In the last few days here in the Bay Area I've net and "hung out" with a few of the local "starving artists" who are basically just enjoying the san francisco vibe and struggling with great difficulty to pay the rent each month. These younger people have NO savings, NO food prep, NO idea of what might happen next year. (& it is OF COURSE too late in the "game" for me to tell them....). Why did the government/media choose to hush hush the idea of preparations? What advantage would the government have by having a 99% unprepared urban poopulation?????

-- Increulous Pete (incredulous@onebox.com), November 25, 1999

Answers

Lots of reasons do your homework!! Politicians want votes they hate panic and people cashing out! Stock market runs on banks and stores then when it does happen it was terrorists, religious fanatics or even us or viruses but never a non compliant situation.

-- Susan Barrett (sue59@bellsouth.net), November 25, 1999.

When millions of the elderly fail to get their Social Security checks, a large pertentage of them will die from starvation. This is our Governments ultimate goal, to get rid of millions of useless people. Also those who live on borrowed time and are on medication just to keep them alive will die without their medicine.

ONLY THE STRONG AND THE SMART WHO PREPARED for Y2K , WILL SURVIVE!!!

-- bbb (bbb@bbb.com), November 26, 1999.

Quell the "poopulation" from civil disobedience, perhaps? Not a difficult decision, when you think about it. Doesn't make it moral or correct, of course.

.gov has taken a huge gamble, while covering their a$$es at the same time. If Y2k is a BITR, they will take credit, and breathe a huge sigh of relief. If it's a serious problem, they can say, "We told you to prepare. It's not our fault that the media didn't report those messages more clearly."

Reminds me of the opening scenes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where Arthur Dent's home is about to be bulldozed to make way for a freeway. He protests, only to be told that the plans have been on file at City Hall for over a year, and it was his responsibility to check them out.

Fittingly, the same thing happened to planet Earth when the Vogons blew it up to make way for a hyperspace bypass. It wasn't the Vogons fault that humans didn't check out the demolition plans, as they were conveniently posted at Alpha Centauri for several years.

Or something like that. Read the book, as I simply can't do it justice. There's a lesson in there somewhere, I think.

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), November 26, 1999.

The problem will be easier for them to handle from a post Y2K environment. If the world is FUBAR, who ya gonna turn to? Why Uncle Bill and his buddies of course.

This strategy borders on criminal negligence. How many could die in the cold due to this media campaign. The media are so damn stupid to buy into this bullshit. They are complicit.

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), November 26, 1999.

Steve, long time no see. The PowerPoint presentation up to 1,000 pages yet? (It COULD be, ya know) Don't be such a stranger.

C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 26, 1999.

Hi Chuck. I stopped at 400+ slides, as there was simply far too much information constantly flowing in. I'm sure it'd easily be up to 2,000 had I continued...

I've been here all along, just using various handles. Stealth mode is now off (pending further developments). I won't be a "stranger".

Have you read the Guide?

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), November 26, 1999.

bbb,

I must respectfully disagree with your opinion that the govt is trying to kill off the old and the weak. The primary function of govt is to remain in and gain power. The elderly, the poor, and the uneducated are their PRIMARY power base.

Survivalists and educated folk and the like don't make good sheeple.

A.P.

-- A.P. (grim2k@hotmail.com), November 26, 1999.

---the people on the current governmental dole DO tend to keep the socialists in power, but they don't produce, and just cost money. Survivalists question authority, are independent, and are prepared to exist outside the sphere of big brother if necessary. These populations are, I believe, targeted for extermination. The largely uninformed but currently productive middle class will gladly turn to a much more restrictive government in exchange for the basics back again, like water and food and some sort of job. They will gladly trade security for freedom. They will gladly turn in someone who has prepared, or who speaks out against the government loudly, for handouts once they have starved and thirsted for a week. That's all it will take, one week. They will be broken then. Terrorized. Helpless, hapless, and hopeless. The overlords-the shadow government-prefer a chinese totalitarian style society, I'm thinking, as a rough model for comparisons. Oh sure, maybe a "congress" made up of members from one official party, or even two names for the same party, which is almost what we have now. The expansion of the police state is there for all to see. The federalization of heretofore state's crimes is here. The obvious impunity in which members of the higher echelon in government and their armed enforcers flagrantly circumvent laws is a mockery to anyone with eyes, a brain and a sense of Freedom and what is right and wrong. They mock the Constitution, and hold the people of this nation in contempt.< P> THAT is the why of the official spin, and the consequences are easy to conjecture. Death to the useless eaters and the malcontents, and chains for the rest. It's coming, many have warned, it is every citizen's duty to prepare, or be lost. Beans and rice alone will not keep you free, a strong will, a sense of ethics and determination just might give you a chance.

If you are a Preparer, be sure to realize what you may be preparing FOR.......

zoggus

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 26, 1999.

The government has nothing to gain and everything to lose by telling the public that things could go wrong.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 26, 1999.

Zoggy, Your answer comes the closest to seeming right. Hope you're wrong but your analysis & warning seems reasonable. The human race may be about to take a lot of casualties in the war between good & evil... -IP

-- IP (incredulous@onebox.com), November 26, 1999.

I really don't buy the Sinister Conspiracy line. It's more likely just inertia, incompetence and cognitive dissonance (this is my Phrase For The Day). They kept choosing to believe the statistics that supported their view that it could be fixed, and they WANT to believe that it is fixed. Now that it's too late to fix any outstanding problems, they just can't afford to tell people to prepare because it would trigger a panic. So they are just crossing their fingers. I think it's criminal, but I don't think they set out to do it.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 26, 1999.

"Sinister Conspiracy" and "inertia, incompetence and cognitive dissonance" are not mutually exclusive theories. "Sinister Conspiracy" forces can USE "inertia, incompetence and cognitive dissonance" for their own forces much as in martial arts you use your enemies force to defeat him.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), November 26, 1999.

If those "starving artists" had been told two years ago about y2k,do you REALLY think that they would have changed their situation by this time and gotten prepared? I don't think soooooo! The longer this goes, the nearer we get to rollover, the more convinced I am that perpahs the gubmint knew what they were doing. People don't want to hear it. Yes, the Americans have great resiluancy(sp) and ability to respond to the cause. But its ALWAYS AFTERWARD.. after it happens. Look at WWII. We could have gotten involved in European situation earlier and saved ourselves a lot of grief. But we waited until it came to our shores and our people were dying. Now we have swung the other way and rush into every little skirmish that goes on in the world. We are a nation of extremes, and y2k will enhance those extremes.

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), November 26, 1999.

Steve,

Yes, this situation is SO much like the "Hitchhiker's Guide" and the Trilogy in four parts. Maybe that's why I find it so easy to see beyond the spin. And how well do you know your local dolphin???

-- Evelyn (equus@barn.now), November 26, 1999.

Taz, You're right too....those "artists" wouldnt have lifted a finger.

-- IP (incredulous@onebox.com), November 26, 1999.

Nice to see there's at least one other fan of the Guide here.

At the risk of straying too far from the thread topic, anyone interested in an online version of the Guide can go to http://www.h2g2.com/. Don't panic.

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), November 26, 1999.