Y2K? The computer problem? What about it?
So far we haven’t heard much from the mainstream media about the “great computer glitch” that is calmly waiting to either ruffle or ravage us on January 1, 2000, depending on which of the few voices being raised to inform us about this problem you listen to. Overall, public interest has been blasé. But will we be shocked when 2000 rolls around?
The U.S. government certainly seems to think so. Like many other institutions, most government agencies are making no commitment to reaching “Y2K compliancy” by 2000. “The Defense Department [for one] is reported to be far behind in preparations for Y2K compliancy. It is working only on mission-critical systems…” (WorldNet Daily, Jan. 6).
The U.S. government is preparing (not technologically) for the worst—widespread technological breakdown and social disorder: traffic halting; rampant rioting. The Clinton administration plans to deal with this potential chaos by establishing a framework of martial law.
For the first time since 1940, the National Guard Bureau is planning a national mobilization of troops in preparation for civil unrest resulting from Y2K. The exercise, scheduled for May 1-2, will be a mock mobilization of all 480,000 members of the National Guard in all 54 states and territories, without the use of conventional communication tools (i.e. telephone—assuming a communication-systems breakdown occurs). The National Guard would be used as a national police force, in the event of emergency.
One would expect leaders to inform their citizens of anything that might have such a profound effect on them. So why is the only information on these U.S. government plans for dealing with Y2K coming from intelligence sources and officials who insist on speaking under the security of anonymity?
The U.S. government believes Y2K may result in enough of a national disaster to warrant mobilizing the entire National Guard, yet it has failed to warn its citizens of how it may well affect them! If this government’s fears come to pass, and we are plunged unsuspecting into the tumult that Y2K and martial law would bring, won’t we all wish we had been warned?