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独立吧!伦敦

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2017年12月14日

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I can feel it in my bones, I can almost touch it — the Independent Republic of London. It’s an idea whose time has surely come.

我预感这就要发生了,几乎伸手可及——伦敦独立共和国(Independent Republic of London)。这个想法无疑已经成熟了。

Scotland still has a burning independence flame, Catalonia had its unofficial referendum. Why not London? It dominates its country politically, culturally and economically like few other cities; it is the birthplace of modern democracy, Charlie Chaplin and Pret A Manger.

苏格兰的独立火焰仍在燃烧,加泰罗尼亚举行了非正式的独立公投。伦敦为什么不行?它在政治、文化和经济上主导着自己所在的国家,几乎没有哪个城市能与之媲美;它是现代民主的发源地,卓别林(Charlie Chaplin)和Pret A Manger连锁快餐店也在这里诞生。

Our population is two-thirds bigger than Scotland’s; our economy is two-thirds bigger than Catalonia’s. Per head, west London is the richest area in Europe — above Luxembourg, Hamburg and Brussels. Yet the capital has been outvoted by rural England. It is being dragged out of the EU against its will. It is under the control of a Conservative government it didn’t elect. Its brand of liberalism is out of the game. It’s not the specifics, it’s the principle. Shouldn’t we point out that it’s our ball, and we are taking it home?

我们的人口比苏格兰人口多三分之二;我们的经济规模比加泰罗尼亚大三分之二。按人均收入衡量,西伦敦是欧洲最富有的地区——超过卢森堡、汉堡和布鲁塞尔。但首都在选票上敌不过英格兰乡村地区。它正在被迫脱离欧盟,这违背了它自身的意愿。控制它的是并非它选出的保守党政府。伦敦特色的自由主义遭到排挤。关键不是细枝末节,而在于原则。我们难道不应该指出,球属于我们,现在我们要把它带回家吗?

Benedict Anderson, the sociologist, described nations as “imagined communities”. What are Londoners if not one people, bound together by our frustration at the District Line and an urban sense of superiority? Actually, the sense of superiority is very nuanced: we ascribe to ourselves the virtues of cosmopolitanism without any of the self-centeredness that afflicts New Yorkers. Truly, we would be the Goldilocks nation.

社会学家本尼迪克特•安德森(Benedict Anderson)把民族形容为“臆想的社区”。对District Line地铁线的挫败感和城市优越感,把伦敦人凝聚在一起,除此之外还能怎么定义伦敦人呢?事实上,这种优越感非常细腻:我们自认为具有世界主义的美德,但没有纽约人流露出的那种自我中心主义。我们会成为真正恰到好处的民族国家。

What about the practicalities? An independent London would stay in the EU. We would seek a deep and special partnership with the rest of the UK. We would take back control of our laws, money and borders. Our flag would be the Tube map. Our border would be the M25 motorway. Relax — it would be as frictionless as possible. An even more global London. The love child of medieval Venice and today’s Hong Kong.

实际如何操作?独立的伦敦将留在欧盟内。我们会寻求与英国其他地区建立深层而特殊的合作伙伴关系。我们将收回对法律、财政和边境的控制权。我们的国旗将是伦敦地铁图。M25高速公路将成为我们的边境线。放心,一切将尽可能做到无摩擦。一个更具全球色彩的伦敦。它将是中世纪威尼斯和今日香港的完美结晶。

I know what you’re going to say: there might be an economic cost. Indeed there might. But look at the upside. House prices might fall. You might get a seat on the 113 bus, or a centre court ticket at Wimbledon.

我知道你会说什么:独立可能会带来经济代价。确实可能。但先看看独立带来的好处吧。房价可能下跌。你或许能在113路公交车上找到空座,没准还能买到温网(Wimbledon)中心球场的门票。

London’s dominance is a mixed blessing. We have been clogged up by the headquarters of national power — the ministries, the monarchy, the BBC. Better to turn Westminster, Buckingham Palace and Oxford Circus over to the tourists, who have pretty much taken control of them anyway.

伦敦的主导地位有利有弊。迄今国家权力总部——政府各部、皇室以及英国广播公司(BBC)——妨碍了我们的运转。最好把威斯敏斯特(Westminster)、白金汉宫(Buckingham Palace)和牛津圆场(Oxford Circus)全部交给游客,反正他们差不多已经控制了这些地方。

A London enclave could do us all a favour. It would regenerate the rest of the UK. Plus Britain would no longer be an island nation — adieu to the isolationist psyche. We Londoners would lose our stake in the England football team winning the World Cup, but most of us lost that a while back.

伦敦变成一块飞地,对各方都有益处。它将使英国其他地区重新焕发生机。此外,英国将不再是岛国,从而告别孤立主义心态。伦敦人将失去参与英格兰足球队赢得世界杯(World Cup)的机会,但我们大多数人早就对英格兰队不抱希望。

Immigration inevitably would be a thorny topic. Of course we would, to quote Brexit secretary David Davis, make a generous offer. Our starting point is that anyone with an Oyster public transport card would be allowed unlimited right to remain. What happens if you lose your Oyster? Would we really allow free movement to those from Hungary but not from Hull? These are details the Department for Exiting the UK would have no problem sorting out. Presumably.

移民问题难免会成为一个棘手的话题。当然,用退欧事务大臣戴维•戴维斯(David Davis)的话来说,我们会提出慷慨的方案。我们的出发点是,任何拥有伦敦公共交通牡蛎卡(Oyster)的人,都可以无限制地享受居留权。如果你的牡蛎卡丢了怎么办?我们真的会允许匈牙利人自由流动,而不允许英格兰北方的赫尔人来伦敦吗?这些是“退英部”(Department for Exiting the UK)肯定可以解决的细节。想必是的。

We would need a national anthem. Which is tricky given that The Beatles were from Liverpool, and nearly everyone else on the Wikipedia page for best British bands seems to have come from Manchester. There was a suggestion that we could try something whimsical by Flanders and Swann, but it turns out they were born in Wales. Again, this is something the Department would need to look at.

我们需要定一首国歌。鉴于披头士乐队(The Beatles)来自利物浦、而维基百科(Wikipedia)英国最出色乐队的页面上其他几乎所有乐队似乎都来自曼彻斯特,这个问题比较棘手。有人建议,我们可以尝试一下弗兰德斯与斯旺组合(Flanders and Swann)的滑稽曲风,但是他们出生在威尔士。这又成了“退英部”需要考虑的问题。

These uncertainties might damage the prospect of the London Leave campaign, so we would need a popular figurehead to win the case for independence. A person of flexible views. Who knows London, but also knows Leaving. Former mayor Boris Johnson, if you’re reading this, please phone the office. And delete any previous article you’ve written opposing an independent London.

这些不确定性可能会破坏伦敦退英运动的前景,因此我们需要一个受欢迎的标志人物来争取独立。此人需要具有灵活的观点。了解伦敦,也善于退出。前市长鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson),如果你在看这篇文章,请致电退英办公室。同时删除你之前撰写的反对伦敦独立的任何文章。

And yet something doesn’t quite convince. For one thing, where will it end? Already, UK Independence party councillors in Havering have tried unsuccessfully to separate their borough from the Greater London Authority. Who could stop a similar separatist movement in Hampstead or Dulwich? The literati would plot in the London Review of Books, and no one else would find out until it was too late.

不过有些事情不太令人信服。首先,这一切的终点在哪?英国独立党(UKIP)的黑弗灵(Havering)议员已经尝试了让该区脱离大伦敦市政府(Greater London Authority),结果没有成果。谁能阻止汉普斯特德(Hampstead)或达利奇(Dulwich)发起类似的分裂运动呢?文人会在《伦敦书评》(London Review of Books)中密谋此事,等到其他人发现就为时已晚了。

Then there’s the risk our city-state might get a bit insular: how many Chelsea-Arsenal derbies do we want to watch? Crucially, there’s the time commitment. Independence is a diary killer. Londoners like to think of themselves as cosmopolitan, but their primary identity is just being busy. You can hardly have a conversation without contractually agreeing to watch a whole new box set. I’m not sure we have the time for revolution. We have a dream, but we also have a full schedule.

还有就是伦敦这个城市国家可能会有与世隔绝的风险:我们想看多少场切尔西(Chelsea)与阿森纳(Arsenal)这两个伦敦足球队之间的比赛?关键是,还有一个时间投入的问题。独立是需要全力以赴的。伦敦人喜欢把自己看成世界主义者,但他们的主要身份认同只是忙碌。你几乎找不到人说话——除非你承担起观看一部新的影视剧集的合同义务。我不确定我们有时间搞一场革命。我们有一个梦想,但我们的时间表太满了。
 


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