Okay.

Let's say I own a business that sells widgits.

Widgit sales weren't that good in 1999; My "Widgits Be Us" business is about to go belly up.

Y2K rolls around, and presto! All my inventory software, payroll software, in fact, all of my business software does a big firework.

That Pesky Y2K Bug!

Quietly, all of my widgits find there way to Mexico, on a Ryder Truck that I rented with cash under the name "John Doe." Down in Mexico, I sell my widgits to an enterprising Mexican business person for the Peso equivalent of about twenty cents on the dollar.

As I'm gonna claim "Y2K Bug Ate My Widgit Business," the bank won't be able to touch me. I retire down in (fill in your paradise destination here) on the Pesos I scammed from my widgit business, whose inventory was originally financed by a loan from the bank that can't collect because I went under due to the Y2K bug.

In my new home, I'll be sure to stockpile plenty of rice, beans, solar panels, recreational substances, and members of the opposite sex whose job will be to gratify all my physical needs, in return for a plate of rice and beans a day. This will be considered a great wage, because so many other businesses will go south in a very similar manner, thus unraveling much of the small business economy(and freeing up all those who toil in it for a miserable return on their hard work) in the US, and being a major contributor to a nasty recession/possible global depression in the 3rd quarter of 2000.

A tad simplistic I know, but tell me something like this isn't gonna happen.

I wonder how many permutations of this will crop up?

The mind boggles at the possibilities...

Peace,

Don

-- Shimoda (Enlighten@me.com), January 02, 2000

Answers

The biggest scam has already been perpetrated on the Loons here and around the world......

It cost us billions of dollars and made Ed, Gary and the rest of TEOTWAWKI liars quite wealthy.

Sucker!

-- The King (elvis@graceland.com), January 02, 2000.

Dear Don,

I am applying for a position as a Y2K analyst. As you can see from the accompanying resume, I have a great desire to exit this country and am at my best while lounging around the pool.

I look forward to discussing a future with your company.

Sincerely,

-- Infidel (Barbarians@thegate.net), January 02, 2000.

Let's calm down a bit. Those who prepared, and I am one, are/were doing the right thing. Yes, it looks as if remediation efforts have worked pretty well so far. The lights have stayed on, nobody has gotten nuked, and the Internet is up. I worked all night in a hydroelectric powerhouse; all that happened was, our remote control computer decided after midnight that it was 8 am. The Programmers fixed that. We've dodged the first bullets. We'll know a bit more after tomorrow, more yet in a few months. Jim Lord expects the peak of "Y2K Pain" to be felt 9 to 18 months after "the day." The preparedness movement was never about one night.

Reality check:

History is cyclical. It repeats, mostly because we fail to learn from it.

Economies are cyclical.

Mature welfare states go bankrupt. They generally try (unsuccessfully) to escape by printing lots of worthless money (didn't work for Rome, still doesn't).

Most of the world is already in a depression.

If you feel like giving away your stored food a year from now, go ahead, but don't insult the guy who sold it to you; he didn't hold a gun to your head. I'm going to keep mine handy. Preparedness and self-reliance was once the American Way of Life. It should be. We who prepared, and participated in preparedness discussion groups were often heard to say we hope & pray to be wrong about the severity of Y2K. So, Rejoice! Don't whine.

-- Lane Dexter (madison_6@hotmail.com), January 02, 2000.

King:

I believe Ed and Gary were probably qutie wealthy before Y2K. Not rich by any means. I know Ed wrote a book and did some speaking. I doubt whether he was made wealthy by this. Could you please explain to me how Gary North became wealthy in this? He didn't do speaking engagements, never wrote a book about Y2k.........back up your reasoning and give us some evidence please?

Jetod

-- jetod (jetod@hotmail.com), January 02, 2000.

Yo, Lane!

I'm not whining in the slightest; I guess I didn't make myself clear, using irony and a dose of humor to get my point across.

Simply put, I think there may be a great deal of Y2K fraud in the coming months, as people try to use the legal system to their advantage. I feel this may contribute to economic problems for all, as a few try to take the "easy" way out of non-Y2K related business failures. I said nothing disparaging about preparation, giving away my food, or being upset at the guy that sold it to me. How did you get that from my post?

Lighten up and read the post, guy!

Hanging on to my preps for at least a year,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), January 02, 2000.