NHNE Special Report:
Thursday, January 13, 2000
Y2K AfterThoughts
"News,
Inspiration,
& Consumer Protection
for Spiritual Seekers"
------------
NHNE Special Report:
Y2K AfterThoughts
Thursday, January 13, 2000
------------
Total NHNE Mailing List:
Last Mailing: 1964
This Mailing: 1977
------------
Subscribe NHNE, send a blank email message to:
nhnelist-on@mail-list.com
Unsubscribe NHNE, send a blank email message to:
nhnelist-off@mail-list.com
To read current NHNE posts:
http://dispatch.mail-list.com/archives/nhnelist
To keep NHNE on the radar screen of planet Earth:
http://www.nhne.com/main/donations.html
P.O. Box 2242
Sedona, AZ USA 86339
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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%20Coordination%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:
y2kafterthoughts@nhne.com
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
P.O. Box 2242
Sedona, AZ USA 86339
Primary eMail: nhne@nhne.com
Secondary eMail: nhne@wildapache.net
NHNE: http://www.nhne.com/
wild2k: http://www.wild2k.com/
Phone: (928) 282-6120
Fax: (815) 346-1492
Subscribe NHNE Mailing List:
send a blank message to <nhnelist-on@mail-list.com>
Review Current NHNE Mailing List Posts:
http://dispatch.mail-list.com/archives/nhnelist
Subscribe NHNE News List:
send a blank message to <nhnenews-subscribe@onelist.com>
Review Current NHNE News List Posts:
http://www.nhne.com/newslist/index.html
Subscribe NHNE Y2K List:
send a blank message to <nhney2k-subscribe@onelist.com>
Review Current NHNE Y2K List Posts:
http://www.onelist.com/messages/nhnenews
Appreciate what we are doing?
You can say so with a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.nhne.com/main/donations.html
