OK, Polly want a good news cracker?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Praise the Lord, Good News!!!! Don't accuse us doomies of having an addiction to "bad" news.

Today it was reported there were over 5 billion people who did not come down with Ebola! And the vast majority of Americans did not die from any biological or nuclear attacks! And most everyone's electricity and water was working very well and remained at amazingly low costs.

The bad news is there are still a small group of doomies who insist on pointing out that there is a possibility -remote or probable it cannot be calculate -- that such good news may not last. They insist on pointing out that there is risk in the world, and danger. Of disease and famine and terrorist attack, and war.

but the good news is that most Americans are too positive to listen to such outlandish warnings and concerns. They will continue to enjoy the summer (unless they or friends of theirs have died from the heat, been mugged, had a heart attack, been killed in a drunk driving incident, or died in some other way)

.

Hey Polly's, hope you have a chance to read Mr. Core's essay. It deals with believing good news when the facts cannot support it. It is about the credulity crisis Americans don't know that they have. They are too happy to know the risk they place themselves in by ignoring calls for preparation.

I'd be willing to be that most people who post "bad news" of plagues and terrorist scares are not dong this because they like bad news or want to scare the shit out of people. I would bet that most of them would say they would gladly be proved wrong about y2k damage. Please stop assuming the so-called "doomies" are people with some sort of mental malfuntion, or who don't have a heart. It is precisely because many of them do have a heart, and care about their neighbors, that they "waste" valuable prep time trying to find out more and help others get ready and make contingency plans.

hhttp://www.y2ktimebomb.com/Computech/Issues/lcore9931tm

-- I've got (goodnews@credulity.com), August 03, 1999

Answers

Preach it brother or sister

-- Butt Nugget (nubuttet@better.mousetrap), August 03, 1999.

I think you mean http: //www.y2ktimebomb.com/Computech/Issues/lcore9931.htm

-- a (a@a.a), August 03, 1999.

Yeah I don't really know what that is all about but it sounds important.

Five billion people definaltey have no eboloa virus as of today. And not a single city, that I know of, was roasted by thermonuclear blast. Sounds like good news to me.

Is it the point of your, well frankly gloomy report, to let us know that tomorrow might not be the same? Well then, uh, thanks for the heads up...um, whoever you are.

-- (T@R.M.S.q), August 03, 1999.


No, wiseass, if you'd read the story, you'd understand that this is the gist of it: Bonnie Camp, frequent contributor to the discussions on the open forum at Rick Cowle's Electrical Utilities and Y2K website, recently wrote the following in reply to the standard skeptical accusations and platitudes:

"My husband, after recently learning first hand of another schedule slippage (putting the time table for implementation into spring 2000) rather sadly said, 'I'm a Pollyanna wanna-be. I keep looking and looking for good reasons to offset the impacts of what I see happening, but I'm not finding them.'

"We have both been particularly sensitive to the 'can do,' 'don't be negative,' 'American ingenuity will triumph' cheerleading that we run across, perhaps because the study of history has always been a serious hobby for us. While we recognize that it is very important to try to maintain a positive outlook in almost all areas of life, we also know that historically the great triumphs of the human spirit (American or otherwise) have occurred during severe difficulties and disasters, not before them. There have been many 'potential' problems and catastrophes which should have been, but were not, affected beforehand by any triumph of spirit. The historical pattern for humanity is to deny danger until it's too late to preempt it and then be forced to rely on spirit and a can-do attitude to make up for blatant shortsightedness.

"Hitler could have been stopped before he engulfed Europe. The big bankers/industrialists could have tempered the super charged stock market spree of the late twenties. School additions could have been planned before the number of students increased to a level where there was no room for them. Social security issues could have been dealt with years ago; the same for the government debt load. And the Year 2000 computer problem could have been taken care of with comparatively little expense years ago if the collective human spirit had had any foresight at all.

"These are a but a tiny smattering of the huge legacy of 'could haves' and opportunities missed that humanity has perennially left in its wake. Instead, we tend, with hindsight, to congratulate ourselves on our triumph of spirit after we've pulled ourselves out of whatever messes we got ourselves into in the first place. Many millions of people died in World War II -- but we 'triumphed.' Many people lost everything they had during the depression and others starved to death -- but we 'triumphed.' The spiritual can-do victories we most herald were victories, but the cost was staggering.

"I cannot help but shudder when there is any mention of Y2K which includes a victory of the spirit or of ingenuity, American or otherwise. The only true victory is to preempt a potential crisis long before it ever gets to the 'problem' stage. When shortsighted stupidity is what engenders an eventual triumph, we may be able to declare ourselves victorious at some point, but it seems to me a pretty hollow thing for us to then pat ourselves on the back about. Even a small level of attendant suffering is too high a price to pay when there could have been no price to pay at all, or a vastly reduced price. All the 'little' Y2K disruptions even our government admits will happen are going to be flashing Stupid in big neon letters if we've got the eyes to see it.

"In my life's experience, humans are absolutely lousy at accomplishing preemptive victories. The Year 2000 problem is just one more example. I take no pleasure whatsoever in the idea of any conceptual triumph of human spirit or good ol' American ingenuity because in my mind that usually means we've already failed. No matter how much fighting spirit the world shows, it's already lost the real victory it could have had. We just hate to acknowledge that.

"When it comes to Y2K, Americans can already class themselves as damn fools. We don't have to wait to see which group -- preparers or non preparers -- gets a duplicate label. If I had to make a prepare/not-to-prepare decision, though, without any facts to go on except humanity's record thus far, I would surely come down on the side of foresighted preparation for potential problems. The lack of that is one of humankind's greatest weaknesses."

-- a (a@a.a), August 03, 1999.


a:

Bonnie's post is a remarkable slice of lucidity/brilliance. I think it deserves its own header, so no one will miss it.

-- (nodding.in@greement.yup), August 03, 1999.



Bonnie is a good read anytime, anywhere. If you havn't, e-mail Rick Cowles @ euy2k.com for a password to his forum. It's Bonnie country.

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), August 04, 1999.

Bonnie is a good read, anywhere, anytime, although she doesn't fall into the class of other great fiction writers such as Faulkner, Hemingway, or Saul Bellow. Of course, these great writers wrote more of the human experience, rather than focusing on speculation. Never heard too much from their spouses, either.

-- love to read (hate@crap.com), August 04, 1999.

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