Digging Deep

Back in June I suggested that the reason why domestic, European and world economies are in such catastrophic meltdown is because there are no archaeologists in charge – something that, in my own modest opinion, becomes clear every time a politician (of whatever nation or party) comments, in relation to the Euro-crisis, that "when you're in a hole you have to stop digging". This is muddle-headed thinking of the worst kind for, as any decent Bone Kicker knows, the opposite is in fact true: when you’re in a hole you have to keep digging (in fact I would advise not just maintaining a constant, steady and utterly unstoppable rate of soil removal, but also the starting of a whole new series of holes just in case).

Keep digging and never stop, that’s my advice.

Anyway, after watching both the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics (30 days of compulsive TV heaven) I fear that I may now have to amend my view on the ownership of arcane archaeo knowledge, for it would appear that it is not just seekers of the past that appreciate the need for a strategy of continuous excavation: athletes do too.

Witness quadruple gold winning Paralympian David Weir who, after winning his third gold at the London games, observed that he “had to dig deep” during the T54 800m. Later on, following the successful completion of the T54 marathon, he commented that it had been “the deepest I’ve ever had to dig and it was well worth the result in the end”. Earlier, in the C4-5 Road Race, cyclist Sarah Storey noted that she had been buoyed on by GB supporters around the course urging her to “dig in, dig in” whilst David Smith, Silver medalist in BC1 Boccia, said that he was going to have to “dig deeper” in order to impress his girlfriend. Add to that the many digging analogies provided by both commemntators and atheletes in the preceeding Olympics (including Gold medalist Andy Murray who, in an early stage of the Men’s Single Tennis Tournament, observed that he had repetedly tried to dig his way out of trouble) and it will become clear that it is not just archaeologists that understand the archaeo-analogies.

If UK politicians wish to emulate the success of both Team GB and Paralympic GB (and it would seem that they most certainly do), it is clear that they must jettison all ‘stop digging’ rhetoric and adopt a more lenient view towards soil removal.

There really hasn’t been a better time to dig deep, then dig a little bit deeper, then dig a bit more. Slowing down, stopping or even having a tea break is not an option.

Now, where's my spade.....?