On Y2K the Western World Would Close Down

 

On December 30th, 1998, super station WON ran a 90 second report from an "expert" on Y2K. He indicated that as soon as midnight, January 1, 1999, computers would read the 99' and the western world would close down. Rapidly, my wife Jennifer and I hurriedly bought water, extra wood, canned goods, and other supplies to get ready for the worldwide electrical holocaust. Nothing happened. By 6 PM CST, I watched in disbelief when London celebrated the New Years and the world went on as usual. 

 

Unfortunately, there are those out there who believe that Y2K was hyped or an outright lie. It is easy to imagine a cottage industry of conspiracy buffs preparing a scenario right now indicating why the military-industrial complex, or the trilateral commission, or a Druid Pagan Satanist coven or some other group planned this whole thing.

 

My guess is that the plot that they will describe goes something like this:

 

About 5 years ago, in a clandestine spot like the Bohemian Grove, wealthy industrialists tried to figure out how they could get a family of 4 to pay about $1,500 for new computers and computer upgrades for all their companies. They plotted Y2K. By scaring the public that chaos was just around the corner, they were able to convince the public to pay with their taxes or with a pass -through in the price structure for all these improvements. . Further, Y2K would fog over the fact that new computer replacements (financed by taxpayers) would be even more costly and efficient and companies would benefit from these marked improvements. Thus the public would pay for new and effective ways to downsize the workforce and increase profits. Lastly, they would emphasize that there were many countries in which almost NOTHING was done to the computers and the countries went sailing into the 21st century without any problems.

 

In answer to the conspiracy, I would like to say that my think tank the Arlington Institute has been working with Fortune 500 companies and others with this problem since early 96' (see arlingtoninstitute.org) The Y2K problem has been known since 1984-Edward Yardeni and other legitimate corporate economists had expressed alarm even up to a few months ago. When hearings were held in Washington, the head of the committee holding the hearings let it be known that he purchased a fifty-gallon drum of water. Companies continually upgrade and purchase new computers all the time and part of that is financed by taxes or tax deductions for capital improvements or depreciation allowances. Kirkwood has been Y2K ready for over a year and when test were conducted, non-compliant computers closed down. One can list numerous countries that did fine without much computer upgrades, because there are a number of Third World countries that do not have a significant number of computerized operations. As Scott Johnson, Y2K specialist of the Arlington Institute notes: "Very few countries did 'nothing.' "Much can be done manually.

 

On a personal level, my family saved gallons of water, canned goods, and wood and related, planning for the worst, but hoping for the best. Also, I sent an essay to THE GAZETTE about a year ago with a scenario in which households all over the country were fighting the cold as they fed their fireplaces. Additionally, in big cities, roving gangs of thugs were terrorizing ordinary citizens who were without communications. My caveat was that yes Cedar Rapids would have the cold, but we were protected geographically by our location from numerous crimes and that the local National Guard and police would be able to handle the problem. In the mean time, we might get to know each other again as neighbors. My unpublished editorial was meant to comfort, however, looking back it was inadvertently alarmist and was not printed.

 

Y2K was not a plot. We witnessed a postmodern miracle of effort by thousands of technicians who saved us from our own technology. It is a good lesson for all us about how mighty technology is and how humbling it can be when things go wrong.

 

For those who bought generators and want their money back, let me just say this. In the fall of 97' there was a terrible ice storm that partially hit Cedar Rapids, but devastated Omaha. Like our city, it had numerous trees, and so many were destroyed. It took months to completely clear the streets and get the dead trees removed. Power lines were down for close to two weeks and major areas in the city (Aksarben and Westside) did not have power for all that period of time. Many barely turned on their tap water so that the pipes would not freeze, huddled around their fireplaces or lived with friends or extended families in other parts of the city.

 

For those with generators, hug and nurture those things. Our day will come, a natural disaster will hit and you'll be fine. You may even discover some friendly neighbors who come to call and may want to spend the night.

 

Folks, we missed a catastrophe and we should be thankful. Just think what conspiracy buffs would have said if there was a worldwide chaos for just a week? Or worse, if it went for a couple of months?