A Look Back on the Year 2000

What is the millennium? The Y2K hype is just that - hype. Maybe computers will misread, but... 1) food will still be there to buy with cash, 2) money will still be in the bank - physical money won't vanish regardless of what a computer says (banking data is backed up on disc anyway), and 3) power outages can be fixed.

What is the calendar millennium? I agree the millennium doesn't really start until 2001. There was no year zero. For example: year 1 C.E. to 1001 C.E. is a millennium (a millennium is 1,000 years). Therefore, every millennium after that can't end in a zero.

What is a non-calendar millennium? It's the end of the world as we know it. In a sense, that is. Technology is constantly changing and will continue the trend. I don't know how far technology will alter our lives; but it will - and it has already. But the world will still be here. I agree with the not so popular belief that there will still be evil in the world. People are probably never going to change just because a new year has begun.

What is a Christian millennium? I'd like to take the opportunity to label a misanthrope, or anti-humanitarian, one who is going against the idea of renewed kindness and humanity. This person is the Governor of New York. On Rosie O'Donnell's talk show, she reported that he is having homeless people arrested when they have fallen asleep. They will be taken to shelters, and their children put in foster homes. This gets them off the streets, but it is a cruel and heartless thing to do. It isn't necessarily their fault. The first thing they need is money to buy food, clothes and a home. So they need to apply for a job. People generally don't hire employees with no permanent address. The homeless can't obtain a permanent address without the job they're not getting hired for. So no money + no job + no permanent address = a frustrating loophole that requires an intellectual but sympathetic person to "solve'. Arresting the homeless and putting their kids in foster care does not provide a cure for the ignored epidemic of extreme poverty.

How has millennial thinking been manifested throughout history? Columbus gave the world a timespan of 155 years before ending; many others have also given the world an expiration date. So far, none of these expiration dates have been correct. Different beliefs are fine, but some are becoming doomsayers, feeding off of paranoia and panic, which is unnecessary. A new millennium should be a positive experience.

How has millennial thinking influenced American history? I find it hard to believe a new millennium will bring in a utopian age. Peace may not ever be gained because war and battle has existed as long as man.

Do cultures and religions other than Christianity demonstrate millennial thinking? The Mindscape Complete Reference Library CD-ROM defines cargo cults as nativistic religious movements in Melanesia holding that at the millennium ancestor spirits will bring cargoes of modern goods to believers. Dating from the 19^th Century, these cults expanded after World War II forces left surplus goods in the islands and contact with the West increased.

What is the Y2K problem? Mass chaos won't erupt. There can be little 'glitches' however. On 1/3/00, local (Salt Lake City) radio station 94.9 ZHT's morning zoo Frankie, D.B. and Kelli were asking for listeners to call in with their computer crash stories. One caller shared this story: he owns an in-home business and uses 3 computers made in 1996 to do the job. On the first day of January he decided he needed to check them. The first two were fine. The third one, however, appeared fine until he opened a photo editing program. The program thought it was 1970. He promptly closed the program and rebooted the computer. He re-opened that same program, and this time the date was supposedly 2024. Since this particular program is used only for photo editing and none of the files are date sensitive, the owner decided it wasn't necessary to fix the problem.

Will the world come to an end in the year 2000? No, it will not!! Many people have claimed the world will end in years past and we're still here. None of us really know how long the world and life as we know it will last.