What Can We Do?

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So many people here submit posts expressing their concern for others. Even in the face of preparing for our OWN survival, many people are working diligently to help bring awareness to others. Here are a few of my thoughts about PRACTICAL things we might each consider to make a difference:

1. Beyond telling your family and friends about y2k's implications, why not photocopy select articles that might be effective in supporting the key points that will make this real to them? Not everyone is on the Internet. When my family had our annual reunion in August, I had a three-ring notebook with me for them to read down-loaded articles on every subject -- from Dr. Yardeni's conference text to Karen Anderson's "y2k for Women" survival basic information. Consider that, in a few months, many families will be gathering for thanksgiving and the holiday season. This would give you time to prepare something to help your extended family get the message.

2. If you are a member of a church or a synagogue, try to set a meeting with clergy. The Jewish New Year begins next week; this would be a strategic time to have a rabbi say something relevant to y2k. There's a special opportunity at Christmas, Kwanza and Hanukkah soon, too.

3. Instead of sending regular Holiday cards this year, try a more creative approach that adds an insert page with information about y2k and perhaps tailor your gifts along more practical lines: Ed Yourdon's "Time Bomb 2000" or some "camping" gear (read "survival gear" to all of you).

I'll leave a little room here for some of you to make suggestions, but I think this is a most important activity for us to be engaged in as a community.

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@ptd.net), September 17, 1998

Answers

My sister overcomes the denial phase that people show by asking what they would do if we had an ice storm (replace with hurricane,tornado, flood, earthquake) and the power went out for days or weeks, like it did to those in Quebec last winter. She then suggests that even without considering y2k, it is a good plan to have a few weeks of cash, nedicines, food,and water readily available. This may or may not be enough to ensure that folk survive y2k, but it's better than nothing and they don't feel attacked.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusnet.net), September 17, 1998.

Sara, great idea about the family reunion thing. My husbands is next month & I would like to do something similiar to what you did with the binder. Could you (or anyone) offer some suggested articles & their websites that are particulary good for those that are hearing about this for the first time? Thanks Donna

-- Donna B (Dd0143@aol.com), September 17, 1998.

Donna, Whether a person is a Christian or not, 700 Club has an excellent, helpful website. There are reprints re Y2K from newspapers in various cities. They are current. A couple days ago I found articles from both the Deseret News (Utah) and from a Canadian newspaper. The former reported the scarcity of food on shelves of a Mormon supply house so that people are not able to just walk in and purchase food products as before; the latter reported how the Canadian military is now preparing to help people with food, water, etc., and maintain law and order when Y2K begins. One can print copies of such to hand out. The site is www.cbn.com, then in the left column, click on Y2K news. Hope this helps!

-- Holly Allen (Holly3325@juno.com), September 17, 1998.

Great advice Great-granny Holly. Are you going to let us know how your meeting went?

Donna, I try to give people articles that come from a source they respect. Sometimes it's a news source like Holly mentioned. Sometimes a magazine. Note that many even on this forum were convinced by the Wired Magazine article. My dad respects Merrill Lynch a lot, so I gave him a copy of this article:

www.ml.com/woml/forum/millen.htm

Sara, I thought your point about Christmas Cards was great. It's the only time of the year we write to lots of folks. What a great opportunity to mention Y2K!

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 17, 1998.


Donna. Westergaard's site (www.y2ktimebomb.com) is GRREAT for introductory articles for people who need to be (how to say(?)) "carefully" introduced to the subject, as most of our senior family members may be.

CR

-- Chuck a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), September 18, 1998.



I'd add to the printed materials the text of some of the Senate y2k committee hearings -- some folks aren't even aware that there IS such a committee.

I'd make sure to include some infomation from the Cassandra project to help guide thinking along the lines of constructive action and community action as well.

For my family reunion, I also printed out all of Gary North's key arguments: about the problem with embedded chips, about the power grid, about the domino effect, about transportation, food distribution, etc. It helps people go through the same process most of us have probably experienced over a longer period of time.

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@ptd.net), September 20, 1998.


Print the pages from Steve's PowerPoint presentation. (See other thread.)

Use the summary method: it lets you put 2 or 4 or 6 slides on each page.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), September 20, 1998.


A couple of months ago I became aware of this whole y2k thing . First I was really nervous and excited and a whole range of other emotions. Then we got to a point where we calmed down quite substantially and started looking at this whole thing more practically. Now we are at the point where we feel it`s a responsibility of ours to at least inform our family friends, family, and neighbors. We have downloaded sone key articles and information and made copies, put them into packages and given them to friends, neighbors, family. I think itis important to give a wide range of views to people ...left/right/ and middle grounders .From respected individuals with varried opinions on the subject. Let people have a few weeks to have it soak in .... If they don`t get back to you first, follow up..but dont pressure..My husband and I sure needed alittle time as I stated above. Also the idea of equating it to other catastrophies like tornado, flood, ice storms, ect. is a good idea. It gets people to look at this in more practicle terms...Be part of the solution instead part of the problem....My goal is to have a independant water source that I can share with neighbors/friends....To get them to want to be prepared even though they might think it`s silly...If it were a neighborhood "Be prepared project" atleast mabye they would be more inclined to go along with it...if everyone else was....and if we`re all wrong well, The worst to happed is that have a stock of food and essientials that they won`t have to buy, and they can all tell me "I told you so!" Well, I can live with that humiliation alot better than "You knew about this and you didn`t tell anyone, shame on you!"

-- A.L.Birks (clamcrud@aol.com), September 23, 1998.

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