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BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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This is the third, and I promise the last time I will write about the Y2K
bug. The shocking headlines in the papers today are that, much like
Haley's comet, the long anticipated Y2K bug turned out to be nothing more
than a pesky gnat. Was there too much hype? Did the experts mislead us?
Did we overprepare? Well, of course, the answers are yes, no, and yes.
Now, I should admit that, as I write this on Sunday evening, the London and Tokyo stock markets are just opening; the whole roof could come crashing down on us when the financial markets collapse under the weight of that gnat. But I don't think so. While the media, the U.S. Congress, and every talk show in the country were going the opposite direction, I took a stand last May when I wrote, "In the big techno-mosaic of life, most of us will hardly notice a thing. Trust me on this one."
So the media and their allies took advantage of our ignorance and tried to scare us into taking unnecessary action. Even my high school friend, Skip Gray, an author and screenwriter, added his two cents' worth:
I sent Skippy an e-mail message Saturday asking him what I was supposed to do with $4,000 worth of junk from Millennuim Gourmet Foods and all those guns, mace, and oil lamps. He has yet to respond. Maybe his Windows 97 operating system is not Y2K compliant.
No, Denny, business took the necessary precautions because they knew that not doing so would cost them money. It was simple economics. As I wrote back in May: "Suppose, under the worst scenario I can imagine, your ATM does not work at the dawn of 2000. You might actually have to go without money for two days. Can you handle that? And on Monday you might actually have to walk into a bank and fill out a withdrawal slip or write a check, and heaven forbid, talk to a bank teller in person! But do you actually think for a half a second that the bank will turn you away because they cannot get their vault open? Are you nuts? And if they can't, don't you think that half a dozen other banks will be eager to loan you $200 on the spot - no questions asked - just to get you to switch to their 'Y2K-compliant' bank?
Who indeed? So they were wrong this time. Big deal; they played it safe. And the officials played it safe here in the Tampa Bay area when they issued a hurricane evacuation order last fall even though the hurricane was heading the other direction. So what if it costs a half a million dollars per mile of shoreline to evacuate? It not our money... it's somebody else's money. Anyway, I bring this up now not to gloat, although gloat I should... long and hard. Nope, I'm done talking about the Y2K bug that wasn't. I bring it up because this is an election year. And what does an election year have to do with... you know what? Well, the fear mongers will be out again, in full force. This time, their nemesis will be their evil opponents who are trying to take food out of the mouths of babies, who are trying to throw old folks out on the street, who are trying to destroy Medicare and let it "wither on the vine." Oh, yes, the homeless are coming back, and so are those without health insurance. They have been hiding for the last 7 years. But they'll be back. Remember the health care debate of 1993: "It's too important to debate or wait any longer; there are children dying; we simply can't wait for the free market to respond. We have to nationalize 17% of the U.S. economy." The Y2K issue was nothing. The big fear campaign starts this month in New Hampshire, and continues on through the first Tuesday in November. I just thought you should know. Are you going to buy the hype this time?
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Feature Album is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert in 2003, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Feature Book is
"The 5000 Year Leap," by
W. Cleon Skousen. The title does not
adequately identify the content, though the concept of the 5,000 year
leap is astounding. The subtitle, Principles of Freedom 101, is
much more applicable to the subject. This book carefully and clearly
summarizes the thinking of the brilliant founding fathers of our country,
the ideas behind the "miracle that changed the world."
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