On This Day Pre-Y2K
Confused by any of the jargon you see below? Check the Y2K Glossary!
February 26, 1999 Permalink
For survivalists, Y2K is the final exam. Will our plans work? Will our stores be sufficient? Will we adapt to no TV or phone calls? Can we cook on a wood fire for weeks on end? Will we get forearms like Popeye from using the grain mill? It’s the answer to these questions and many more -- some of which we have not even thought of.
I find this kind of hard to admit, but I am almost looking forward to Y2K. I know it will be an interesting experience, one way or another. And I do not think it will be a pretty one. I will even admit that there are some people out there who I hope survive just so I can say, “I told you so.” So while I do not want a disaster to strike, since it seems inevitable, I am ready to meet it. I just don’t think much of the rest of the world is.
I believe that we are tempered by adversity. That which fails to kill us makes us stronger. I can look back at any number of experiences that I did not enjoy, and may not wish to experience again, and know that I am a better man for having lived through them. And I think Y2K, if it lasts a few weeks or longer, will make us as a nation, as a civilization, stronger and we will be better for it.
I look at my grandparent’s generation, which lived through the depression, and I see how it changed them and shaped our country. And I think that Y2K will change us. But the strong will survive, and we may weed out our gene pool a bit. And afterwards, we will mourn the dead, but we will rebuild from the ashes. And perhaps we will not repeat our mistakes. Hopefully self-sufficiency will gain some popularity and the government will be smaller. Perhaps more people will stock food, and keep some cash on hand, and things like electronic IDs and invasive baking laws and other privacy-robbing legislation will wither on the vine. I don’t know if Y2K will bring a return of common sense, but I hope something does.
—Jack, Diary of a Survivalist, 02/26/99
