if any doubt the severity of things presently, as regards a need to 'prepare', this a.m. Sen Patrick Moynihan stated on This Week, [refering to world events : the fall of Russia, the world financial crisis, North Korea's missle program, the US impeding of the Iraqi weapon inspection progarm,- all with regard to the vacuum in the White House, and the lack of action by the Congress, etc ] that "we are in the most critical time in the history of the Republic" [ NOT a direct quote, but substantive]

need one say more?

Perry Arnett

pjarnett@pdqnet.net

-- Perry Arnett (pjarnett@pdqnet.net), September 06, 1998

Answers

Yes, more needs to be said. If one looks at the crisis developing around the planet and here at home, y2k no longer takes center stage and can be seen as a symptom of what ails us, not a cause. Y2k will exacerbate a very difficult future situation. More needs to be said about why the current global crisis has developed. Instead of computer systems, we need to be discussing political systems, because ours is finished, with or without y2k. What do we put in its place?

-- Joseph Danison (JDanison@aol.com), September 06, 1998.

I wish I could be certain that "we" are going to be allowed to put anything in the place of our scrambled economic system.

Anyone watching and understanding the world events unfolding around us, better be preparing for hard times and a long bumpy road in the future (we're not even talking y2k here). Money in hand and out of the banks, plenty of tangibles like food, clothing, necessities to meet your needs for the next couple of years to come, cause those items are going to be either hard to come by (deflation-depression) or you will need more of your dollars to buy them (inflation).

Americans who have precious metals holdings will be the winners (financially stable). I should be a gold dealer, ey? Too bad I'm not. I just know how to read.

-- K Golden (kgolden@solar.stanford.edu), September 07, 1998.

I'll tell you, on the one hand I would like nothing more than to believe that Y2K will turn out to be either a non-event or only mild disruptions. But the late start, the embedded chip problem, the trillion lines of code, the less than 500 days to go, and all that coupled with the general cockiness and lackadaisical attitude toward this coming mess----- all this taken together, leads me to believe (and fear) that y2k is much more than a crisis. This thing is shaping-up to be a global ROUT. I am deeply concerned...

-- Donald Ramsey (Daleypoo@aol.com), September 12, 1998.

Joseph

I somehow missed this thread but-

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time."

-Winston Churchill

I second the opinion of the honorable gentleman from Britain.

Totalitarianism anyone?

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), September 12, 1998.

It's a historical fact that none of the world's great empires -- Babylon, Medo-Persia, the Grecian dominance begun under Alexander, the Roman Empire -- have lasted much more than 200 years (with the possible exception of Chinese dynasties, which is a can of worms open to interpretation, as regards the definition of an empire)

The U.S., which certainly qualifies as one of the great empires in world history, these days is 222 years old, and finds itself in a position similar to the that of ancient Rome in its last days, just prior to Rome's being sacked by the barbarian tribes -- moral turpitude, incredibly corrupt leaders, lack of direction, lack of dynamic leaders providing that needed direction, apathetic populace. Many parallels. (Compare the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, 135 years ago, with the leadership we have now.)

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (Gosh who said that! famous quote)

Don't look for things to get any better. (For Christians, that's good news, I reckon...the deeper the doo-doo, the nearer the Lord's return...)

-- John Howard (pcdir@prodigy.net), September 13, 1998.

John

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. --George Santayana

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), September 13, 1998.