[Taxacom] Museum research decline

[Fred Schueler]

On 12/17/2013 6:41 PM, John Grehan wrote:

> A speculative question - is it possible that the decline in support for
> research scientists is related to the decline in the 'middle class' (at
> least in the United States where it is in decline with more ultra rich and
> more far less well off)?

* I have long wondered about the coincidence, in Canada, between the 
beginning of the decline in support for the National Museum (1977), and 
the publication by the staff, in the 1970s, of lists of endangered 
species and studies of climate change.

There's a currently popular song about the Canadian economy - "The 
System isn't broken it was made that way," and, on this hypothesis, the 
decline of support for museum research and exploration would have 
occurred at the point where these activities began to threaten to impede 
exploitative economic activities rather than assisting them. This 
perhaps ascribes an implausible level of foresight to the 
exploitationists, but the coincidence is striking.

fred schueler
Research Curator
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