Community Preparation: A checklist - Additions welcomed...greenspun.com : LUSENET : Millennium Salons : One Thread |
From a July, 1998 email...We are not the doom-and-gloomers; we are called activists and mitigators and remediators. The doom and gloomers accuse people like myself of contributing to the problem because we are promoting the illusion that something can be done.
We are also not the Pollyannas (the term used for folks who minimize the problem). The Pollyannas accuse people like us of fear-mongering and fanning the flames of panic. We simply say that something must be done, and that there is a role for everyone, in some capacity, if not in their own back yards, then at least assisting someone else. The problem is global. Most people have some connection with global work, in some arena of their lives. Somewhere, at least someone that each of us knows, still lacks information about their y2k problems and needs it.
Anyhow, especially today, I am still mightily confused by the lack of forward movement and don't feel comfortable ascribing it to the vagaries of a fallible human nature. That makes it possible to dismiss and, until we get...
- the dam checked out;
- until we get our community's contingency planning addressed;
- until we get all of our clinics and EMT and critical equipment passed;
- until we work out our electricity triage list for who gets power and how much and at what rate if we lose power;
- until we have an understanding about how we're going to handle community processes fairly if we move into a temporary crisis;
- until we recognize that there are responsible people saying that citizens should be storing food and water and currency;
- until our city and county planners begin to take into account scenarios of volatility (i.e., federal and state revenue cutbacks, economic impacts of a recession especially in expansion-oriented industries like building materials and automation, or heavy migration influx due to challenges in other communities less well-situated than Oregon's);
- until the League of Women Voters and our Red Cross declare national compliance;
- until the news starts responsible non-inflammatory fact-oriented reportage that helps local people, businesses and organizations move immediately and as inexpensively as possible toward readiness;
- until these things are openly and publicly addressed with an eye toward ensuring that each one of our community members will not be surprised by y2k-related problems
...then the lack of forward movement I speak of remains an issue of awareness and understanding, and does not speak to an inherent flaw in human nature that makes us immune to preventing disasters simply because they haven't happened yet.
Of course, this does seem to be the challenge at the end of this 20th century era of such powerful technology - learning from our mistakes before we make them, rather than afterwards. I'm still an advocate of that, and believe strongly that we have the capacity of foresight and insight, as well as hindsight. There's just that tiny matter of waking up...
Best,
Cynthia Beal
-- cynthia (cbeal@efn.org), December 23, 1998
Very Important Notice:A new product to add to your on-line y2k supplies store:
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We will pay your company a commision. Phone Mike Richards at 319-337-6316
-- Mike Richards (Icanwork@aol.com), April 17, 1999.