WHAT IF...?

Government was as paralyzed as the rest of the country? the rank & file of the military deserted en masse to be with their families? the soldiers and their dependents overseas never get home? refineries cant find spare parts? several major systems fail at once, instead of one at a time? theres no panic, but a revolutionary uprising?

-- Liz Pavek (lizpavek@hotmail.com), December 02, 1999

Answers

Hey! It's not my scale. It was created by the folks in the Washington DC Y2K User's Group. Go take a look at their site (or look for a link to it from one of the early chapters in my "Humpty Dumpty Y2K" manuscript.

Sorry about lack of URL's ... have only a few minutes to lurk today.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), December 02, 1999.

What you're desrcibing is TEOTWAWKI, "The End Of The World As We Know It" If that happens, it's a 10+ on the Yourdon scale. Better hope you were really thorough in your preps, cause it's going to be a rough time. Things would get much worse before they got better.

-- Powder (powder@keg.com), December 02, 1999.

Hmm...you've painted a pretty picture there. Lets just hope "What If" becomes "It Wont".

Good point, though.

-- Familyman (prepare@home.com), December 02, 1999.

Well, I live in Chicago so I guess I'd just nail my apartment door shut and wait for all the gunfire and screaming to stop...but I'd really rather not think too much about that right now...

-- Ludi (ludi@rollin.com), December 02, 1999.

A revolutionary uprising? Yeah, that sounds good to me! It's about time we take the power back.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 02, 1999.

Be careful what you wish for, Hawk.

While I have no great admiration for this government of the money, by the money and for the money, the possibility of improving it through a band of revolutionaries is somewhere between none and zero. It all depends upon what kind of a warlord you wind up with.

The characteristics that we seek in a leader is sort of outside the warlord definition.

dave

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), December 02, 1999.

Not IF, but WHEN...........

-- zowee (bold@prediction.today), December 02, 1999.

Hawk, the point of the system we inherited is not that it is self-regulating, nor that it can't be screwed up. It isn't. It was designed so that it could be fixed each time we run it off the road and into the weeds.

A revolution is a game of craps with exploding dice. The chances of getting something *more* hostile to freedom than we have today can be judged by looking at the majority of governments over the past 4000 years. Especially governments that rode in on a wave of civil violence.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), December 02, 1999.

dave,

"While I have no great admiration for this government of the money, by the money and for the money, the possibility of improving it through a band of revolutionaries is somewhere between none and zero."

That depends on what you consider to be "improving it." Everyone has different ideas about that, but at least if the people were in control instead of politicians our ideas would have some effect on the result.

"The characteristics that we seek in a leader is sort of outside the warlord definition."

Coulda fooled me. As far as I can tell, all of our leaders have been warlords.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 02, 1999.

"As far as I can tell, all of our leaders have been warlords."

Hawk...

.....When you say it.............you SAY it. Nice to read you, (and yes... you have your talon firmly on the pulse again.

-- Patrick (pmchenry@gradall.com), December 02, 1999.

Thanks Patrick, I always enjoy your perspectives too! Good to see you, and hope to be hearing more from you. Best wishes in 2000. :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 02, 1999.