David Sunfellow of NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) has done us all a great service. He's provided an on-line space http://www.nhne.com/y2kafterthoughts/ where folks can share their "Y2K Afterthoughts", which they can email to y2kafterthoughts@nhne.com. He's already got a lot of thoughts posted there, and has excerpted some of them in the announcement message below, which makes interesting reading. He's also included his own afterthoughts, and a list of sites for follow-up. If you'd like to join a mailing list "composed of people who wish to build stronger bonds with one another while, at the same time, deepening their understanding of the true nature of Y2K" and "discussing the issues raised by the many thoughtful comments on the Y2K AfterThoughts website, David invites yo to subscribe to The Y2K AfterThoughts Mailing List by sending a blank message to:
y2kafterthoughts-subscribe@onelist.com
As usual, our movement seems to generate superlative resources for itself! May we use them well. Thanks, NHNE. -- Coheartedly, Tom
MY PREDICTIONS DID NOT COME TRUE
"I believed that Y2K would create havoc. It still might,
depending on how
many bugs are still in the systems, but I will not here appeal
to the 'still
might' argument. So, let me say without hesitation that my predictions
did
not come true. The events did not take place. I put up over 6,500
documents
and links (where available), along with my comments, doing my
best to
explain my position. I did this free of charge. I sold nothing
on that Web
site. I invested about 3,000 hours of my time to create that site.
"In retrospect, I have doubts about my rhetorical strategy.
I may have been
unwise to have stated things as boldly as I did. But I felt like
a man on a
river's shore, frantically waving to laughing people in a boat.
I had heard
the roaring of what sounded to me like a waterfall, and I wanted
them to
pull ashore."
--- Gary North
------------
"ALL YOUR WARNINGS WERE A BUNCH OF BULL!'"
"I feel like the doctor whose patient has for months been
fighting terminal
lung cancer, with a rapidly growing and metastasizing tumor. I'm
sitting at
my desk looking at the latest X-rays and tests. There are no signs
of cancer
in either. I say to my patient, 'I don't know what to make of
it, but your
cancer appears to be gone.' My mind is wondering, 'Is this a miracle?
Did we
get a mixup of records?' The patient laughs in my face and says,
'I told you
all your warnings about smoking were a bunch of bull!' -- and
pulls out his
cigarettes."
--- Tom Atlee
------------
WE NEED TO CONTINUE OUR WORK
"Many of us who have worked on Y2K saw it as the 'canary
in the mine' of our
other concerns -- destruction of ecosystems, runaway consumption,
growing
gaps between the rich and the poor, increased stress and decreased
quality
of life. We got through Y2K, so far. AND, many of our underlying
concerns
about the directions of industrial growth society remain the same.
We need
to continue our work to keep things from getting worse, to develop
effective
alternatives for people, and to evolve a whole shift in consciousness."
--- Bob Stilger
CONTENTS:
Y2K AFTERTHOUGHTS
The Bomb That Didn't Blow Up (So Far Anyway)
Much Ado About Nothing?
Where Do We Go From Here?
EXCERPTS FROM THE Y2K AFTERTHOUGHTS WEBSITE:
The Y2K Critics Were Sharpening Their Knives
Contradicted By A Fact I Cannot Refute
We Need To Wait A Month Or Two
It's Always Easier After It Becomes History
I Was Wrong, But I Am Happy That Y2K Has Been A Nonevent
Why Aren't They Pissed Off At Their Elected Officials?
I Don't Get That Much Respect
A Form Of Respect That I Can Do Without
"You Dipshit..."
We Were Doomed To Be Viewed As Fools
The Two Y2Ks
The Most Successful Prophecy On Record
Gary North's Contribution
No Man Wants To Be Wrong For All The World To See
Let Me Make Another Prediction
I Have Lost All Respect For These Leeches
Why Bill Clinton's Y2K Mouthpiece Was Completely Ready
Looking Forward To Being Forced
It Rewarded Complacency
Now The Real Work Begins
Nothing's Changed, Except Us
Let Us Not Throw It Away
Let's Pray That We Have Learned Something
One Of The Most Remarkable Phenomena In History
Time, Money, And Credibility Well-Spent
Not Dressed In The Clothes We Thought
If I Were The Voice Of The Planet
We Must Become Part Of The System
Y2K As A Teacher
I Have Felt Embarrassed, Wrong, Doubting
Assisting In The Birth Of A New World
Our Species May Actually Continue
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Y2K AFTERTHOUGHTS
By David Sunfellow
THE BOMB THAT DIDN'T BLOW UP (SO FAR ANYWAY)
While it is still too early to know how much trouble the Y2K
bug will
ultimately cause, it is clear now that it won't live up to it's
notorious
reputation. Indeed, many of those who warned the world was headed
for
serious trouble (including yours truly), have now publicly admitted
they
were wrong: Y2K not only caused fewer problems than expected,
but it seems
unlikely that our global infrastructure will suffer any major
outages in the
near or distant future because of it.
Does this mean there weren't any problems?
If you've been gathering your information from the mass media,
which has
done a suspiciously poor job of reporting on Y2K failures, you
would
probably think NOTHING happened. That, of course, is not the case.
For while
nuclear missiles and power plants didn't blow up, there have,
and continue
to be, plenty of Y2K fireworks. I encourage you to visit the following
links
to find out what has been happening behind the scenes:
Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC):
http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Grassroots%20Information%20Coo
rdination%20Center%20(GICC)
Y2K Glitch Central:
http://www.ciaosystems.com/glitchcentral.htm
wild2k:
http://www.wild2k.com
Center for Y2K & Society: Y2K Problem Reports:
http://www.y2kcenter.org/resources/glitches/index.html
Michael Hyatt's Glitch List:
http://www.michaelhyatt.com/glitchlist.htm
International Disaster Information Network:
http://www.humanitarian.net/challenges.html
Y2K International Watch:
http://www.iol15.com/coggeshall/Y2K-International-Watch/Update.htm
Bug Bite 2000:
http://stuarthrodman.com/Bugbite.htm
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?
We published our first story on Y2K in June of 1996 (NHNE News
Brief 18,
June 28, 1996). A year later, we published our second story (NHNE
News Brief
64, June 6, 1997). And, finally, in the summer of 1998, after
repeatedly
dismissing the problem for over two years, we stopped everything
else we
were doing and dove headlong into all aspects of Y2K: we published
lengthy
special reports, created a popular Y2K website, launched a weekly
Y2K
Report, began organizing our local community (and encouraging
others to do
the same), and helped produce the nation's one and only national
grassroots
community preparedness survey. I even managed to get invited to
participate
(via written testimony) in the U.S. Senate's Community Preparedness
Hearings
on Y2K.
All these efforts (and others like them) have been faithfully
recorded on
our Y2K-related websites:
The NHNE Y2K Report:
http://www.nhne.com/y2kreport/index.html
The Sedona Y2K Task Force:
http://www.wild2k.com/sedona/index.html
The Nation's First Y2K Grassroots Community Preparedness Survey:
http://www.nhne.com/y2kgrassrootssurvey/index.html
wild2k:
http://www.wild2k.com
The NHNE Y2K Mailing List:
http://www.onelist.com/community/nhney2k
But so what? Wasn't Y2K much ado about nothing?
Now that numerous trigger dates have come and gone without
causing any
serious national or global damage; and now that we are two weeks
into the
new millennium with only minor glitches continuing to be reported,
many
people are wondering what happened?
Personally, I don't know.
What I do know is that my personal expectations were wrong
(Y2K has not
turned out to be as bad as I expected) and I need to take another
look at
how, and why, I misjudged the situation. (See "NHNE Y2K
VisionQuest: Part
One", <http://www.nhne.com/y2kreport/specialreports/srvq1.html>,
for more
discussion on how my/our biases distort our perceptions.)
On the other hand, I can't shake the feeling that my time has
been well
spent. For while Y2K didn't cause humanity, as a whole, to reevaluate
the
faulty ideas and practices that are endangering our species and
terrorizing
our planet, it did provide the vehicle by which many of us who
are concerned
about such things to gather together.
I have often thought about how South Africa rounded up the
opponents of
apartheid and threw them in prison together. The South African
government
did this, of course, expecting to silence the voices that challenged
the
oppression in their society. What happened instead was that all
these folks
had a chance to compare notes, build friendships, and remerge
a more potent
force than ever. In the end, apartheid was abandoned and the nation
of South
Africa is now ruled by the people were once locked away. Perhaps
Y2K has
provided many of us, who are normally constrained to the outer
edges of
society, a chance to create a more potent force for change than
would have
otherwise been possible.
Y2K also unleashed another chain of unexpected events: countries,
corporations, small businesses, and individuals, all over the
world, pooled
their knowledge and resources to cope with what was perceived
to be a common
threat. In many cases this meant that people who are normally
competitors,
enemies, or rivals, set aside their differences and focused on
the common
good. Indeed, while the mainstream media has been trumpeting Y2K
as the
greatest hoax of the century, history will probably remember it
as the first
time in human history where the entire planet joined together,
in a spirit
of true cooperation, to deal with a common concern.
Not bad for a bug that didn't do what it was expected to do.
And not bad for
us either, to have played a significant part in helping humankind
build
stronger, deeper connections.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
At this point in the Y2K game, there are a lot of loose ends
to tie up. We
still don't know, for instance, if the Y2K bugs that remain will
cause
widespread, serious disruptions. We're still not sure why things
went so
smoothly. We also don't know how many failures have been kept
a secret.
Twenty years from now, will you and I be reading stories about
how close our
world actually came to a meltdown?
More important than wrestling with computer bugs though, it
seems important
to spend some time reflecting on what Y2K has meant to us while
things are
still fresh in our lives and memory:
What did we learn, as individuals and as a group?
What mistakes did we make?
What would we do differently if confronted with another problem like Y2K?
How have our core beliefs been affected by Y2K? Do we still
trust ourselves?
Our guidance? The guidance of others?
How can we use the relationships and networks we've built through
Y2K to
create a better world?
How does Y2K, and the other grave problems our planet presently
faces, fit
into the grand scheme of things? Where are we headed, in other
words, and
what are the roads we need to walk to get there in one piece?
To help us explore these issues, I've created a website to
serve as a
database for some of the best, most thought-provoking and inspiring
commentaries on Y2K. I have included excerpts from some of the
material on
this new website with this report (see below). I think you will
be impressed
with the depth, breadth, and heartfelt soul-searching that is
reflected in
many of these excerpts.
And now I want to hear from you.
I'm expecting some of you will have things to share that you
would like to
have posted on the new website, while others of you will want
to keep your
sharing private. Just let me know which camp you fall into when
you write
and it will be my pleasure to honor it.
Those of you who have something to share with the world, will
need to
include your name and where you live on planet Earth (city, state,
province,
country). I would also like to include your email address (and
website if
you have one), so those who are interested can write you, but
a contact
address is not required.
In either case (whether you've got something to share with
the world, or
simply share with me), please send your letters to:
Because NHNE has spent so much time on Y2K, I am also very
interested in
knowing how you felt I/we handled this situation. Were we fair,
even-handed,
balanced? Or did we go overboard? Were you inspired, informed,
and
empowered? Or did you feel like we took you on a wild goose chase?
Let us
know. Your feedback, as always, is very important.
Finally, if you are interested in discussing the issues raised
by the many
thoughtful comments on the Y2K AfterThoughts website, you are
invited to
join The Y2K AfterThoughts Mailing List. This list is composed
of people who
wish to build stronger bonds with one another while, at the same
time,
deepening their understanding of the true nature of Y2K.
To subscribe to The Y2K AfterThoughts Mailing List,
send a blank mesage to:
y2kafterthoughts-subscribe@onelist.com
And that's it for now.
This has been quite a ride for me and, I know, for many of
you. It will be
good to compare notes and then move on, with greater knowledge,
wisdom and
experience, to the next adventure...
With Love & Best Wishes,
David Sunfellow
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
EXCERPTS FROM THE Y2K AFTERTHOUGHTS WEBSITE:
http://www.nhne.com/y2kafterthoughts/
THE Y2K CRITICS WERE SHARPENING THEIR KNIVES
"Throughout the globe, the phones worked, and nuclear
reactors hummed.
Missiles remained undisturbed in their silos, and planes flew
through the
air. I was particularly grateful for the latter, because I was
at 37,000
feet over Toronto on a United Airlines flight to Heathrow just
to prove a
point about my confidence about Y2K.
"But before dawn even broke over party-weary cities, the
Y2K critics were
sharpening their knives. To them, the lack of havoc was proof
that the Y2K
problem was an illusion, just as they suspected all along. Within
nine hours
of midnight, Universal Time Code (formerly known as Greenwich
Mean Time), I
gave several interviews to reporters who seemed to be gloating
over the
apparent lack of Y2K problems."
--- Peter de Jager
------------
CONTRADICTED BY A FACT I CANNOT REFUTE
"You could place a gun to my head and threaten to pull
the trigger unless I
told you the 'truth' that the problem was NOT real -- and I would
steadfastly refuse. I KNOW, with every fibre of my being that
we were right.
Nothing can shake me from that belief.
"And therein lies the glaring contradiction I struggle
with. My view of the
problem is contradicted by a fact I cannot refute, and make no
attempt to,
Italy has seen no significant effects."
--- Peter de Jager
------------
WE NEED TO WAIT A MONTH OR TWO
"We need to wait a month or two before detailing our success or failure."
--- Peter de Jager
------------
IT'S ALWAYS EASIER AFTER IT BECOMES HISTORY
"Ironically, the greater our success, the more 'evidence'
critics will cite
for declaring that Y2K was an illusion. But it's always easier
to predict
the future after it becomes history."
--- Peter de Jager
------------
I WAS WRONG, BUT I AM HAPPY THAT Y2K HAS BEEN A NONEVENT
"Last year, in my December 13 weekly comments, I wrote:
'I still expect a
recession next year. I am not rooting for this outcome. I wouldn't
mind
sacrificing it to the forecasting gods. I'll be very happy if
Y2K turns out
to be a nonevent.I'm skeptical, but I could be wrong.' I was wrong,
but I am
happy that Y2K has been a nonevent. The IT community deserves
most of the
credit for the uneventful century date change. John Koskinen,
the US
government's Y2K man, was especially effective in coordinating
the Y2K
remediation process both in the United States and around the world.
Looking
back, I don't regret my efforts to raise awareness."
--- Ed Yardeni
------------
WHY AREN'T THEY PISSED OFF AT THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS?
"Here's what puzzles me: if people are pissed off because
I offered a
pessimistic Y2K book to the marketplace, and because I posted
a number of
free Y2K essays on my web site, why aren't they even more pissed
off at
their elected officials? The U.S. government first announced,
back in 1997,
that it was going to spend approximately $2 billion to repair
9,000 systems;
by the time the dust settled in the autumn of 1999, the price
tag had
escalated to $8 billion, but the number of 'mission-critical'
systems being
repaired had dropped to roughly 6,000. Where do you think that
money came
from? It came from the tax-payers of America, and I don't recall
reading
anywhere that we could treat this as an 'optional' contribution
on our IRS
tax forms. If so, I assume that a lot of the people who have been
sending
vitriolic e-mail to me might have checked off a box on their Form
1040 that
said, 'Reduce my taxes by $80, because I don't want to contribute
anything
to that ridiculous Y2K effort of yours.' ($80 is the result of
dividing an
$8 billion expenditure by an estimated 100 million taxpayers.)
Bottom line:
the government spent a lot more of everyone's money than they
would have on
my textbook, and it was a unilateral decision on their part."
--- Ed Yourdon
------------
I DON'T GET THAT MUCH RESPECT
"I can understand why a small business owner, with no
particular computer
expertise, might feel that he was bamboozled if he spent several
thousand
dollars upgrading his computer equipment, and then discovered
that his
competitor across the street spent no money, and ended up without
any
problems. But I hope that nobody thinks that I had the power to
persuade
hard-nosed executives of the large corporations to spend $100
billion on
repairs that they didn't need, or to persuade cash-strapped Federal
government agencies to spent $8 billion on Y2K repairs that they
didn't
need. Even in the best of times, I don't get that much respect."
--- Ed Yourdon
------------
A FORM OF RESPECT THAT I CAN DO WITHOUT
"If the requirement for achieving respect in the Y2K struggle
was one of
luck -- i.e.., advocating no personal preparations, and admitting
no risk of
serious failure, and then crossing one's fingers and hoping that
it all
turned out right -- then it's a form of respect that I can do
without."
--- Ed Yourdon
------------
"YOU DIPSHIT..."
"you dipshit...
"i hope you feel as stupid as you make yourself appear
to be... have fun
pulling your head out of your ass for the rest of your life, while
trying to
suck money out of the nation's idiots.
"couldn't you have at least been a participant of some mass suicide?"
--- Hate Mail Received by Ed Yourdon
------------
WE WERE DOOMED TO BE VIEWED AS FOOLS
"We knew (or should have known) that this was a (relatively)
thankless
effort we undertook. The criticism doesn't bother me. I knew 3
years ago
that we'd either be viewed as heroes or fools -- depending on
the outcome.
If efforts were successful to remediate and prepare, we would
be considered
fools. If we weren't successful, we'd be so busy that there would
be no time
for acclaim. None of us wanted the worst to happen, so we were
doomed to be
viewed as fools from the start... However, I would rather be in
the company
of fools at this time, and am proud to be counted among them."
--- Paloma O'Riley
------------
BE PROUD THAT YOU CARED ENOUGH TO PUT YOURSELF ON THE LINE
"Some recent activity does concern me -- the amount of
effort to gather and
relate any and all occurrences of Y2K related failures. That the
information
is gathered is useful and right. However, I hope the motivation
isn't to
somehow justify all our time, effort, and sacrifice. Our actions
don't need
to be justified. We did what we believed needed to be done. I
personally
would go through it again if I thought the potential threat as
great. It may
be difficult at times to hold our heads up when we are ridiculed,
but
'friends don't need explanations, and enemies won't believe them
anyway'.
Grace and dignity under fire is our only recourse while fools
gloat. It's
doubly difficult to be glad that they are able to do so. Be proud
that you
cared enough to put yourself (and everything else) on the line
for what you
believe. That, in itself, should be enough for anyone who cares
to look."
--- Paloma O'Riley
------------
THE TWO Y2KS
"There are at least two Y2Ks -- the TimeBomb/WreckingBall
Y2K and the
Termite Y2K.
"The TimeBomb/WreckingBall Y2K was supposed to do its
dirty work at New
Years Eve midnight, sweeping around the world leaving a swath
of vivid
new-millennial disruptions in its wake. We all watched the clock
tick, the
ball swing. The fact that so little happened is a miracle. Although
I
suspect that we'll find that more happened than met the public
eye, the fact
remains that the deep and broad disruptions so many of us expected
did not
happen.
"But the dramatic Y2K is only half of Y2K. Let us not
forget the more subtle
Y2K, the one about 'supply chains' and 'cascading effects' and
'the
increasing viscosity of life' -- the Y2K that happens over time,
the one
that could even end up being 'death from a million cut'".
That's what I'm
calling the Termite Y2K. Termites eat away inside the wall leaving
only a
surface apparency of sturdiness that doesn't need a wrecking ball
to punch
holes in it. This Termite Y2K has barely begun its work."
--- Tom Atlee
------------
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PROPHECY ON RECORD
"Someone on an email list I follow wrote apologies for
having predicted the
collapse of civilization in the Y2K bug. He concluded by saying
'Now I know
for sure this is a living hell.'
"There's no pain like being wrong in public. But it's
unnecessary. Y2K Was
one of the most successful prophecies on record. This prophet's
unnecessary
anguish arises from his failure to perceive that Y2K demonstrates
the
little-known category of the self-negating prophecy: it cancels
itself,
provokes its own untruth, in a structural reversal of the better-known
self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Noah is the model of the prophetic failure. Yes, things
turned out exactly
as he predicted, but the point was that people were supposed to
listen and
change their behavior, forestalling the dreaded outcome. Noah
failed in his
mission, while the Y2K prophets succeeded in theirs. They urged
us to change
our ways and spend untold billions on consultants and software.
We did, and
we are saved. Hallelujah."
--- Ted Daniel
------------
GARY NORTH'S CONTRIBUTION
"Gary North: He has done more to educate the world about
Y2K than any three
other people. The huge majority of people who have decided to
prepare for
Y2K have done so because of him. I think his conclusions about
total
collapse are wrong (Oh, how I hope they're wrong) but if you're
going to
analyze Y2K you better be able to defend yourself against his
thinking. Gary
is a powerful intellect and a savagely logical defender of his
position. He
was also an intrepid champion of my Navy Utility Survey when it
went up on
the Internet. It was awesome having him out front taking spears
in the chest
on my behalf."
--- Jim Lord
------------
NO MAN WANTS TO BE WRONG FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
"As you can imagine, I received a lot of criticism last
week! The computers
did not die, nor did the systems they support. Clearly, as of
this week, I
was wrong in my predictions. No man wants to be wrong for all
the world to
see. Had it not been for the magnitude of the threat, as I perceived
it, I
would not have spent all those hours at my computer, posting summaries,
extracts, and links to the documentary record (www.remnant.org).
I knew the
risk of making a major error when I began. I will now pay a price.
I do
apologize if I have embarrassed you or made your life worse. It
was my
intention to keep your life from getting worse that led me to
start the Y2K
warnings."
--- Gary North
------------
LET ME MAKE ANOTHER PREDICTION
"Let me make another prediction: I will not predict anything
again with such
forceful rhetoric. If I hear that a nuclear war is about to begin,
I'll
limit myself to sending you an e-mail with a link to www.megaton.org."
--- Gary North
------------
I HAVE LOST ALL RESPECT FOR THESE LEECHES
"The Press: Half of them are stupid. The other half are
whores, snuggled up
in the pockets of the politicians. The third half is just plain
lazy. I
can't tell you how discouraging it is to get calls from media
fools wanting
stories about Y2K and the end of the world. Then when they realized
they had
a serious and credible analyst on their hands they would turn
disinterested
because I refused to act like some kind of survivalist nut. Over
the past
three years I have lost all respect for these leeches. The only
exceptions I
found were a few radio talk show hosts mainly of the politically
conservative persuasion. C-Span was the only exception in the
television
realm."
--- Jim Lord
------------
WHY BILL CLINTON'S Y2K MOUTHPIECE WAS COMPLETELY READY
"[Senator Robert] Bennett conducted a Y2K Town Hall Meeting
in Cedar City,
Utah just twenty miles from my home. I met with him privately
for six or
seven minutes after the public meeting. I gave him a copy of the
Navy
utility survey and my report, the 'Pentagon Papers of Y2K.' When
I asked if
he had seen the Navy survey he said he had not but thought his
staff had. I
told him I would be going public with the report soon and that
he could
expect some questions.
"I believe Senator Bennett faxed a copy of the report
to John Koskinen that
very evening. This gave Koskinen forty hours to work with the
Pentagon and
cook up a story to deal with the press onslaught they knew was
coming. This
explains why Bill Clinton's Y2K mouthpiece was completely ready
for the
press when they showed up on his doorstep. Recently, I received
confirmation
of this belief from another current member of Congress."
--- Jim Lord
------------
LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING FORCED
"I was very grateful that there weren't any major problems
with the
rollover. But I have to admit that I realized there was a little
part of me
that was looking forward to being forced into a simpler lifestyle.
The only
way I can describe the feeling is the way I have felt in the past
when an
unexpected snowstorm would hit.
"When my girls were little, occasionally we would get
a winter snowstorm
that would dump a couple of feet of snow and totally immobilize
the area.
I'd wake up early and the world would be beautifully covered in
a blanket of
white snow. Schools and work would be closed and everybody would
be forced
to stay home. There was this wonderful, peaceful quiet when you
went
outside. If the power was still on, we'd get up and have a leisurely
breakfast and then people would begin to emerge from the homes.
Neighbors,
who ordinarily never saw each other, would begin to shovel snow
and kids
would be out in the streets playing. People would catch up with
each other
and old friendships would be renewed. It was a wonderful time
and our whole
family was together without anybody rushing off to this or that
activity. I
guess I was hoping that nothing bad would happen with Y2K but
still that
things would be a little like that anyway.
"As I've thought about how wonderful it would be to have
that kind of
situation happen in my everyday life, I realized that living life
more
simply is possible - it just requires me to take control of how
it works,
not the weather, Y2K or anything else."
--- Karen Anderson
------------
IT REWARDED COMPLACENCY
"In thinking about the Y2K computer problem, I came across
this comment from
Mike Adams of y2knewswire.com and I think it says it well:
"'...even the positive Y2K outcome leaves us with one
long-term concern: it
rewarded complacency. The fact that no major infrastructure failures
occurred taught people that they were right to do nothing. In
this instance,
they were fortunate, but this is a dangerous precedent to be setting
on a
global scale. A population that believes it is invulnerable to
calamities is
no wiser than a street-racing teenager who thinks he's immortal.
He may beat
the odds this time, but not every time.
"'That's why we hope Y2K can serve as an important reminder
to prepare. Had
Americans already been practicing general emergency preparedness,
there
would have been no reason to urge new preparedness for Y2K....Make
preparedness part of your life, not as a reaction to a particular
event.
Once you do that, the outcome of any single event makes very little
difference. You're prepared for either outcome.'"
--- Karen Anderson
------------
NOW THE REAL WORK BEGINS
"When I got a diagnosis of possible heart disease several
years ago, I was
highly motivated to rework my diet, to exercise, and to meditate
and rest.
After eight months of this regimen and more intensive tests on
my heart, my
doctors told me they couldn't find any sure evidence of a heart
condition.
They couldn't rule it out, but they had no absolute evidence.
My disciplined
program dissolved INSTANTLY, even though I knew it would save
me from all
sorts of other medical problems later. I've been struggling for
years to get
it back on track.
"I believe that a failure to act until a crisis hits shows
a lack of
intelligence, a failure of our innate ability to recognize patterns
in our
lives and use those patterns to help us take appropriate action.
Since it is
abundantly clear that we still have real collective problems we
could apply
ourselves to in the post-Y2K world, I wonder if we can exercise
the
collective intelligence to sustain our efforts without the dramatic
focus of
Y2K. I would be truly sad if we couldn't.
"Personally, I sense what my friend Marianne Morgan wrote
to me a few days
ago, that 'now the real work begins.'"
--- Tom Atlee
------------
NOTHING'S CHANGED, EXCEPT US
"Nothing's Changed, Except Us. Many of us have changed
as a result of our
work on Y2K. The world seems a bit more, well, global. Separate
little
project seem less important. Our consciousness of our deep
interconnectedness has expanded. The stories we tell ourselves
about our
lives have shifted. Y2K has been an easel on which many of us
have started
to draw new pictures of our lives."
--- Bob Stilger
------------
LET US NOT THROW IT AWAY
"Y2K was only one aspect of our REAL AND INCREASING TECHNOLOGICAL
VULNERABILITY which ranges from cyberterrorism to downed power
lines, from
nuclear power to genetic engineering. Instead of abandoning our
positions we
might expand our vision. Y2K is only the tip of an iceberg of
systemic
vulnerabilities. Preparedness is still an issue. Sustainability
is still an
issue. Democratic monitoring of technology is still an issue.
The erosion of
our rights and freedoms as a solution to terrorism is still an
issue. We
have momentum. Let us not throw it away."
--- Tom Atlee
------------
LET'S PRAY THAT WE HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING
"One concern remains -- that business and gov't will learn
nothing from our
close call, that we will continue the same shortsighted practices.
If we do,
I will be sorely grieved, but not surprised. I despair of our
fellows'
ability to meet the unknown without fear, and admit ignorance
without
feeling diminished. Until we overcome these very human failings,
I fear that
the next 'bullet burn' may be more than a graze. If we pray for
anything
from all this, let's pray that we have learned something, and
then put it to
good use."
--- Paloma O'Riley
------------
ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE PHENOMENA IN HISTORY
"The Y2K movement is one of the most remarkable phenomena
in history, a
spontaneous, widespread, self-organized movement based on a deep
caring and
the ability to rapidly share information and wisdom through the
Internet.
Networks and friendships were woven, understandings and agreements
were
hard-won. Let us not throw out the Y2K baby with the Y2K bathwater."
--- Tom Atlee
------------
TIME, MONEY, AND CREDIBILITY WELL-SPENT
"The collaborative web that's emerging on the heels of
this international
project is fascinating to me...
"A number of folks I've 'met' in the Y2k Preparedness
Movement are now
looking at ways to continue the portions of their work that have
seemed most
beneficial to them. Sustainability, Social Responsiblity, Technical
Awareness, Freedom Issues, Participatory Governance, Diversification
of
Infrastrucutre Service Providers, Self-Reliance, and Ethical Action
seem to
be high on the list future endeavors. If this is what we visibly
achieve as
a result of this work we've done 'together', then I'd say it was
all time,
money, and credibility well-spent."
--- Cynthia Beal
------------
NOT DRESSED IN THE CLOTHES WE THOUGHT
"Last winter, as I sat in the room at the Fetzer Institute
Y2K meeting I was
struck with the gathering of midwives I saw before me: a group
of committed
humans who were gathered together by the thread of what we supposed
was Y2K.
I left that gathering feeling that it purpose of our gathering
was not about
Y2K at all, which is why I believe, there was so little discussion
about the
specifics of the issue in the meeting. We were gathered to witness
the
articulation of values and energy for a movement to sustain the
well being
of life upon our planet. Whether we were successful then, or will
be the
future I cannot pretend to know, but the intention was at least
clear.
"I believe that the great perplexity which is sweeping
the Y2K movement is
because a call was answered but the messenger turned out to not
be dressed
in the clothes we thought. As I examine my own response to the
Y2K issue I
realized that the invitation to extend my awareness to global
systems was a
powerful doorway to what I believe is an authentic and even painful
call
from the planetary systems for our increased human awareness."
--- David La Chapelle
------------
IF I WERE THE VOICE OF THE PLANET
"If I were the voice of the planet which is under siege
and I wanted to
communicate to the human realm of my predicament what could I
do? The human
community shows little capacity to fundamentally respond to the
visible
evidence of degradation. Becoming immune to the erosion of ecosystems
the
human sensibility has become more and more truncated and focused
upon the
electronic media and the computers of the world. If I were fighting
for the
health of my home world I would be tempted to use whatever means
I could to
communicate with the human communities. What better way than to
infect the
computer systems with a meme of impending destruction? All who
use the
systems would be forced to consider that their way of doing business
was in
peril if they did not pay attention. If I wanted to flag my message
to the
humans of the planet then I would create the suspicion that their
computers
may be in peril. As the humans responded they would begin to sense
and feel
the lack of sustainability of the present system. Perhaps if enough
of them
listened a new level of action might take place."
--- David La Chapelle
------------
WE MUST BECOME PART OF THE SYSTEM
"Lessons are always there to be learned. This is mine
in regard to Y2K. I
must plead a certain spiritual materialism when it came to Y2K.
I was
hoping, somewhere in the recesses of my consciousness, that the
disruption
which Y2K might bring would be an opportunity for people to wake
up and
begin to change the structural problems which are damaging our
greater good.
This was a noble thought, but I made a serious mistake. One which
I was
projecting onto the consumer-technology culture. I was wanted
the material
world to provide the magic bullet for change. In doing so I short
circuited
the true evolutionary process of inner truths become explicit.
Any emergence
of wholeness takes time to achieve its goals and is the result
of hard work
and reciprocal relationship amongst all the parts. As long as
I was focusing
on the problems of the material culture I lived in I was in fact
becoming a
materialist myself. It wasn't until I was on the Mayor's task
force here in
Juneau that I truly began to realize that if we are to change
the system
then the we must become part of the system. Waiting for the demise
of a
system in order to improve it was a failure of spirit on my part."
--- David La Chapelle
------------
Y2K AS A TEACHER
"In recognizing Y2K as a teacher, I had no idea what I
was in for. I have
had some wonderful spiritual teachers, and I know them to be tricksters.
They'll do anything, including telling you bald-faced lies, in
order to get
you out of your ego, to demoralize you past your certainty into
the fertile
spiritual terrain of not-knowing. Many spiritual traditions are
filled with
stories about this type of guru behavior, the incredibly strange
and even
despicable things a teacher will do, but always in support of
the student's
awakening. I just didn't realize that Y2K would carry on in that
great
tradition."
--- Meg Wheatley
------------
I HAVE FELT EMBARRASSED, WRONG, DOUBTING
"I have felt embarrassed, wrong, doubting of my ability
to see things
clearly. My ego has had a field day, telling me to doubt myself
at entirely
new levels, to shut up and sit down, to acknowledge my incapacities.
But I
have also felt deep gratitude that the world is still functioning
smoothly,
while living with the insistent paradox that this world doesn't
function
well when it's functioning smoothly. It still needs to change,
and I still
want to be one of those who facilitates the change. But who am
I, and what's
going on?"
--- Meg Wheatley
------------
ASSISTING IN THE BIRTH OF A NEW WORLD
"Y2K has helped me on this path of giving up my very identity.
So right now,
to free myself from that identity, I want to sit in the startling
bewilderment of being wrong. I want to recognize that I couldn't
see what
was going on, nor can I now. I want to acknowledge that those
people I
accused of being in denial, or those leaders who I named as intentionally
deceitful and manipulative, may have been acting from a different
understanding than mine, and that theirs was more accurate.
"I also want to recognize my own pessimism and cynicism
-- those beliefs
that led me to believe certain things, and be blind to others.
Why did I
choose to notice what I noticed? What kept me from acknowledging
other
information, other people? What made me deny hopeful signs, why
did I hold
onto fear and cynicism?
"And above all else, I want to become more vulnerable,
more open, more
uncertain. To be in this work of midwifery, assisting in the birth
of a new
world, requires that, in a spiritual sense, I disappear. I can't
move into
this new world carrying my ego. Selflessness, emptiness of ego,
openness --
this is the path."
--- Meg Wheatley
------------
OUR SPECIES MAY ACTUALLY CONTINUE
"I have tried and been unable to put into words how proud
I am of everyone
who put their lives on hold, who got their hands dirty, who put
up with
derision and hardship -- because they believed that helping others
was the
right thing to do. Such people give me hope that our species may
actually
continue if we ever experience very serious challenges to our
existence.
Thank you, and thanks to everyone who helped you. Words are not
enough. My
heart is full... May God, the powers that be, the universe, etc.,
bless you,
keep you, and give you strength."
--- Paloma O'Riley
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
David Sunfellow, Founder & Publisher
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
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