Reflections of a Doomer...

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It's now been several days since the rollover, and with only a minor few exceptions, there hasn't been any serious disruptions. I first read about the y2k problem in the fall of 1997, and as I read more, became convinced that the problem was both real and potentially serious. This forum soon became a daily read, and lead to many others sites. Cory Hamasaki's, Gary North's, the Weatherman, and many others. It took me two days to send all of the unsubscibe requests to all of the y2k mailing lists to which I was a member. In retrospect, the many hours spent on the computer netted a vast treasury of information on many diverse topics, from how the power grid is set up to how to make your own bleach. The level of knowledge freely offered up to posters was amazing, and I felt I "knew" several of them from their postings. I regret that the internet community lacks a venue for us to meet face to face. Clearly, the doomer position was fundamentally wrong, we must have overlooked something. The embedded chip issue has turned out to be either unimportant or it was fixed in time. I would like to thank the IT people for repairing this problem in time. Only a doomer, who has really thought through what could have happened, can appreciate the hell we have been able to avoid. The Infomagic 10 scenario would have resulted in a "Mad Max" world that few would survive, and no one wanted. Gary North is going to be lucky if he gets many subscription renewals, but he has uncovered a vast treasury of intrastruture information, much of it little known and still valuable. His writings on the factional reserve banking system come to mind. If the the FED wasn't scared stiff about the danger of bank runs, they would not have issued money at such amazing rates. This was the real reason that has powered the bubble.com, and not the event of a new paradigm that is totally different from earlier bubbles. Ultimately, the crux of the matter was whether or not the embedded chip problem was real and extensive in key industries, such as oil. Like many others, I didn't appreciate the extent that IT personal were able to fix or patch their systems in time. I thought the problem was y2k was started too late and was too big. I was wrong. This has cost me both in time and money, but I do not blame Ed Yourdon, Gary North, or anyone else. They presented their arguments and they seemed persuasive to me. If y2k had turned out to be a "10" at least I made a honest effort to prepare, and had I didn't the image of my daughter hungry and cold was something I couldn't risk. It really was a question the stakes verus the odds. Some of my prep items are on the way back to vendors, some items are things I can use anyway, and the storage food will keep as we eat are way through it. Still prepping for y2k represented a huge investment in time, money, and effort. Nevertheless, I am very happy that it turned out to be a nonevent. In hindsight, it was regretable that the polly side was so poorly represented. Trolls and spamers launching denial of service attacks don't give rise to much respect for their side. Only a few polly postors really gave any useful information, seeming content with snide comments. Alleged "inside" information from people such as DDLight and "CEO" turned out to be wrong, or otherwise outages would have shown up by now. I think the ultimate irony might turn out to be the year 2000 might be the year that the market and economy does crash, but for reasons other then y2k concerns. I have no doubt the y2k gliches will happen this year, but they will be of concern only to that company, it's customers and employees. For a true doomer scenario to occur the problem must have been widespread, serious, and occuring within a tight time frame. The banking system might well be fully y2k compliant, but they still cannot cash out more then 2 to 5 % of their depostors. Their vulnerability to runs could will cause great hardships to our country, like in 1932. This site reminds me of my college days when I used to enjoy all nighters, heated debates, and meeting lots of characters. Like college, there comes a time when we will graduate and move on.

Unless this forum can reinvent itself, with a new objective, that time to move on has now come to me.

-- Sure M. Worried (SureMWorried@bout.Y2K.coming), January 04, 2000

Answers

I've appreciated your comments here. Something tells me we will gain renewed focus. I'll be waiting and standing by.....

Check in when you can......

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), January 04, 2000.


You're quitting too early. It's only been four days and many businesses, plus the UK, only returned to work yesterday - far too early for an accurate fix on current and near-future Y2K errors and problems!

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), January 04, 2000.

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