Have you bought land in the middle of nowhere? Do you have a year of supplies in storage? Have you left the big city? Many questions and all of them with many answers. These are some of the things that the Year 2000 bug alarmists are dealing with.
It is true that all hell will break loose due to the Year 2000 issue, but it is not entirely true that it will be because of the problems with dates and calculations. The hell that will be, and is, breaking loose will be primarily caused by people reacting to the alarmists. Some may remember when Johnny Carson joked that there was a shortage of toilet paper, when actually he was joking. The result was a run on toilet paper in the stores and then there really was a shortage of the stuff. Such prophecies become self fulfilling, not because they are completely true, but because they cause what they predict.
The following sites will help to foster fear in people and move them to action. The really scary site is that of Ed Yourdon. His name should sound familiar. Many of you have read his articles in computer magazines and perhaps even his books. The reason that this site is scary is that Ed Yourdon is well known in the field and many will listen just because he is the one doing the talking.
I do not want to downplay the severity of the Y2K problem, I just want to let people know that they should react to what is real and not to accounts of what has not happened. Personally, I will carry an extra couple of hundred dollars in cash, just in case the teller machines have a problem. I also will not rely on technology for that period. Maybe I will go sailing in the Caribbean for two weeks surrounding New Years. I will not aquire property and live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. All problems can be overcome. My only fears are of the actions of people who are put into a state of unrest by the fear, and not the action, of the Y2K problem.
Daniel Peterson, 27-JULY-1998