Re: Year 2000 Supply/Production Risks

[Bagelhole1@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/29/99 11:12:13 PM, cbyrne98@hotmail.com writes:

<< Time to think people
rather than systems, feelings rather than logic. Time to recognise
that what holds us together as humans has as much to do with trust and
confidence as it has to do with code or chance.

Like a lot of people my mantra in all of this used to be "Hope for the
best and prepare for the worst". No more. Any sensible person (I know
that's loaded) can see that this is a recipe for a self-fulfilling
prophecy. As my mum says: "What do you mean 'hope'? What 'worst'?".
She's right. This isn't the language of preparation, it's the language
of uncertainty, anxiety, a preparation for panic. >>

I'm sorry to see you thinking in this raggedy way, you must really be
tired. If hope for the best and prepare for the worst is
self-fulfilling (a totally arbitrary assumption), then great, our best
hopes will occur because we prepared for the worst..

I have given this list some real, tangible steps to take, but you all
prefer to let my ideas go by, with little debate, you are all so
intent on the importance of your own voices, I guess. I, too, am
frustrated, stymied, by what seems like an endless profusion of idiots
who assume they have some wisdom. This forum seems to be exclusively
men, wonder about that. Simplicity is the key to responding to Y2K.
Yes, there is the idiot factor (the human race). We have been given a
little time to prepare for this disaster, unlike most disasters.

The obvious prep is community contingency prep. since, to stockpile
and make yourself self-sustainable, will only make you a target, if
those around you get desperate enough.

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Commonsense for any 2 year
old. How do you prepare for the worst( whatever that might be)? The
answer: mine the ingeniousness of humanity thru the net (poetic irony)
for lo-tech, homemade sustainable ideas to be made accessible for any
and everyone thru the net within the next months.

I already have hundreds of ideas and I need help. I need others to go
thru these ideas and pick out the good ones, arrange them in some
practical order, etc. I have been spending about 10 hours a day in
front of my Imac for 5 months or so, still working to make money, and
trying to enjoy all the other things I like to do. This adds up to
about 5 hours sleep average,  and this thing is starting to hurt my
eyes.

I never owned a computer until now, since I got this just for this
purpose, not for business. I have been an on the front lines activist
for 10 years, and have worked with people who share my attitude, of
overcoming whatever obstacles stand in our way, one way or another,
not being afraid to go to jail, face violence, non-violently, in a
word: unstoppable.

And I will continue to state this prosaic little idea of mine over and
over and do it myself if I have to, as I have so far, until all hope
is gone. I know I face a wall of idiocy, arrogance, egoism,
parochialism, etc., but I have faith that out of the morass of morons,
there will emerge some like- minded allies, and we will collaborate
and forge ahead, whilst the limp- wristed citizenry hold their
meetings and plod along.

I am not a doom and gloomer, I'm a visionary, practicing karma yoga
(paying close attention to all the exquisite details, i.e.
practicalities. My mind feels exceedingly clear (even if there is
always the possibility of self- delusion),  my experience has prepared
me aptly for this role, and I bow with humility to all the fools
around me, as I feel no better or worse than any of you in relation to
the Universe.

                                        From the eye of the bagelhole,
                                                 bagelhole1