HAPPY 1999 !

[Bill Ellis <tranet@rangeley.org>]

          HAPPY 1999 ! ! !
The clock is about to strike 12:00 1/1/99.  Ushering in what will probably be the most interesting year in a couple of mellennia.
Just one year it wll be 1/1/00 with all its doubts, worries, excitement, dangers and possibilities.  The whole year will be one of a rising to a crescendo,  With the potential of panic, hoarding and survivialism overridding the dangers of computer glitches.  Expect the mainstream press to make Y2K more of a entertainment fad than the Lewinsky/Starr issue by April. And the rest of 1999 to be filled with survivalist activities.
Neither governments, markets, or corportions have answers.  The are the problem not the solution.  We-the-people are the solution.
The good news is that Y2K MAY wake the world up to the dangers of globalization;  It may remind the world of the community resources we depended on th 1/1/0 (1900). With luck, and a lot of work by a lot of us, our neighborhoods and our fcommunities will take over from the unstable and unsustainable economic system that now enslaves us.
Some Web sites already working in community resilience are:
http://www.resilientcommunities.org http://www.nonviolence.org/tranet http://www.y2kcommunity.org http://www.transaction.net/money/ http://www.utne.com/y2k http://y2k.inode.org
I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE EXCITEMENT OF 1999
FYI I pass on a summary of this Y2K position
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There are some very basic conclusions on Y2K that seem to be in a general consensus:
Among them are:

* No one knows what will happen at midnight 1/1/00
Computer glitches could cause anything from a total long and lasting failure of our banking, production and distributions systems, to a few mild disturbances of our comfortable way of life.
* Disruption could be universal
No country, state, city or town is not in jeopardy.  There could be no untouched area or sector in a position to send aid to other affected regions of the world.
* Individual survivalism could bring chaos.
Hoarding food, protecting home or homestead with firearms, escaping society, cannot protect anyone from a system breakdown.
* We cannot count on the media, the governments, or the corporations to prepare for Y2K
Not only is there little profit or power to be gained from Y2K, but the "leaders" fear panic, and they have no solutions within their realms of power.
* There will be an increasing concern from 1/1/99 to 1/1/00
To these conclusions I would add:
1) This is NOT a computer problem. It will not be over one way or another on 1/1/00.  It is a GLOBALIZATION problem.  In the millennium 1/1/00 (1900) to 1/1/00 (2000) there have been increasing trends away from self-reliant communities to an economic system in which we are all dependent on resource beyond our control, even beyond our knowledge.  The world has become a single network of material interdependence.  A glitch in any part of the network could shut down the whole system.  A dip in the stock market, global warming, the failure of any corporate conglomerate, the end of oil, or any other disruption of the system would have the same disruptive effect as is predicted for Y2K.
2) Individual actions are absolutely necessary. Every one of us must think and act in ways to be more self-reliant.  Talking in generalities helps only a little.  We need to know in detail what TO DO.  How do I:  turn my lawn into a vegetable garden?  dry, can or rootcellar my produce?  homeschool?  homestead?  take a home health program?  reduce my energy consumption?  purchase a camp stove and solar battery charger?  have enough cash to get through?  make sure my banking, investment, and credit systems are safe?
3) Community activities are absolutely necessary. How does my neighborhood or community: establish a food co-op?  set up a LETS, barter, local scrip, or time dollar system?  start a Grameen Bank? begin a community patrol? build an ecovillage or co-housing unit? organize community owned corporations and cooperatives?  become a resilient community?  bring in a farmers' market or community supported Agriculture (CSA)? found a community loan fund?
We have less that 500 days before Y2K tests our ability to BE PREPARED. There is much we can do to prepare for this and any other disruption that nature could throw our way.  We need to exchange information and prepare how-to instructions on the things individual can do.
But more than that we have to start building the self-reliant communities and a global network of communities which are not subject to the collapse typified by Y2K.
The good news is that the base for that new society has already been started.   LETS, CSAs, ESOPS, food co-ops, Homesteading, Co-housing, Homeschooling, EcoVillages, Citizen Patrols, CLTs, Cooperative Community Life-Long Learning Centers (CCL-LLCs), Local Scrips,  solar power, wind energy,  are already in operation in almost every state of the union and many other nations.
The first step is to learn all we can about these social innovations and work with our neighbors to see how they would apply to our community.
Y2K is both a challenge and an opportunity.  In the next year we will learn how to create community solidarity and how the become self-reliant.  We have much to do and little time.
Bill Ellis TRANET PO BOX 137 Rangeley ME 04970-0137 USA (207)864-3784 URL: http://www.nonviolence.org/tranet/