The twitter around the cultural property nationalist blogs at the moment is that a rare tribal octadrachm of the Bisalti has been seized from an auction firm in Switzerland. One of these bloggers even uses the episode to disparage, by linkage and innuendo, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) and its allies in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation now in progress against the U.S. State Department. This is not the first such episode by any means. I have seen a lot of misguided enmity in my varied careers, but never in my memory have I seen such absolute drivel as I have over the FOIA suit. It really deserves a prize.

First of all, the FOIA lawsuit filed against the State Department by the ACCG, with the collaboration of the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) and the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), has absolutely NOTHING to do with the coin seizure. Mentioning them in the same breath is nothing less than ignorant—unless of course it is thought in some malevolent way that it might damage the ACCG. If that is the case, then we have a different issue, don’t we? Perhaps one would call that a volley in the cultural property war. Well, if so, the cannoneers haven’t quite got the range and bearing down.

The FOIA suit makes a complaint in U.S. Federal Court that an agency of the U.S. government failed to comply with the U.S. law governing release of information to the general public. This is a suit that is widely supported by academics and civil rights advocates, even some who advocate cultural property import controls, because every thinking person in America recognizes the importance of transparency in government. Even President Obama has made a very big issue of government transparency. That he has not been able to simply order the State Department to follow the law is telling in itself. Oh! Excuse me, he DID order them to, they just chose not to comply.

So, anyone who would criticize this FOIA lawsuit would seem to be either a confirmed anarchist or repressive nationalist. The latter is more to the point in this case, I believe. National pride is one thing, but the extreme fringe of nationalism is anti-social to say the least and dangerously arrogant in most cases. We ought to heed the words of Patrick J Geary (The Myth of Nations), “As a tool of nationalist ideology, the history of Europe’s nations was a great success, but it has turned our understanding of the past into a toxic waste dump, filled with the poison of ethnic nationalism, and the poison has seeped deep into popular consciousness.” At a time when cultural awareness and interaction should be at the top of our agenda, we oddly (and sadly) find the U.S. State Department promoting and rewarding repressive nationalism.

Secondly, what about the Octadrachm? Well, we don’t really know the whole story, do we? So, before we start dancing in circles or baying at the moon, why not let the laws of Switzerland prevail and hope that the Swiss law enforcement agencies and judiciary come to a just evaluation and resolution of the situation. There are laws in place that govern the situation. If the laws are unjust, then it is the duty of the Swiss people to seek redress. By the same token, if laws in the United States are unjust, or improperly enforced, it is our duty to seek redress through the courts. That is exactly what the ACCG is doing. For cultural property nationalists to mischaracterize this legitimate legal challenge is worse than distasteful, it adds another layer to that toxic waste dump.

Finally, I am beginning to wonder if anybody really pays any attention any more to this mindless banter. Some may have noticed a spell of silence in this blog recently. It is not for lack of activity, there has been plenty of that. It is more a feeling that time is an increasingly precious commodity and there is little point to hammering the same old tune on our dulcimers. Personally, I intend to concentrate on using my time to seek justice through the means at my disposal as an American citizen. A federal judge will soon be laying out the future path and we will take it from there.

I do intend to comment here from time to time, but I do not intend to waste any more of my time engaging in drivel control.

Best to all,

Wayne

Related posts:

1. FOIA Suit Filed Against US Dept of State
2. Lawsuit pries loose documents, more being contested
3. Ethics, Law and Globalization
4. Ancient Coins: Freedom of Information and New Import Restrictions sought on Greek “Cultural Property”
5. Questions and Truth
6. Ruling in FOIA case condones DOS intransigence on ancient coin import restrictions
7. A Time to Speak Out – Will Ancient Coins from Italy be Restricted?
8. Ancient Coin Collectors Challenge U.S. State Dept. Bureaucrats After Baltimore Seizure
9. Ad Usam: A philosophical straight jacket
10. Coin Collectors to Challenge State Department on Import Restrictions