This summary from P.A. Sorokin's thorough historical research study of what tends to happen in societies when TSHTF will eventually be on my website as an addition to the article "Relationships", but I am posting it here now for the benefit of those readers of this forum who have found my research useful in the past.

"Sorokin's book "Man and Society in Calamity" offers many insights into how relationships between men and women historically tend to change during times of great famines accompanied by turmoil and disorder, which accurately describes how I expect things to be once Y2K hits full-force. Here are some of his major findings:

1) Sex is overall much less frequent in the society.

2) The relative frequency (compared to the frequency of "normal" sexual behavior) of deviant sex is much higher. This ranges from partner choices (homosexuality, incest) to the actual acts themselves.

3) Women that engage in consensual sex are much more likely to have a direct material motivation as their sole motivation for participating in such acts. (Prostitution is much more common.)

4) The value placed on access to sex is much lower; during one famine in Europe (I believe it was in England), the dried skin of a cat was considered to be of considerably higher market value than sex with an attractive teen-aged girl, and cat skins were not all that highly prized.

5) Reproductive frequency goes down a LOT. In addition to the obvious depressing effects of items #1 & #2 above, abortion and infanticide are often much more common.

6) Disintegration of family units that might have remained intact in more normal times is very common. Instances of either or both parents abandoning the rest of their family suddenly and without warning on a whim are historically not rare when society is sufficiently stressed. This often meant that a family might find that the only breadwinner (during a depression) or source of nursing for an infant simply disappeared without a trace.

The sad times we are heading into are unimaginable to most native-born Americans. For the sake of your family, please do everything you can to adequately prepare for all the possible consequences of Y2K."

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), October 02, 1999

Answers

There are a number of dates in 1999 where cyber failures can be expected to either occur (in an episodic fashion), or to begin (in a continuing/long-term failure mode). This is old hat to highly knowledgeable Y2K people, but I have included the main ones here for the benefit of anyone who has little familiarity with this area. I have also included a scale indicating my guesses as to the relative severity of the failures stemming from the various critical dates.

Date-------------------------Event------------------------------------ Severity

April 1, 1999----------Begin 2000 Fiscal Year for NY State and Canada

April 8, 1999 ---------99th day of year; possible minor Unix failures

July 1, 1999 ----------46 U.S. states begin their 2000 fiscal years

August 22, 1999 -----Global Positioning System memory rollover

September 9, 1999-- End-of-File Protocol Problem (9-9-99 EOFs)

October 1, 1999------ U.S. Government begins 2000 fiscal year

-- x (x@x.x), October 02, 1999.

Us mentally challenged, somewhat deranged people understand the initial comments, but got totally lost on the meaning of the first response. Oh, well. Back to coloring my fingernails....

-- psychotic (y2k@doom&gloom.com), October 02, 1999.

Psychotic, the first responder is razzing me for having overestimated the effects of the "Critical Dates" earlier this year. I had lots of company in this, and believe that I still have a far better idea of what is to come next year than the pollies.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), October 02, 1999.

MS - we hang out at the same places. I made a favorable reply to your message on another web site talking about betting pools in California... check it out and smile...

...gotta get ready to party tonight...

-- psychotic (y2k@doom&gloom.com), October 02, 1999.

MS,

The truth of your initial post has been born out in the data here in the US. The smallest (numerically) age group in the nation now (and for the past 60 yrs)is my parents' age group, the "depression babies." There were less people born between 1930 and 1940 than any other 10 yr period this century. The economic, cultural, and societal effects of that time period must have had something to do with it.

On another topic, is there anywhere I can find a copy of Sorokin's books? I did an internet book store search once, but all it came up with was an old copy of one of his lesser known works for an exhorbitant sum. Any publishing company reprinting these?

-- rob minor (rbminor@hotmail.com), October 04, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr near Monterey, California

On another topic, is there anywhere I can find a copy of Sorokin's books?

I got mine via inter-library loan.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), October 05, 1999.

I've been trading dried cat skins for nubile teenage girls for years. Now I find out I've been swindled. Bummer.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), October 05, 1999.