Y2K news and events can't happen fast enough for me - things sometimes feel like they are going in slow motion. Yet when I look at the calendar, the reality is that there are only about 90 working days left until rollover. We are not going in slow motion. We are traveling at warp speed. We are inexorably going where "none have dared go before".

Why us? Is this Destiny? Chance?

We are living in "interesting times" - a particular point in history when Y2K will hit with who knows what impact, coupled with other serious non-Y2K potential threats. I find myself asking: Why us? I have opinions, but no answers. I do not believe there are any answers, though no doubt some feel they know for sure. I post this not to get those 'answers' but simply to find out if others are also asking: "Why us?"

Perhaps the all-time most vexing question humans have asked themselves throughout history is the "Why am I here" or the "What is the meaning of Life" question. We also ask this. In fact, I feel that the high levels of uncertainty we face due to Y2K and other serious threats make me consider this question more frequently than ever. Once again there are no answers, and I am not asking for any. I mention this only because it seems to be inextricably tied to the "Why us" question - two sides of the same enigmatic coin.

Do you also find yourself asking: "Why us?"

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), August 05, 1999

Answers

No, but I find myself recalling a very popular quote: "If there was no God man would see fit to invent one".

I won't comment on that quote, I'll let your overactive imaginations play with it for yourselves.

-- (rrrrrroookshnitzen@society. blackout's box), August 05, 1999.

Every cult has always thought they were the ones, the chosen ones.

Then they mix the cyanide with their kool-aid and say goodbye to the "pollies" who DGI their cause.

-- KewlAyde (koolaid@cyanide.com), August 05, 1999.

Why us? A better question would be to ask how it came to be that this is the worst thing that could potentially (far from certainly - it may yet be a fizzle) befall our generation.

It's a mark of how soft and cushy our lives have been that Y2K is viewed as a possible big deal at all.

Wars now happen far away and we watch them updated every 1/2 hour on CNN (or more frequently on cnn.com) and a year in which stocks go up only 15% is viewed as tragic for the economy.

War, famine, disease, and poverty have been the usual state of mankind throughout recorded history. In the grand scheme of things, even a serious Y2K collapse won't rate a footnote in the history books.

Why us? In the immortal words of Colour Sgt. Bourne in the movie "Zulu" - Because we're here, lad. Nobody else.

JZ

-- Jeff Zurschmeide (zursch@cyberhighway.net), August 05, 1999.

Rob, I always look forward to your great, thoughtful questions.

I ask myself this everyday. Contrary to popular polly argument I'd just assume not worry about nor contemplate any of this. I have other things on my mind.

Why us?

Flame me if you must.

Maybe it's because of our shortsightedness as a species. After all, it seems not only are we responsible for a problem like Y2k but according to a recent study we are also directly responsible for killing off the earths creatures into extinction at a rate higher than any known, natural cause throughout the entire history of the planet.

Maybe we're stupid. Maybe our science and technology have actually disconnected us from our natural instincts to the point where we can no longer function unless we have to use artificial means to do so.

We pave the ground to drive our cars on. We put shoes on our feet so they wont get "dirty" when they touch the earth. We cut down trees and burn rain forests because they're in the way of our "progress".

I have a confession. Prior to being concerned about Y2k I was very concerned with the future of the planet we live on. I've always had an affinity with animals and I went through a very serious "journey" once upon a time that made me realize that eventually we would actually kill the planet unless people like me spoke up. I even worked for entities to further this end and protect the earth. I came up with slogans like, one person can change the world, one person at a time and live beyond the bounds of your own existance.

So, no matter how much I wonder about "why us?" I always think about how disconnected we are from the planet we live on. I consider how much we arrogantly degrade and destroy the very natural resources we need to sustain life. I realized a while back that we are a very shortsighted species bent on personal gain. So, when I think about this kind of stuff I wonder,

Why not us?

Mike

==========================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), August 05, 1999.

Because we're the only ones who can solve a Wheel of Fortune round with =< 4 letters, which drives our family/friends/spouses insane.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), August 05, 1999.

Lisa, reminds me of the old joke:

You watch Jeopardy, and feel stupid because you don't know the answers.

You watch Wheel of Fortune, and feel stupid because...well, because you're watching it.

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), August 05, 1999.

Rob,

I'm a bit dense today. Would you be so kind as to clarify your question? Do you refer to those who GI? Why do we GI?

Or, why has the human race gotten itself into this mess?

Thanks.

-- Bingo1 (howe9@pop.shentel.net), August 05, 1999.

Hoff: I actually prefer to get my @ss kicked by Ben Stein..... although I have beaten him a few times....

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), August 05, 1999.

I read somwhere that there are more people alive today than there were through-out all of human history combined. If that is true then there is at least a 50-50 chance that ANYTHING happening will happen to "us".

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), August 05, 1999.

Bingo1: I was referring to "why us" where "us" is inclusive. Not believing in (or being aware of) the reality of Y2K and other threats in no way nullifies these threats existence. So "Why us" encompasses more than "why do we get it" or "how did we get into this mess." Different people will ask this same question, for different reasons, and regardless of what they think of Y2K. I have been asking it lately for the reasons mentioned in the original post, and I was curious to see if other people are asking it also. Hope this helps.

Uncle: You are on the money. Six billion people now, and counting - a new record.

Jeff and Mike: Thank you both for the thoughful posts.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), August 05, 1999.

I see several factors influencing the "state of the world" today.

Overpopulation is certainly one. It's the biggie. It is the one that will definitely get us in the long run if something else doesn't. And nothing can be done about it. Just watch it rise and be glad "we" live when there's only 6 billion, instead of 60 billion or 600 billion.

Of a more immediate concern is short-term thinking. That's pretty much the problem with everything today. Y2K of course, the stock market, marketing, disposable society, etc., etc. Nothing is built to last, "progress" is progressing too fast that we can't even keep up with it as a species (look at all the contradictory medical & nutritional advice, as well as all the "new" diseases and conditions that are constantly cropping up like stress related disorders, etc.) It's time to slow down, think about what's happening and make a plan of action. Never gonna happen. We're just gonna burn out .....

-- Jim (x@x.x), August 05, 1999.

Jim- Your answer sort of ties in with what I was thinking. Why us? Maybe because of what we've become as a society. So many let themselves be told what to think, what to buy, how to live. Some want to be the king of their own little universes. The "me" generation of the 80's did not go away, it increased a thousand fold. How arrogant to think we can walk down roads paved with gold, and never have to answer for our actions.

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), August 05, 1999.

Because you're pissing me off!

-- God (God@Heaven.org), August 05, 1999.

Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr near Monterey, California

There are too many people on cruise control; ones who habitually refuse to tap the break until it becomes absolutely obvious that the obstacle ahead is not going to get out of our way. This; to the point where enormous amounts of energy are consumed stressing over whether it's still too early to slow down.

Like other animals, people are creatures of habit. We also have a heard instinct, so we tend to do what we are told. Schools make matters worse by training children to be reactive, rather than proactive. The further we wander from our home of sustainable individual, family, and community self-sufficiency, the less we're able to see just how badly lost we are.

Someone, please e-mail me if this post screws up the formatting of this thread. I'm experimenting.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage.neener.autospammers--regrets.greenspun), August 05, 1999.

This isn't meant as a put-down, but merely an observation that may help you to get beyond that question. Whenever we ask "Why me?" we are getting into a morass that is generally called self-pity. I have had so many "hits" from life, but learned after my first big "why me" experience in which I lost a 15-year marriage to an infidelity and became a single mother with no money, that if I continued to ask that question I was only going to drown and not go forward or even survive. The same applies right now, more than ever, if we are all to survive the coming crisis. We need to conserve all of our energies and direct them at preparing to do just that. I am so busy with not only physical preps, but also with learning new skills, reading day and night, going to take the Red Cross course, going to the range soon as the heat wave ends to practice, and trying now to help others to GI, that I don't have time for such reflections as "Why me/us?" My prayer is for the crisis to pass and the peoples of the earth to be delivered from what we GIs suspect strongly is coming. I also pray thankfulness , however, for the knowledge given us to prepare, and that we haven't been judged wanting long, long ago!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), August 05, 1999.

On the same vein as Mike T., it never occured to me to ask "Why us?" over Y2K. But I right away thought when reading your post "why not us?".

From the instant I've became aware of Y2K and especially when I "got it", my thoughts were along the lines of "well, was a matter of time before we -really- goofed and did ourselves in."

We're but microbes on the surface of the earth if you view it from space. If the other creatures could think and talk maybe they'd think "about time! Now we have a chance again."

I think we think too much of ourselves as a species.

-- Chris (%$^&^@pond.com), August 05, 1999.

An interesting billboard along I85 outside Greenville.. Totally black background with white lettering.

"Don't make me come down there!" God

Thought it might be appropriate to this thread.

-- Lobo (atthelair@yahoo.com), August 06, 1999.

Elaine, I have felt for a couple of months that we had been given a "window of opportunity" to prepare, and I, too, have been VERY thankful. The strange thing is, I don't think it is necessarily for Y2K. I told my father quite a few months back, "The good thing about Y2K, if there is such a thing, is that it gives people a tangible event to prepare for. BUT, I think we will find out that what we REALLY needed to prepare for was something we hadn't even imagined."

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), August 06, 1999.

The first thing I thought of, Rob, was a flippant answer. Then Uncle Deedah topped me before I had composed a line. One by one all my responses were laid down here before I had a chance to put them to keyboard. And, finaly, Gayla saved me a lot of typing by capping it off better than I ever could have, and in many fewer words.

I have a feeling that this is one of those eternal questions, asked by every thinking person since H. Gracilis. It is the essense of learning and curiosity, horror and shame, wonder and delight, fear and loathing---simultaneously immanent and somatic. In fact, I would wonder about the humanity of anyone who would not think to ask this question from time to time in either a personal or universal context.

Maybe the answer has that peculiarly Zen-like obvious obtuseness as that of Edmund Hillary when asked why he climbed Mt Everest.

Hallyx

REUNITE GONDWANALAND! (win valuable prizes!)

-- (Hallyx@aol.com), August 06, 1999.

Don't make me come back here-

-- The King of Flippant Answers (unkeed@yahoo.com), August 06, 1999.

Thanks to all of you for the thoughtful posts. To be honest, I didnt think there would be this many. Whats this Forum coming to? :)

Hi Hallyx: I had a similar reaction to what you posted as I read over the responses. That may seem odd to you, but remember that often times I view the questions I ask not in terms of right vs. wrong but in terms of just hoping to clarify my own thoughts and/or feelings. To paraphrase Runway Cat Earth Life confuses me. FWIW, you may be surprised to know that it was actually your last post on The Other Side thread, and my subsequent response (which I do not know if you have seen yet) that led me to starting this thread! Rob, who is wondering if wisdom and sanity are in fact mutually exclusive, and pretends to have neither in great measure.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), August 06, 1999.