What will gov't do when John Q. Public finally wakes up?

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All the deception, all of the lying, all of the PR campaigns are designed to keep JCP asleep until 01/01/Oh-oh. What do you think the Gov't will do once the cat is out of the bag? It seems that executive orders, martial law, bank restrictions, etc. are inevitable once public confidence gets eroded after the first publicized Y2k events. Once Y2K "starts", I can't see it any other way. I do expect, however, that the gov't will create a campaign to blame terrorists for much of the disruptions. Does anyone have any evidence to support these ideas... any thoughts?

Keith

-- Keith Nealy (keithn@aloha.net), November 23, 1999

Answers

Increasingly with you on that terrorist thought. The thing is, They don't know what will happen any more than you or I, so I don't expect a pre-rollover exodus to Fiji, or at least a sudden camping trip or a surprise visit to rural relativs, except in the case of minor officials.

The big difference is that They (i.e. Bill and his chums) will still have the chance to get out AFTER the SHTF. Bill's assertion that he wasn't prepping is actually (gasp) 100% truthful. He doesn't have to make any special preps, because he's already GOT a fully stocked bunker, AND a private airline (USAF Inc.)

My guess is that They are just on a wait-and-see, like the vast majority of the rest of us.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 23, 1999.


Not only will we blame little brown people with towels on their heads but little yellow people and the occassional Russian. The spin meisters are probably ready to portray the, "Brave young embattled president schtik" to the hilt. "We must show solidarity in these trying times" will be the administration's cry. What the hell, vote counting machines probably won't work anyway. Maybe thats why the Republicans are so wishy washy. No elections and everybody gets to keep their jobs. The American people will probably "Rally around the presidient" as we always do in times of external threat and we who think otherwise will become subversives and afraid to speak our minds.

I am old enough to remember the second world war. My dad hated FDR and the democrats but told me and my siblings not to tell anyone. The movies had these "Short Subjects" about the war effort. One I recall portraid a tall square jawed young marine openning a closet to discover a short, fat, old foriegn looking man with a shamed face sitting on the floor surrounded with cans of food and automobile tires. The message was to report all hoarders because they were helping the dreaded, "fifth column".

I fear that we are in for some very interesting times ladies and gentlemen.

Bill in South Carolina (who is gonna keep a low profile till things get better)

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), November 23, 1999.


Actually, Colin, what I meant was what is Bill going to do when the charade is over and Y2K begins wreaking havoc on the world? All the lying and deception has been designed to keep JQP from pulling his money out of the banks. I think Bill will have to take a proactive stance to maintain control before the herd has a chance to stampede.

My previous thread about the "rumor" of Martial Law on Dec 24th is beginning to look more probable now. "Happy New Year, Bank restrictions now apply". What other choice do they have?

And regarding the terrorist "scapegoat" theory, I am getting real suspicious of recent article from Sec. Def. Cohen called "Grave New World" in the Wash Post about BioWar, and FBI Dir. Louis Freeh's news that "Oh, by the way, Russia has nuclear suitcase bombs missing and we think they are in the US".

My sh_t meter is going off. At first I was alarmed... then I realized, when was the last time high level public officials made casual statements like this? They sound like "approve my appropriations" bait to the congress... get the people scared and they will approve anything. Remember the old "ban the bomb" protesters... the military always said that when the boogie man is at the door, they will be first ones to say "do whatever you have to to to get rid of him" no matter what the means.

I think we're being set up for the main event.

I'm still betting on an early ML. They have to maintain control while there is still complacency. Stopping a train when it's in the process of derailing is impossible.

-- Keith Nealy (keithn@aloha.net), November 23, 1999.


YOU will be blamed, of course. The HOARDERS. Where did all the food go? The hoarders have it. Why is it hard to get gasoline? The hoarders.

As mentioned above, that is how it was during the depression. FDR, Bill Clinton's hero, went so far as to confiscate the property (gold) of people (the evil hoarders) who were prepared for hard times.

Don't expect the government to take the blame for anything. It doesn't work that way. YOU will be blamed.

-- Another Programmer (notmy@address.com), November 23, 1999.


--I think that the fedgovs in the industrialized world will start wasting their own citizens in rather large numbers. all governments throughout history have done this when the security they are supposed to provide fails. They know they have lost all public confidence, so they must keep it by terror and force and by even more lying. They create strawman "threats" as an excuse for despotic martial law. No reason to think that it won't happen again. Now I'm talking about the "first" world. The "second" world will most likely get rid of excess population by regional wars. Same reasons as above, but it's cheaper and more cost effective for them to create a larger external threat, usually around the same old religious and race differences. The "second" world is still to this day almost tribal in nature. The "third" world will just be chaos, madmaxville. No real authority other than local warlords who come and go weekly. That will continue for the most part.

zog the historian

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 23, 1999.



They aren't going to blame terrorists or hoarders -- they'll blame programmers. "They told us it was all fixed -- they lied to us!" After all, everyone knows the politicians can't fix this stuff themselves. And this comes at a time when Bill Gates is declared a monopolist, and internet startups are raking in huge bucks (which will disappear out of main street mutual funds when the market crashes.)

At minimum, there will be class action suits against all the big software and hardware firms. So programmers and the tech industries in general seem like the obvious scapegoat.

And watch for spillover from this to other technology questions. I can imagine what the reaction will be the next time some industry spokesman gets up and says something along the lines of "genetically modified food is safe -- we've tested it thoroughly...."

-- You Know... (notme@nothere.junk), November 23, 1999.


They are going to execute plans they have spent years making. Expect EVERYTHING that has been done in the past. Rationing, nationalization, money changes, FEMA disaster type activities, travel restrictions, work programs, price controls, etc.

What were Al Gore's words to the cabinet after the president left the Y2K cabinet meeting a few years ago? Something like "Some of you are going to be charged with not taking appropriate actions to prevent failure." If someone cna find the article and quote, it would be worth trotting it out again for the newbies.

-- ng (Cantprovideemail@none.com), November 23, 1999.


Panic.

Blame the innocent people who have prepared.

....

Continue as discussed above.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 23, 1999.


All of the above mentioned "scapegoats" are not mutually exclusive. They will all be blamed along with many more. Whatever fits the moment.

-- Jim (x@x.x), November 23, 1999.

Oh-Oh. I'm a hoarding programmer. I guess I'm in bigger trouble than most people then...

-- Y2KGardener (govegan@aloha.net), November 23, 1999.


I wish I was a polly...

*sigh*

The best rationale, based on the verifiable facts available, coupled with context of history, tells me that you're all well within my expectation parameters.

What if it's worse?

-- (Kurt.Borzel@gems8.gov.bc.ca), November 23, 1999.


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