The American Partisan - Stange Disposed Times

Bring on Y2K!
by Michael R. Allen

Monday, December 20, 1999

I find myself sitting at my desk, wondering if it is really December and time for Christmas already. Was it not only September the last time I looked at a calendar? Perhaps it was, but now it is indeed Christmas. And that means only 11 days left until the year 2000 is upon us.

Eleven days until the end of the civilized world as we know it? Hey, it's possible. Predictions of nuclear missiles being shot accidentally, currencies collapsing, governments falling, people screaming, and ice cream melting have inundated normally calm journals of opinion. I personally do not want anything drastic to occur - at least not runaway nukes tearing up the world within 500 miles of my home.

I admit that I am not going to be in the best shape if the authoritarian governments of the world collapse. Dried beans, popcorn, and freeze-dried astronaut ice cream aren't to be found in my basement. I don't even have any gallon jugs of water yet. There isn't an emergency generator in my home, or any weapon that could do more than scratch the hind leg of a running squirrel. For money, I have a quarter dollar that contains a trace of silver, but I haven't got any Morgan dollar coins on hand to trade with the local militia for dried beans.

I guess I'm pretty much screwed if anything drastic does happen on January 1st. Or am I?

If the power goes out, there is a good way to sue the electric company out of business. If it fails to deliver its product, customers can band together to expose the inadequacies of the utility monopolies in the US. Class action lawsuits could commence immediately, tying up the power companies in litigation. The power companies could close down, and, in the meantime, entrepreneurs could move in and sell electricity with intense competition. My power bill would go down.

If the dollar collapses, then the whole world can be freed from the sham of this fiat currency. Let the Federal Reserve Bank try to re-establish its control over currency after people taste the free market for a few days. Gold and silver will come to the rescue, as they already have for people who deal in the 'underground' economy and through private trading. I might not have any gold on me - just the paper stuff - but once I got some, it would be tangible. Unlike paper money, a gold certificate would be worth the value printed on it. It might take awhile for Grandma to get used to counting out her change in ounces, but I'd try to help.

If nation-states collapse, then life would be easier for everyone. Without nations, warfare would no longer be committed on a large scale. Only nation-states can conscript troops and create their own line of credit to wage war. Iraqis could live easier if Saddam Hussein, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair lost their tools of control and destruction. Citizens of every former nation could live easier if their political associations were based on consent, not coercion. The Jeffersonian ideal could reclaim America, and no one would have to worry about going to jail for buying a lot of fluorescent light bulbs.

Bring on this millennium bug!

Of course, Y2K might not be entirely good. Carloads of drunken partygoers who think the next millennium starts in 2000 will probably drive around into the wee hours of January 1. Hopefully, their cars will be hit by the millennium bug and won't work after midnight. Then I can get some sleep, and dream about all the good things that won't happen after I wake up on January 1, 2000.

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