16th March 2007, 05:32 PM
Sorry, fair point, 1M1D, sorry. Had one of my irascible moments there. [:I]
The thing is, the industry intermittently goes through good times and bad times, and if this is one of the good times, how are we going to take advantage of that?
Now would be a good time to be self-employed, but we've previously discussed the insecurity of that during lean times (dubious legality notwithstanding). VoR is right that an unfettered free market will probably lead to poor working conditions (as well as a likely accompanying decline in standards: 'hamburgerisation'). What we need is a diverse market of smallish organisations, big enough to take care of their workforces but not so big as to become monolithic. Contra VoR's view, I'd say it is the lack of diversity in what companies offer, and not their numbers, that is the problem. Archaeology needs more niche marketing.
That doesn't help now though. I suppose the appropriate response to the question I posed in my first paragraph is that we shall reap what we sow, so we should be careful what we ask of our paymasters.
'Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow,
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow,
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.'
The thing is, the industry intermittently goes through good times and bad times, and if this is one of the good times, how are we going to take advantage of that?
Now would be a good time to be self-employed, but we've previously discussed the insecurity of that during lean times (dubious legality notwithstanding). VoR is right that an unfettered free market will probably lead to poor working conditions (as well as a likely accompanying decline in standards: 'hamburgerisation'). What we need is a diverse market of smallish organisations, big enough to take care of their workforces but not so big as to become monolithic. Contra VoR's view, I'd say it is the lack of diversity in what companies offer, and not their numbers, that is the problem. Archaeology needs more niche marketing.
That doesn't help now though. I suppose the appropriate response to the question I posed in my first paragraph is that we shall reap what we sow, so we should be careful what we ask of our paymasters.
'Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow,
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow,
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.'