Judging from the unrelenting gloating from the pollies, it seems that they will not be satisfied until they extract their pound of flesh from the ranks of the doomers.

I was probably as pessimistic as Infomagic about what I thought was going to happen during the y2k rollover. Why? The lesson I have learned is that while modern man knows enough to use technology, he does not truely understand how it functions. How many of the readers of this post how how the operating code works, how the hardware functions, how to repair it? Yet it is simple enough to learn at least the rudiments so we can bang away at the keybroad to post a message. This is the great advantage of the divison of labor, enabling many to utilize what few can invent, but is also it's weakness when put at risk of system failure. Most people are not programmers, firmware designers, software heads, etc.; we had to rely on information given by people we thought were reliable and accurate. Since many major corporations considered their state of y2k readiness propriety information, the best we could do is try to interpret the SEC filings. It would have been easier to guess at tea leaves. Perhaps because most people do live lives of quite desperation, y2k was such a siren call to doomers. Middle age baby boomers remember the freedom and attraction to ideals of their youth and y2k seemed to be such a compelling reason (excuse?) to live the long forgotten visions of so long ago. "Back to the land" was a strong urge for some of my generation and y2k supplied the rationale. The sad reality is that most Americans live in ugly urban areas or their accompanying sterile suburban commuter homes. Life has changed, and I for one, do not think it was all for the better. There are more people, crowed ever so closer together, working at boring jobs, while the land is being strip mined to sustain it all. Perhaps y2k was just a doomer's fantasy, but it was a compelling one.

One of the most positive results of the searching during 1997,1998, and 1999 was "meeting" such an interesting group of fellow searchers. Perhaps there will never again be a cause to rally around again, but I would suggest that the quest reflected some deeper needs to change our lifes. I, for one, am changing my handle from Sure M. Worried to Sure M. Hopeful. y2k has costed me plenty, but it was my own decision, and I will accept the consequences. Yet preparation for something that will never happen has helped: my daughter has come down with a nasty cold, and my colliodal silver has helped tame the virus. Had the doomers been correct about y2k, could you have looked at your family and not feel terrible not being able to feed, protect, and keep them warm? We preceived the problem as matter of stakes verus odds, and didn't want to gamble.

-- Sure M. Hopeful (Hopeful@future.com), January 06, 2000

Answers

Hi, Sure. I think your new handle is useful no matter what the outcome is for Y2K - and the last chapter has yet to be written on THAT. I've learned it feels better to be hopeful even when things are pretty gloomy.

Blessings to you and yours.

-- Margaret J (janssm@aol.com), January 06, 2000.

Sure M. Hopeful:

Firstly, I'm am glad to see you are well. I worried alot on rollover day for you all...

Secondly, your handle-change is a good thing that deserves encouragement. We're going to need alot of positive thinking if we're going to successfully face the future.

Thirdly, I wrote an essay down below (the millennium man) that may be of some use to you...

Happy New Year!

-- (Kurt.Borzel@gems8.gov.bc.ca), January 06, 2000.

Your post was the most honest one I've read here in a long time.

-- Thanks for your honesty (finallyanhonest@ one.com), January 06, 2000.