Metal detectorists benefit from the sort of open "culture for all" policies which every government should offer citizens. They want to benefit personally by hoiking stuff and having the opportunity too keep it and information about it to themselves. Yet they want at all costs to prevent members of the wider public from unsupervised access to their forums and websites. They also will not tolerate dissenting voices. As one metal detectorist puts it:
A while back I made the decision to not accept comments from two individuals whose only purpose in life is to degrade our pastime. I also reserve the right to not publish comments from anyone hiding behind anonymity and who I feel is nothing more than a fill-in or shill for these same two antagonists.
He does not reveal why he thinks anyone would want to publish anonymous comments on that particular website, full of crude language and crude anti-preservation sentiments. Nevertheless, the author reveals why there is no proper public debate about the heritage. The collectors want to alienate themselves from public discussion, preferring to hide away muttering among themselves, and quite oblivious to the real concerns others may have and voice about what the effects are of their unreflexiveness. This is what is degrading artefact hunting and collecting. The site's two authors have been nastily denigrating archaeologists, archaeological organizations and heritage workers consistently since it was begun.
No comments:
Post a Comment