Compiled from a series of articles
by Joseph Farah, WorldNetDaily
I have resisted writing about the possibilities of a massive computer calamity associated with the year 2000 for good reason. I freely admit I simply don't know how serious the problems are. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly clear that the potential exists for unprecedented economic, political and social upheaval due to the Y2K bug. I have been unable to find any responsible, informed expert who will state with assurance that the threat has been grossly exaggerated and that there is no cause for alarm.
"A global financial crash, nuclear meltdowns, hospital life support system shutdowns, a collapse of the air-traffic system are possible without proper attention now," explained a sobering New York Times story more than a year ago.
Last summer, Newsweek carried a cover story titled, "The Day the World Shut Down: Can We Fix the 2000 Computer Bug Before It's Too Late?" "Drink deep from your champagne glass as the ball drops in Times Square to usher in the year 2000," the story read. "Whether you imbibe or not, the hangover may begin immediately. The power may go out. Or the credit card you pull out to pay for dinner may no longer be valid. If you try an ATM for cash, that may not work, either. Or the elevator that you took up to the party ballroom may be stuck on the ground floor. Or the parking garage you drove into earlier in the evening may charge you more than your yearly salary. Or your car may not start. Or the traffic lights might be on the blink. Or, when you get home, the phones may not work. The mail may show up, but your government check may not arrive, and your insurance policies may have expired."
Donald McAlvany, a financial newsletter writer, argues that "the year 2000 represents the meltdown of our high-tech computerized economies, [throwing] our entire high-tech civilization into total chaos and gridlock." And Michael S. Hyatt, author of The Millennium Bug, predicts that "it is going to be a billion times worse than the worst microcomputer crash you have ever experienced--or could ever imagine."
It's not an overstatement to suggest that modern civilization, as we know it, will cease to exist--at least temporarily. Power grids, running water, telephone service, all the necessities and conveniences of modern life may suddenly be rendered undependable, if not useless.
The man regarded as the most knowledge--able person in the U.S. Senate on the impact of the Y2K millennium bug says people should begin stock-piling food, water, prepare for major crises in the healthcare and banking systems as well as civil unrest triggered by the government's failure to send out welfare checks.
"Pay attention to the things that are vulnerable in your life and make contingency plans," says Sen. Robert Bennett, chairman of the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. But don't panic, he adds.
What do you suppose will happen? Just imagine what every major city in America will be like the first time welfare checks don't arrive. Imagine inner-city hospitals turning away people by the hundreds, banks locking their doors, ATM machines inoperative, automobiles not starting, no heat on cold wintry nights, barren supermarket shelves and potable water scarce. Add to that recipe sporadic power failures, telephone service disruptions and shutdowns of major airline flights.
Remember Los Angeles after the Rodney King police beating trial? Kids' stuff. Picture scenes like that repeated in dozens of urban areas throughout the country. Who ya gonna call? Don't bother dialing 911 when the angry mobs head for your door. It won't be working.
So where does that leave us? Oh, don't worry. The government has a Plan B. Presidential Decision Directive 63, issued by Bill Clinton in May, calls for the development of a plan to ensure "essential national security missions" as well as general public health and safety by, you guessed it, the year 2000.
The carefully worded directive emphasizes the preservation of order and the maintenance of a "national infrastructure protection system" involving the military, intelligence agencies, law enforcement and the mandatory participation of the "private sector."
Under the directive, the "National Infrastructure Protection Center"--which includes the FBI, the Secret Service, other federal law enforcement agencies, the Department of Defense and the intelligence agencies--calls the shots. To me, all this sounds like code for martial law.
I recently watched one of those old movies called "Panic in the Year Zero," starring and directed by Ray Milland. While computers weren't a part of everyday life in America when the film was made, it focuses on a more familiar threat--nuclear war and its devastating aftermath.
In that film, society is so wracked by disaster that the decision is made to reset the global calendar, as families, communities and nations begin putting the pieces back together.
Could this be the way freedom is extinguished in America and throughout the world--not with a bang of a nuclear blast, but with the tick of a clock? I don't pretend to know the answer to that question. But it's certainly a possibility worth considering, praying about and planning for by every freedom-loving person in the world.
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