Have I got this right?

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

Y2k cannot be fixed in time.

The government is lying to us about it.

The population disinterested in preps.

We will experience moderate to severe failures to be followed by years of econmic depression.

The spin will be that its not y2k that is making all the computers and embeddeds fail, its those pesky cyberterrorists that wear towels on their heads.

There is no time to change the course upon which our society is bound.

Add to this mixture are: Meteors, Solar storms, Natural economic disasters, etc etc.

I for one am not up to living like "Little house on the prarie" for the next ten years. I know that many of you profess to be and well may be. What about guys like me? I can do it for about 4 months. Then I become the beggar that most Americans will have become. I am well armed. Who am I gonna shoot? A hungry dad looking for food for his starving kids? A boy in the same uniform that my sons wear? Point me to the bad guys in this ultimate scenario. I'll be happy to "fill um full o lead" (It feels real bad to kill a man) I don't think there will be any bad guys except for the politicos and business men who have not warned us in time and we the public will still look to them for leadership.

The only hope for one like me is to pray that we are all wrong about this problem. That it is just a BITR. I want all the pollies on this ng and the world to be correct. As some other poster put it, "I want to be ridiculed and laughed at for the rest of my life for believing that it will be real bad." Unfortunately I do.

Bill in South Carolina

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), November 07, 1999

Answers

Hi Bill! :-) Good to see you! I have never wanted to be wrong so badly! "Only a recession" sounds GOOD at this point. Here's hoping...

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), November 07, 1999.

Bill, you want to know who to blame for this mess. Well, start with yourself for buying into the current age of thinking about more speciallization is better. How far removed are you from the basics of life? When is the last time you tried to grow your own food, but instead you have been spending your time trying to earn more dollars to buy that one more toy, wheather it be a boat, golf clubs or what ever. Instead of accepting the wonders of life and working to nuture them, you have been instead working to build the wonders of science and working to own and controll them. How much enjoyment will you be getting from your wide screen tv when your child is hungry and cold in Feburary. I moved out of the city back to the farm when I was 25 because I felt that the city was an evil curse on mankind and it was not comfortable to me to be in such a place. Many times my wife has tried to get me to move closer to the city, but I have been steadfast in my determination to remain in the country for these last 20 years. Although we own 10 acres, it did not become a farm until a year ago. Now we have milk cows, chickens, goats, turkeys, and pigs. Now I know why I did not move back to the city. I do not know if I will be alive in one year, but I will die where I want live, how about you? So Bill, before you try to blame others, blame yourself for allowing you and your family to be part of the problem.

-- chicken farmer (chicken-farmer@ y2k.farm), November 07, 1999.

Don't forget that the Russians will launch nuclear missiles in a sneak attack upon our coasts. This will happen after Alexander Lebed gains more power in Russia and when America goes to war with China over Taiwan.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), November 07, 1999.

It looks like a tough row to hoe - and it will be. The problem? Our government, which docs prove they've known about the problem since the 80s. Why let things get so bad? Why the camps, and profiling of honest citizens? Why demonize the family unit? Why blame guns for murder?

Remember who is selling us down the river and make lists. Who shot up waco, shot down 880 and killed JFK? who is still in power?

-- Rick (rickvester@yahoo.com), November 07, 1999.


"I moved out of the city back to the farm when I was 25 because I felt that the city was an evil curse on mankind and it was not comfortable to me to be in such a place."

Chicken Farmer, I agree with you about those cities. Bad places. I'll take the simple pleasures of deliberate plain country living over the hollow materialism and soulless culture of city life any day.

farmbeet

-- farmbeet (farmbeet@countryboy.corn), November 07, 1999.



Chicken farmer, that's pretty tough on Bill. He does not give any indication of his age, but if he is not as old as you and I, he had no clue about what it is like to live on the other side. If he came of age in the late 70's, through the 80's, he has no memory of even the gas shortages in the early 70's, and chances are his schooling did not give him any sense of history. If his family is as fractionated as most, his parents and grandparents never had a chance to tell him. He's just like most of the folks who choose to live in the cities...not a clue. At least he is thinking now.

-- Mary (CAgdma@homenothere.com), November 07, 1999.

[Y2k cannot be fixed in time.]

Fundamental conceptual error. "y2k" isn't a single "thing." We will never find, fix and test all date bugs before they strike. How venemous the remaining bugs will prove is unknown, but all indications taken together are fairly promising. We'll know we've been in a war, but we'll win it (I predict).

[The government is lying to us about it.]

We can suspect (strongly) that the government is downplaying the extent of the problem. We can't know for sure right now. We may know later on, though there will be debate. Remember that it's possible to be sincere but misinformed, or to misinterpret our information despite a good faith effort to get it right.

[The population disinterested in preps.]

Not all of it, but most of it. Indirect indications (like some sales patterns) are that enough people are doing something to be noticeable.

[We will experience moderate to severe failures to be followed by years of econmic depression.]

Sheer speculation.

[The spin will be that its not y2k that is making all the computers and embeddeds fail, its those pesky cyberterrorists that wear towels on their heads.]

False. Find me a single instance of a y2k problem blamed on terrorists. Just one. It makes sense to recognize that y2k will introduce vulnerabilities. We can see this, and surely terrorists can see this too. But absolutely nobody is claiming that terrorists wrote the code that can't handle the century change properly.

[There is no time to change the course upon which our society is bound.]

Time stretches ahead of us, perhaps without end. We can hope that any social course change isn't too abrupt or involuntary.

[Add to this mixture are: Meteors, Solar storms, Natural economic disasters, etc etc.]

Well, these are nothing new. They can make things worse. There was a drought during the Great Depression, but that's just bad luck.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), November 07, 1999.


I think you should try to connect with a group of people with gardening/farming skills...seed..who might be grateful for loyal protection from someone like you. Bring seed and money and find those people.

-- Joe (green@house.net), November 07, 1999.

Bill,

The first four months will be the toughest. We humans generally take four months to acclimate to a new environment. Get through that and the worst is over IMHO, unless of course there is war.

When your supplies run out you'll either evolve or die. Joining up with a group of people like yourself may buy you some time. You'll spend every waking moment of every day looking for edible food and drinkable water. You'll live in the finest of abandoned homes. You'll wear the best clothes money use to could buy.

The alturnative is to learn a few basic skills now, like how to distill water and cook using solar energy. Which plants are edible. How to stay warm and dry. Simple stuff your genetic ancestors were successful at doing (otherwise, you wouldn't be here now).

Bill, it's about survival. Always has been, always will be. Nothing more, nothing less. Every person alive today is the result of the success of their ancestor's genes.

Every person alive today is no more or no less successful than anyone else on this planet. Life is life, without it, you don't exist. Death is death, equally fatal to all.

I contend since the beginning of humankind, it's always been an "information age". Those who knew the most survived and thrived. Those who knew the least became extinct or were taken as slaves. Nothing has changed. It's still the same today. The only difference being, the slaves can choose which master (employeer) owns them and the plantation (house and location) they choose to live in.

Chin up Bill, it could be worse. We could be unaware of what is about to happen. Kinda like the dinosaurs were unaware.

It's always been an information age.

It's always been about survival.

Learn to survive.

-- GoldReal (GoldReal@aol.com), November 07, 1999.


Bill,

Knowledge is power. Start learning some new skills asap. Herbology is good, also basic first aid, midwifery. Whatever. Start preparing your mind for Y2k because that is the one prep you will never run out of.

-- River Soma (riversoma@aol.com), November 07, 1999.



Mr. Solorzano;

You've put back supplies for four months? You can double that time with an afternoon of careful shopping.

Go to one of those larger sporting goods places and pick up a couple of two micron water filters that hikers carry. Katadyne the first choice if you can find it.

Send away for a larger water filter, either a Katadyne drip filter or a Berkfield Big Berkey.

Go to a Sams Club or its local equivalent and pick up some 25lbs bags of rice and popcorn. Yes, popcorn. You can grind it into corn meal with a hand crank grinder.

Contact your local food co-op and get some bags of hard red winter wheat. You can sprout it, make bread, rolls, etc.

Pick up some large boxes of nonfat dry milk.

Log onto wwww.arkinstitute.com. Order a couple of their non- hybridized survival seed packages and, if you are not already familiar with the subject, their books on home gardening.

Remember a line from one of Winston Churchill's better speeches:

"Never give up. No, I say, never give up."

-- Not Whistlin' Dixie (not_whistlin_dixie@yahoo.com), November 07, 1999.


Flint, you and Hoffy need to write this 100 times, maybe then you will "get it""

Y2K - It's the Year 2000, Stupid!

No Y2K problems have been blamed on "cyberterrorists" because we have yet to get to 2000. Wait until then, and see if there are not huge "Y2K like" problems that will be claimed NOT to be due to Y2K, but rather evil cyberterrorists that cleverly cause the problems so that they LOOK like Y2K. Which naturally brings up the subject of all those Presidential executive orders ...

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), November 07, 1999.

Read Flint.

-- walt (walt@lcs.k12.ne.us), November 07, 1999.

KOS:

Fair enough. We'll find out when and if it happens. At least one genuine terrorist attack wouldn't surprise me. But if widespread computer problems are blamed on widespread terrorist activity, then you and Bill will be correct. However, if all the blaming is being done by the likes of Jeff Rense and David Bresnahan (as quoted ad nauseum by Andy), I'm not sure I'll go along with that.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), November 07, 1999.


I find interesting the state of mind "I can't cope with or accept so and so scenario, so God/life CANNOT permit it to be that way." I have done it myself, at times --- drawn the line in the sand against life and declared that troubles shall not cross.

Having lived through many TEOTWAIKIs, I can say that experience shows me that I will change. I will adapt to meet the new challenges. I will accept the extra straws added to my burden and I will not buckle. I will laugh again and I will love. I am a survivor.

Bill, you may learn many things about yourself in the forthcoming years. Most likely, you will find that you are stronger, tougher and more flexible than you thought. I hope to discover that I am kinder, more compassionate and more willing to extend a hand to others than I thought. I already know that I will most likely survive.

-- anon (anon@anon.calm), November 07, 1999.



I honestly believe that if an asteroid was going to hit the earth in a couple months, Flint would be saying "This is nothing new. The Earth is hit by asteroids every million years or so"

-- a (a@a.a), November 07, 1999.

a,

Bwahahahahahahahahahahah

*5

-- Still (Still@Laughing.High5), November 07, 1999.


Bill

You have posted for some time on this forum and without question have a good grasp of the Y2k problem. I consider this post of yours to be "more food for thought".

It has been a long long time since everyone lived in the country. There were good reasons for the creation of cities. Now it is to late for a mass return to the past but we may see an attempt if the dark side of Y2k materializes.

I seem to remember you having said you are an ex police officer. If so you should be a very capable shootist.

I hope we do not see a scenario that pits urban vs country.

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), November 08, 1999.


I'm going waaaaaaaaaaaay up to the top here...Chicken,..how is Bill blaming others? It seems to be your forever lament....Could you cite from Bill's post his blame of others....?

I appreciate that you are a community person. My question to you is: how is your lambasting of others productive to anything? Given my understand of human behavior, I would understand if people would give you a wide berth, and not sit next to you on the "group W bench"....

Condsidering your own humanity is in keeping now, Chicken....

-- Donna (moment@pacbell.net), November 08, 1999.


Flint, without a doubt, you are the most gigantic umitigated ass I have ever had the displeasure to tangle with on a regular basis. That includes my ex.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), November 08, 1999.

Hey, Cut & Paste Andy! I thought you said I was the biggest ass you'd ever come across.

Make up your mind. ( No wonder you've screwed up on gold. And everything else?)

-- Asking (Asking @a question.com), November 08, 1999.


Bill, I have great respect for you: good luck, and when it's time to fall on one's knees, you'll know what to do. This has been an amazing century, hasn't it? Mankind has fallen under a Magic Spell, forgetting Who it was who made them. We are blinded by our toys, which are meaningless, and which transmit an ever more meaningless culture. People search for ever greater shocks and titillation to try to re-introduce meaning into their lives. Robbed of their spiritual heritage, men and women everywhere are waking to the fact that their lives are empty, and that material goods do not buy happiness. At the turn of the century, more than half of all Americans lived on farms. Today it is less than 1% (according to yesterday's NY Times, in an article about farm foreclosures). I have harbored for several years the deep sense that we are about to be jolted awake from this dream, this Magic Spell we have fallen under. Upon waking, if you are still among the living, you will be confronted with a choice: trust Jesus, or reject Him. A sick society demanded Choice, and it will be offered Choice. Choose well. Trust Him. No one who did has ever been disappointed.

-- Spidey (in@jam.atlas), November 08, 1999.

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