This in reference to the latest from the UK Ministry of Justice and their bonkers plan to destroy historic wills going back 150 years. More here, I’ll wait.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/18/ministry-of-justice-plan-to-destroy-historical-wills-is-insane-say-experts
Once again, the UK has tried lead the way in their thinking about digital heritage (starting with the whole bit about calling it “digitalisation” but that’s for another day), advocating for the digitizing of some 100 million wills, dating back 150 years, and then destroying the originals.
Quoting from the above,
“The government is proposing to keep the originals of some wills of “famous people” – likely including those of Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens and Diana, Princess of Wales – but others would be destroyed after 25 years and only a digital copy would be kept.”
… begging the question of who are those “famous people”? WHO BLOODY DECIDES?!
That question has been under discussion since humans first created written records and there has not been a satisfactory answer yet. Some of our earliest records are business records and beer recipes. Who decided that would be the case to represent humanity? (I know, it was totally serendipitous that those particular cuneiform survived)
“[L]’histoire est juste peut-être, mais qu’on ne l’oublie pas, elle a été écrite par les vainqueurs” 1842
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