Dear Ed,

I've been at the timebomb forum for over a year and am now following your Humpty Dumpty project with interest. I just read ch. 3 and really got to thinking about the list of potential discussion subjects. Something nagged at me as I read it and the preceding text. It may take me a bit of rambling to get at what it is that's bothering me and has bothered me throughout the past year whenever folks start trying to lay blame or just understand how we got to this place, this mess.

From the moment I 'got it' I've maintained that the computer problem we are confronting did not happen in a vacuum; it is part and parcel, in fact representative of an entire system we have set up for ourselves. And I'm not just talking about the physical world of jit inventory systems. I mean our value and belief systems. I'm talking about how we go about our daily lives making decisions. Because ultimately, that is what got us here; each of our little daily decisions, one heaped upon the other. And I think that what we are confronting here is the result of chronic shortsighted thinking. It's also, I believe, what lies at the heart of most of our troubled institutions, which grew to their current behemoth selves, one decision at a time.

I realize most social scientists as well as politically minded folk will find that to be a simple-minded explanation for complex social, economic, and political problems. But I say that we all start out as children, we all, each of us, learn how to make decisions based on a value system around us, and that most of us don't wander far from that early learning, no matter how much intellectual and emotional compost is added. What appears to be very complex on the surface may in fact consist of simply a billion repetitions with slight variations. Modern physics helps us to see this.

What I am trying to lead us here is to the idea that for our own survival we need to discuss, examine and change our basic decision making models. We need simple guidelines that can be carried out into the day to help each of us with our daily decisions. I am thinking of the old Native American adage which addresses the effect of an act upon the seventh generation out. Or of Wendell Berry's decision-making models found in The Gift of Good Land.

I believe that we've been given a real wakeup call here, which can be viewed as either a curse or a gift. Some days I vacillate between the two but want to examine further the idea of a gift. I know that many of us feel it in our guts, in our hearts, that we are on a dangerous negative path and that we need a correction. I believe that's what's motivating you, Ed, in the Humpty Dumpty project. I think that there will be many joining in as the months pass. And my firm belief is (the notion of which I hope I've been able to convey in abbreviated form here) that we must keep it simple.and small. "Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful." I think that on some important level, we are also quite simple creatures.

Thank you Ed, for all you've done and are doing.

Cathey

-- cathey (ccordes@ashland.baysat.net), August 11, 1999

Answers

Cathey,

I believe there is one thing that would solve 90% of our problems today. It can be summed up in one sentence. Everyone take responsibility for their own actions from "you know who" on down.

This might come about in five and a half months or less.

-- Joe Stout (joewstout@iswt.com), August 11, 1999.

Cathey,

I agree with you that the root of the problem is our "values and belief system." I believe that we live in a predominately materialistic, profit-oriented society. Most of the decisions that have lead to the Y2K situation have been based on the need for people to succeed in a competitive environment. The emphasis has been on individuals getting ahead in organizations and on economic "efficiency," not on what was best for the society as a whole.

I believe this project would be most beneficial if it could recommend a series of post-Y2K corrective actions that were based on a more person-oriented, or better yet, a spiritual, value system. If contemporary Western society continues to operate from its current value system then we will probably still continue to face manmade disasters of one sort or another (e.g., chemical spills, environmental catastrophes, global warming).

-- dhg (dhgold@pacbell.net), August 11, 1999.

Cathey and dhg, I have been a lurker on the various forums for some time now, but this is the first time I have cared about something enough to comment. Your thoughts on Ed's Chapter 3 got me to thinking about some of my problems with our society's current values. I hope this does not sound too rambling. I must preface my comments by saying that I am a populist conservative, but I have always been intrigued by alternative energy, non-traditional houses, etc. (My dream house would be earth-sheltered with "off-the-grid" power). Even though I have been interested in these areas, I have succumbed to the mindset that one must one must stick with traditional modes for resale value, etc. So, as a result, I live in a very middle class subdivision, with a traditional brick two-story house, and lots of deed restrictions on how I can use my property. (And, due to DGI hubby, we will not be bugging out!) Y2K has been the vehicle for me which has illustrated just how crazy our society has become. I cannot have a well on my property because I live in an area with fluoridated water. Outbuildings are not permitted (ugly sight to your neighbors you know!) When we recently refinanced our mortgage, we were required to sign papers agreeing not to store hazardous chemicals (Well, we would not want to have a fire now that outbuildings are not permitted!). If anything is built/added to the property, one is required to get PERMISSION first. Totally irrelevant to Y2K, but I am not even allowed to have a satellite dish because the local township officials have given the local cable company a monopoly. What is sad is that we chose to live here, even with these restrictions. We build houses that are temporary and rather than fix up old houses that are located on beautiful tree-lined acres, we build new houses on much-needed farmland. We not only do not know our neighbors, we have scattered to the winds away from our families and support systems. I do not have the answer to this one and I am as guilty as the rest. College led my husband and I to careers that required us to move away from our hometowns. How much easier preparing for Y2K would have been if we had been closer to family, where sharing preps, workload, and big-ticket items would have been possible. Now, I face the possibility that I may not see them for a long while. It seems to me that the underlying issue is our value system. Any new reconstruction (depression or worse) will require a paradigm shift. My guess is that self-sufficiency will be "cool" and gardens, outbuildings, solar panels, wind generators will be "cool" also, out of necessity. Urban settings are more difficult, but rooftops and wind generator farms could help out there. I do not believe that it is reasonable to believe that everyone will move to a farm; not only is it not realistic, it is not possible because there is not enough land. I have rambled enough. Just in closing, I am recently a stay at home Mom with an infant. It amazes me how much more sane our family life has become. My summer is being spent learning all of the those self-sufficiency skills that I thought I was too good to learn (canning, sewing, etc.) I hope in our new paradigm young women are not programmed to believe that they must have a career to be worthwhile.

Lurking in Ohio

-- Workfromhomemom (RJHunt@prodigy.net), August 15, 1999.