In 1950, celebrated WWII code breaker Alan Turing devised what he called an imitation game for a paper in which he asked ‘Can machines think?’ A modern day equivalent would be ‘Can politicians think?’ On the basis of the evidence of political ineptitude this year, the answer to that question is a resounding ‘NO’.
The latest example of political ignorance is the decision to pull of the EU Erasmus language exchange program by the UK (with the exception of Northern Ireland). Despite Boris Johnson’s assurance that the scheme was safe in Tory hands, this is one of the many negative aspects of Brexit. In celebrating ‘freedom’ from the European Union, the small island of Britain has suddenly become much smaller.
Erasmus was established in 1987 and named after Dutch philosopher Desiderus Erasmus of Rotterdam. Its resounding success has never been in doubt. In over 20 years of teaching, I have yet to meet a student who has criticised any aspect of the programme. On the contrary, the experience of staying and studying in another country has proven to be a positive means of appreciating cultural and linguistic differences first hand. At a time when many countries are symbolically and literally building walls rather than bridges, Erasmus has been an important way to improve tolerance and understanding between nations.
The UK government claim that the replacement Turing scheme will be truly international but the funding has to be matched by an infrastructure which has taken years to build up and perfect through Erasmus.
With the Turing scheme the British government are playing a new, infinitely less intelligent, imitation game. There also has to be the political will to ensure it will be a success. The cavalier way in which Erasmus has been scrapped for UK students does not bode well for the future. If the existing programme wasn’t broken why fix it? The answer is that it didn’t fit with the British government’s political rhetoric over severing ties with the EU.
Tory politicians would do well to heed the words of another persecuted homosexual, Oscar Wilde: ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.’
