Y2K Was Real - How the Year 2000 Really Did Signify the End of the World

In 1999, the world began bracing itself for the dreaded Year 2000 problem (Y2K), which was to shut down critical industries and government functions and end the world.

But, as we all know, no major computer failures occurred and life went on. The world was saved, and we moved into a new millennium just as we did any other year. Y2K ended up being a big bust, especially in the United States, since we spent more on preparation than almost everyone else in the world.

But, Y2K did happen in the United States, just not as we thought it would. The world as we knew it ended in the year 2000. In the past eight years, the United States has gone from a rich, prosperous, well-respected nation to a divided country in shambles that has, day by day, erased all the progress and growth that built this great land.

Don't believe me? Take a look around. We're stuck in a pointless, seemingly endless war that's done nothing but waste money, kill thousands of our fine men and women, and polarize the country against the rest of the world. The dollar is plummeting, the economy is in recession, and we're on the brink of financial ruin. Gas prices are through the roof. Unemployment is sky-high. Home values are sinking. The education system is a mess. Social Security and healthcare are abysmal. The middle class is disappearing. Civil liberties are being taken away. The environment is screaming for help.

How did all this happen? Certainly many factors contributed to the destruction of this once great land, but one thing has run parallel to all of this country's recent downfalls - the presidency of George W. Bush.

No, he's not the cause of all the problems, and, of course, the rest of the government - both Republicans and Democrats - had a hand in it as well (as did we the people in some ways), but ever since Bush won (stole, bought, rigged, whatever you want to call it) the 2000 presidential election, our booming, powerful country has been annihilated. When Bush got re-elected in 2004, we drove the final nail into our collective coffin.

Yes, the world came to an end in the year 2000. Only it wasn't a computer bug that destroyed it; it was the worst administration in American history. But, besides all that, think about some other things that have occurred over the past eight years that have been symbolic of the end of days. I'm not saying that some of the following events and occurrences haven't happened before and won't happen again, but they certainly have been prevalent in recent years.

The 2000s have given us:

• Floods, hurricanes, tornados, typhoons, earthquakes, mudslides, fires and other natural disasters

• 9/11, suicide bombings, anthrax attacks, the Patriot Act and "Mission Accomplished"

• WorldCom, Enron, Halliburton and various other shady, corrupt companies

• SARS, bird flu, cancer, AIDS, STDs, and a myriad of other diseases and ailments, including the ones - both severe and exaggerated - that have cures with bad commercials and laundry lists of side effects

• Global warming (Sorry, right-wing nut jobs, it's real)

• School shootings, pedophilia, murder, rape, babies and animals being abused and killed, and a host of other acts of hate, anger, rage, sexism, racism, bigotry, paranoia, jealousy and envy

• Mining disasters, factory explosions, nuclear catastrophes, chemical spills, hazardous waste mishaps and further industrial and workplace calamities

• Civil wars, genocides and general strife and unrest across the world

• Terrible music, reality television, MySpace and any abomination of pop culture you can think of, including...

• Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and all these socialite "celebutantes" that do nothing but make Americans look like pretentious, ignorant assholes and corrupt the youth of America, turning them into loud, cocky, brazen jerks with over-inflated senses of self-worth and entitlement.

There you have it - signs of the apocalypse and proof that the world ended in 2000. But, the world didn't really end, so there is hope. Maybe, just maybe, we can start to turn things around with the new presidential regime that will be elected later this year. For that to really happen, however, America is going to have to get over its racism and sexism. Will it happen? I doubt it, but I always have faith.

We need to get away from backward conservative thinking and come up with some fresh, progressive ideas. If you think about it, all the great ideas that moved this country forward were liberal ideas - suffrage, civil rights, child labor laws, minimum wage, social security, Medicare, collective bargaining, federal aid for education, the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the FDA, the National Park Service - and that's just scratching the surface.

Remember, people, we're never going to make the world a better place and move forward by being conservative.