area with my views. My two cents from how my different bubbles bump is that we need to be very aware of unintended consequences, and push conversations more toward accommodating each other than overpowering. 

Vatican City

The Vatican City is the smallest state in the world by both population (<1000) and size (0.44 km²). It is not 'sovereign'. Sovereignty is held by the Holy See which is an entity in public international law. Like money, languages, religions, relationships and other agreements, some things exist by law if enough of us say they exist. These concepts take on a life that unlike human life, normally doesn't have an end date. All of us die. The relationships we create can live much longer if their flavour embeds deeply enough. The Papal States were territories directly ruled by the Pope from 754-1870. Gradually this territory was lost to the emerging Kingdom of Italy. The Vatican City became an independent state by agreement between Italy and the Holy See in 1929. The Holy See speaks for the whole Catholic Church diplomatically, even though it doesn't meet other criteria of statehood (permanent population, defined territory, stable government, and capacity to enter into relations with other states). It has diplomatic relations with 180 countries, and the Vatican estimates there are 1.2 Billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

Papal States - 1700

Foreign Relations with the Holy See

Ukraine

Turkey and Russia both straddle Europe and Asia. Ukraine is the largest country entirely within Europe. The people of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine all claim the powerful medieval state of Kievan Rus' as part of their cultural heritage. This was a loose federation of East Slavic tribes, under a family which ruled for 21 generations. The state disintegrated after a Mongol invasion, and its successor principalities paid tribute to the Golden Horde. Between the 13th and 20th century, the area has been contested between powers including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary and Russia. Kievan Rus' is part of the founding identity of Russia too. The 2014 revolution was driven by whether relations were deepened to the left with Europe, or to the right with Russia. 

Kiev Pro-EU

Pro-Russia

Turkey

Centre of the Old World

When Alexander built the Greek empire, he didn't head left. He went right. Inspired by leaders such as Cyrus the Great, of Persia. Cyrus became known for respecting the customs of the lands he conquered, even as he built centralised administration - his cylinder is believed to be the first human right's charter. Romans conquered Greece in 146BC. Rome then fell to the left (476 CE), and to the right (1453 CE). An irony of what we consider Europe is that its surviving capital for almost 1000 years longer than Rome was Constantinople... which became Istanbul. The conquering Sultan declared himself 'Kaysar-i Rûm' and made the city the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey is the modern country that followed the fall of that empire. The Mongol Empire had extended the overlaps all the way to China. Alexander wanted his capital in Babylon. Genghis' grandson Kublai founded the Yuan Dynasty of China. The story of modern Turkey pulls on the history highlights its central geographic position in the old world of Afroeurasia - full of flavour.

Turkish Language Group

Alexander's Empire

Mongol Empire

Cyrus Cylinder

Switzerland

It is normal in South Africa to talk of democracy starting in 1994. Switzerland is famous for its federal democracy, which balances the need for central government, and local power on local issues. It has 26 cantons, with Bern the seat of the federal authorities. It has one of the world's oldest constitutions, and requires a referendum on changes. It also makes provision for the constitution to be rewritten to prevent the various additions missing context. Although there were local wars between Catholic and Protestant cantons, eventually they worked together to manage areas of common interest, and ensure peace. Despite seeming an 'advert for democracy', Switzerland was the last western republic to grant woman the right to vote (1971/1991). Looking back, I also struggle with the ideas of American 'Founding Fathers' as leaders of democracy given the gaping holes. History is far more messy than we would like. The growth of cooperation hasn't been a straight line. Sometimes we need to stop, pause, listen and rewrite with our new context. 

Direct Democracy

Sweden

When Sovereignty shifted from Kings and Nobility to 'the people' with the birth of Nationalism, this was problematic for the definition of the people. The 'Divine Right of Kings' put the Monarch above the people. Nobility had 'blue blood' and marriages were a way of building Kingdoms. A class above. Elizabeth I, whose blue veins gave an artist difficulty painting a life-like picture, died without issue. This joined the English & Scottish throne under the personal union of James I and VI in 1603. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish crowns were joined in a personal union called the 'Kalmar Union' from 1397-1523. There was a struggle between the Monarch who wanted union and the nobles who preferred local power. The Union was in part to counter the strength of the Hanseatic League - a confederation of commercial merchant guilds and market towns. After the Kalmar Union, Sweden was in Union with Norway from 1814-1905. It started by force, but ended in a peaceful divorce. Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, but isn't part of the Eurozone.

Blue Blood Elizabeth I

Kalmar Union

Hanseatic League

Slovenia

Feudalism flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th century. Society was organised around three estates - Nobles, Clergy and Peasants. The borders of Kingdoms moved depending on victories in battles. The Revolutions of 1848 were also known as the Spring of Nations, with waves of new born Nations replacing the feudal system. To empower 'the people', stories had to be created around who 'the people' were. The first mentions of a common Slovene ethnic identity date to the 16th century. The first book in Slovene was written by a Protestant preacher Primož Trubar. Catholic means 'including a wide variety of things'. Protestant means what it says on the tin. Tools of central control like language and religion, can also be used to form borders not defined by land. Slovenia became independent of Yugoslavia in 1991. It has a population of about 2 million people, with 83% identifying themselves as Slovenes in a 2002 census.

Slovenia 

Independence from Yugoslavia in 1991

European Union membership in 2004

Slovakia

South Africa has seen a dramatic transition over the 23 years since 1994. Slovakia became independent on 1 January 1993. The history of both countries is tied to an unravelling of the Cold War and Apartheid. The Slovak Republic was a client state of Nazi Germany during World War II. This was the first Slovak state, but Czechoslovakia was reconstituted after the War. A series of 'population transfers' was agreed at Potsdam... not far from Berlin where the fates of Africa and Europe had been carved up at the end of the 19th Century. Communist rule ended in 1989 and Slovakia and the Czech Republic later became separate countries in the 'Velvet Divorce'. In a September 1992 poll, only 37% of Slovaks and 36% of Czechs favoured the dissolution. Those in control proceeded anyway. The President resigned rather than overseeing a dissolution he opposed. The significance of the divorce has been lessened by the freedom of movement of workers policy of the EU which guarantees the right to work and live anywhere in the Union. Free feet become more important tool of democracy than politicians and forced population swaps. 

Velvet Revolution - 1989

Serbia

Africa and Europe were both carved up in boardrooms. Until the Berlin Conference of 1885, European Colonialism in Africa had been largely focused on ports and rivers. Europe's borders had been a Game of Thrones for as long as there had been people. Serbia was ruled variously by the Romans, Habsburgs and Ottomans. The formal independence of Serbia was recognised at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Same boardroom used seven years later 'for Africa'? After World War I ended the Ottoman Empire, Serbia was part of Yugoslavia from 1918 till after the end of the Cold War in 1992. Fueled by ethnic tensions, Nationalism led to a break up into various nations. Following extending lesson from elsewhere, Britain imposed the 'Canadian model' by force on South Africa with a union in 1910. South Africa was also used as a pawn in the Cold War, with the thaw bringing democracy in 1994. Serbia has a population of 7 million, which would make it the third biggest South African province. Unlike Serbia and Yugoslavia, South Africa held together. The lesson for both places is to avoid being a pawn in other people's power games. Democracy, and identity, should be about empowerment rather than power.

Serbian Uprising