You may feel that being relatively new to Y2K that you do not know enough to speak with others about the subject. Regardless of if this the case, there will come a time, sooner rather than later, when you will make a decision  perhaps without even knowing you are making it. The decision of being a Y2K leader or not.

It is no secret that there has been and continues to be a Y2K leadership vacuum. This is worldwide. What progress there has been in getting the Y2K word out has basically been at the grass roots level; ordinary folks that are concerned enough to talk with neighbors, family members, their church and community groups. If you have done any or all of this, then I am talking about you. Yes, you. Perhaps you have not ever previously considered yourself to be a leader. Before Y2K, I certainly never did.

For me things changed after seeing that Y2K will usher in a period of increasing personal responsibility, one that for some Y2K aware folks includes the responsibilities of leadership, especially at the local level. Others have either decided to not warn people, or have given up trying. Still others are leaders and dont know it yet  they will emerge given the right circumstances, probably much to their own surprise. It is your choice. I will state here that my views are in the minority, that most do not feel compelled to lead, or if they did at one time, they have since stopped. Being a Y2K leader isnt easy. You will most likely be laughed at and dismissed. You will pay a price for your attempts. Is there also a price to be paid for your silence and decision to not try, or to give up? And who will pay that price?

This post is to ask you to consider being a Y2K leader. Help yourself. Help others. Show that you care by setting an example. Leadership is in short supply. Dont look to the government to lead. Look to yourself. Take responsibility. We are the leaders, be default. There are no others. If we do not do it, as Y2K aware folks, then it wont get done. There will be less Y2K aware folks. There will be less people prepared for the uncertainties that we all face. As a result, there will be a more severe Y2K impact for those that did not hear the call, due to the call not being issued or not being taken seriously. These are two entirely different cases. If others hear but do not listen to your Y2K call, you are blameless  you have done what you could. But not giving others even a chance to hear about the potential Y2K problems is quite another matter. If you did not know anything about Y2K but a familiy member or friend did know, would you want them to tell you?

Most people are followers, not leaders. This has always been the case. Human Nature. Which are you?

If not you, then who?

If not now, then when?

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), June 27, 1999

Answers

better dead than red

-- they will remember (whenhungry@your.door), June 27, 1999.

My responsibility is to my family and loved ones,not to the masses who can't be bothered to turn off the television long enough to assess for themselves what's going on.they'd do nothing except note to themselves that I'm a whacko who is ;1)blaspheming against the great god television and 2)storing food. I love my wife and family too much to play hero/marter trying to save the world when it does not want to be saved,it wants to go back to sleep.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), June 27, 1999.

yOu CAn LeAd IDIot JAckASSeS To knoWLEDgE, bUT You CAn't MAke thEm tHINk!!!!!!! igNORe tHE FoOLs!!!!!! INfIDELs caNNoT Be leAD UNtiL THerE Is a PLaCE TO leAD THeM, Is thAT NoT So??????? wHEN The TRouBlES BEgiN The foOLIsH HYenaS WiLL crY OuT For dIETEr To leAD THeM!!!!!!! CryINg aND GNashINg oF TeeTH thENCe beGIns In eaRNEsT FoR DIeteR's wISDOm!!!!!

UnTiL TheN, yoU FOoLs mUST IgnoRE THe skULLmuCKERisH NOtiON THaT The buZZaRDs cARe tO See WhAT MaY BE!!!!!!

thEY Do noT!!!!!!

goOD MornINg!!!!!

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), June 27, 1999.

Dieter - Sometimes you do make my day, or at least interject a great big smile into it. Thanks.

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), June 27, 1999.

I printed dieter's message out, reversed the letters and held them up to a mirror and by deleting every other word and every other consanant it reads:

"Ask not what you can do for your neighbor, ask what your neighbor can do for you"

LOL =)

-- (html@guy.com), June 27, 1999.

"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered!"

- No. 6

The Prisoner

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), June 27, 1999.

Oh well.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), June 27, 1999.

By that Rob I mean that I am my own man, I don't kow-tow, perhaps that makes me a leader, I hope to point people in the right direction with my posts or at the very least provoke people into questioning their belief structures...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), June 27, 1999.

Hi Andy. I know you do, just as you know that I have a bit of a reputation for consistently trying to get folks to question things and think out of the box. The "Oh well" was just a general response to what has been posted on this thread. Sometimes I feel completely out of sync with the Forum, and this is one of those times I guess. :)

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), June 27, 1999.

Don't be sad Rob!

Many of us are just tired of getting that LOOK, and I know that you know what I mean.

If Dan Rather and company aren't talking about it every day, it's not news to 99% of the populace. And even if it is on the news, too many people don't care anyway, and will NEVER care, until it hits them in the wallet. That's just how it is.

-- Unc D (unkeed@yahoo.com), June 27, 1999.

I know, Uncle. You are right, as usual. I posted those very same sentiments on previous threads. The distinction really just boils down to my personal decision to keep trying with the newbies, and with those that show interest. I sincerely believe that most will never get it until it is staring them in the face, (and have posted "follow the money" countless times). Yet I continue to hope against hope that I can make a difference in at least some people's lives by trying. I fail many more times than succeed, as you know, but feel compelled to keep at it where I think a difference can be made. As newbies become more familiar with Y2K, they will make a decision one way or the other. I want it to be a conscious decision, and it was my hope in staring this thread that this would prod them to think about what the choices were. Futile? Yes, for the majority of the anesthesized masses, but not for at least some of the awake few.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), June 27, 1999.

Rob,

By all means talk to those who ask you about it, and who show an inkling of awareness. One out of a thousand? Less? More?

And do not give up on family. Never.

But as far as casual friends go, broach the subject one time in a way that looks to them like you are asking them how they feel about it. If they bite, explore further. If not, and they say "It's all hype" say, "Yeah maybe, but I'm not so sure, a lot of experts think it is going to be pretty bad" and leave it at that. You may have planted a seed that will bear fruit later.

My thought is this, if it's not going to be too bad, they will muddle through. If it's going to be really bad, the less who are aware of your stash the better it is for you, and those for whom you are responsible. You cannot help others who will not take a role in helping themselves, no matter how much it hurts you to see them make what is in your mind a foolish choice. That is a part of being an adult, living with the consequences of your choices.

Remember, to most of the folks in the real world we are extremist kooky worry warts.

Hopefully, they are right.

-- Unc D (unkeed@yahoo.com), June 27, 1999.

What Dieter's saying was more concisely uttered by Samuel Johnson (according to Boswell, his biographer):

"I have found you an argument; I am not obliged to find you an understanding."

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), June 28, 1999.

If not me, then somebody who has another place to bug out to. If not now, then after I convince my own DWGI husband.

As for the "the masses who can't be bothered to turn off the television," though, I don't think that's a fair characterization of most DGIs. When I first GI'd in January of this year, I immediately found some online forums, and saw plenty of people cynically saying that by that time everybody had had plenty of exposure to the information. That anybody who still didn't get it just didn't care about their children, etc.

I disagree. I believe that most people are blissfully unaware, rather than lazily frittering away their prep time.

-- Dancr (minddancr@aol.com), June 28, 1999.