gold-eagle editorial: "Y2K - A Global Time of Troubles"

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Y2K articles and discussions are becoming a lot more active at www.gold-eagle.com these days.

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-- Jack (jsprat@eld.~net), November 08, 1999

Answers

Excellent essay.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 08, 1999.

Y2K: A GLOBAL TIME OF TROUBLES

Never have so few, lied so much, to so many for so long. This being the fundamental reason the psychological implications of Y2K are so bleak. Y2K is really a very interesting sociological experiment in whether modern technological man can face a global time of troubles. Sure it's the computer code, but the sociology of stupidity-how the code got broken is also very interesting. Never has the truth of a bumper sticker I saw been more true: STUPIDITY SHOULD BE PAINFUL. I wish I would have realized the implications of Y2K when I graduated from high school back in 1972, but then we were still using slide rules. If you don't know, don't ask!

The company line as regurgitated by the political hacks, corporate predators and media whores goes something like this. Y2K would have been bad, but we fixed it in the United States, although those dumb foreigners aren't as smart as us American Imperial Lords of the New World Order. So just be sure and don't fly on a Rumanian airplane and you should be ok is the American Y2K revealed wisdom. As for the rest of the world, well they're working on it and should be ok because they don't rely on computers the way us technologically advanced nobles do. Besides, does the electricity, sewage, water, telephone or transportation system ever work anywhere besides the United States, Europe and some parts of Asia? So they won't even notice, or even care, if they don't have electricity because they're not like us spoiled technology dependent wimps. They'll just ride Water Buffaloes to get around while they recover from Y2K.

There is a pure simplicity to American arrogance that is breathtaking to behold, like one of those bad movies, Plan 9 from Outer Space comes to mind, that is so bad it transcends itself to become a cult classic. Since Americans don't study geography anymore, they can perhaps be forgiven for not realizing that a world does exist beyond the suburbs. Just a few salient points for your consideration: First, a large percentage of all software in Asia, Russia, Eastern Europe and elsewhere (how much is unknown) was "pirated", or stolen and is absolutely not Y2K compliant. Repeat, absolutely not Y2K compliant-nor will it ever be made compliant by the burned manufacturers, or supported or upgraded, or allowed to do anything but crash and burn. This software crashing and burning will have serious economic effects. These economic effects will flow into social effects and then into political and finally, into military effects. The only question is really how bad will it be?

Second, the official software and hardware running critical infrastructure is a mishmash of cast off ancient computers, modern state of the art and everything in between. In other words, all the stuff the advanced countries didn't want. What do think happened to all those 286 and 386 Personal Computers anyway? In 50 plus days the world will find out that free isn't a very good price, if the product is Y2K defective.

Third, it seems to moi that whenever economic chaos hits, like in Indonesia and Russia, there are political and economic effects that directly affect the good ole USA. But based on the scant coverage on American network TV, unless it's a good and bloody train wreck in London, international news is confined to a two minute segment between the dog food and laxative commercials. If its a hot story, the media whores might move it up between the Viagra and HMO advertisements. With 50 or so days to go, the average American doesn't have a clue as to how bad things are likely to get overseas. So a global time of troubles doesn't enter into an America that has been Kosiformed into deep slumber. At least until about six months from now when all the stuff we used to import isn't around to buy. In another essay I commented that a years supply of shoes and clothes would be a wise investment. That advice still stands; yes I'm suggesting you hoard shoes and clothes. If Y2K is a bust, then you will just not buy shoes for a year. A fate that Presidential Y2K czar Kosi? finds a bigger threat than Russian nuclear reactors melting down. Why do these people get so upset if you stockpile things you will use anyway? Could it be the idea of independent, self reliant people terrifies them? Just a thought.

Kossi the klown has won. He has convinced Americans that Y2K will only affect foreigners and thus doesn't matter. The most sophisticated and brilliant spin control campaign has had the desired effect of convincing Americans that Y2K is no threat to their apathetic and materialistic ways. Clinton cares-all is well-don't withdraw money from banks-we kicked their ass in Yugoslavia, and don't withdraw money from the bank, zzzzzzzzzzz. Well, I hope the bankers running this American oligarchy are correct. If not, the psychological implications for the American populace are truly volcanic, as in an erupting Mt. Saint Helen, which I lived through by the way. Has anyone pondered what the American people will do if they find out that Clinton et al actually, gasp, lied about Y2K? Faced with several years of computer chaos the American populace might not be in too good a mood. My! My! what will happen in major American cities if the lights actually do go out.

Recently, the lights failed in New York City and everyone commented that there was no rioting. Curious, I searched the Internet until several days later I came upon an interesting piece of trivia. The Mayor was ticked at Con Edison and wanted them to pay the several hundred thousand dollars in police overtime. It seems that the Mayor had flooded the relatively small area involved with hundreds of police to maintain order. Do you think he could do that city wide? No way. Does the corrupt elite running the American oligarchy really think they have enough fat National Guardsmen to keep the populace in line? Or maybe Clinton is planning on importing Hessians to keep the enraged populace in line?

While it is true overseas are less dependent on computers in many ways than we are; while it is true the populace is more accepting of chaos than we are, don't overdo it. In many ways, Americans are now extremely vulnerable psychologically to Y2K chaos due to the organized lying campaign by the elite. Having convinced us that nothing will happen as a result of Y2k, just how much credibility, as if he had any, will Clinton have when Y2K stuff happens? This collapse in leadership will have devastating long term political effects on the United States, just as Nixon's leadership collapse had over 25 years ago. All it will take is for the stock market to go down 25% and the current elite will look like a potato run through a French fry machine. The American elite has adopted a just in time psychology for Y2k. They have no reserves if anything happens at all. Forget the 72 hour crap. If anything happens at all, one hour of power failure is all it will take for them to permanently lose credibility. It's obvious that they have also adopted Nero's policy of blaming the Christians for Rome's fire, but it won't work for long. The magnitude of the Y2K disaster will overwhelm any feeble attempts to blame camo wearing militia members for it.

Simply put, the American people are not psychologically prepared for what Y2K potentially offers. We don't study history anymore either, because if we did we would realize that a global time of troubles is a very real possibility. We don't understand that there are periods of history where things are chaotic for years, and even decades, before stabilizing. The last fifty years of stability was preceded by a decade of economic depression leading to a global war and twenty years of rebuilding. The death of the Roman Republic took several decades before Octavian finally solidified political power, roughly from 80BC to 30BC. We don't realize the term "time of troubles" comes from a Russian historical period of chaos lasting for 20 years(1589 to 1611) before the Romanov dynasty asserted itself. The last Romanov was overthrown by the communists in 1917 who have now endured their own time of troubles. But we don't think like that in this "way back in 1997" mentality. Way back in 1997? This is why our leaders have done us such damage by their Y2K disinformation campaign. They have psychologically disarmed the American people from understanding Y2K's darker implications. As such, these so called leaders will pay a savage price when reality hits. For these so called leaders sakes, I hope all the data I've researched is false. I hope all the reasonable conclusions I've drawn from this data are in fact expressions of my cynical nature. We will know shortly.

WHO WILLS CAN-WHO TRIES DOES-WHO LOVES LIVES
Doug McIntosh
10 November 1999


-- flb (thisis@a.keeper), November 09, 1999.


Wow. It is a great article. Nice to hear some of the "facts" from a different voice. The Pollies won't even bother to read it probably, but the biggest threat is mentioned in it.

The fact that we've been told to prepare for only 3 days, means that if problems last a week or more, the population is going to FREAK!!!

Pollies, surely, even you recognize this "new" threat.

-- Gregg (g.abbott@starting-point.com), November 09, 1999.


"The last fifty years of stability was preceded by a decade of economic depression leading to a global war and twenty years of rebuilding"

Sounds like "War Cycles ^^^ Peace Cycles" by Richard Kelly Hoskins, The Virginia Publishing Company, Fifth Printing 1994.

Add the probability of Y2K problems and figure from there.

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), November 09, 1999.


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