Taken from NHNE Y2K Report 5: 12/6/98. If you aren't familiar with this story, it is perhaps the most heartening to come out of Y2K, and this condensed version (about 2 pages of text, not counting NHNE info at the end) makes it accessible to many who won't bother to read the longer article. Please read it if you haven't seen it yet. If you have, I apologize for duplication. Caspar Davis ESSAY: ON COMMUNITY COMPLIANCY [The following edited excerpts are taken from a nine-page special report by Karlos deTreaux, Kauai, Hawaii which was sent to all those on the NHNE mailing list a few weeks. This two-page abbreviated version is presented here because we feel the message is important and some people may not have had time to read the full report.] Almost a year ago, I was exposed to the human equivalent of the Y2K virus. I was certain we were doomed. My response was to sell everything non-essential, buy gold, guns and ammo, dehydrated food, and head for the hills. Suddenly there were only two types of people in my life: those who understood Y2K, and what it meant; and those who were ambling along toward death and destruction. I had an advantage: I had information others did not and I was prepared to act on it at all costs. Then something strange happened. I was in a hunting shop looking over bow and arrow setups -- something that would still protect the family when the ammo ran out. It was obvious I did not have a clue what I needed. The shop owner wondered why I was interested. I explained to him what I "knew" about Y2K. I infected the poor fellow with the "Y2K virus." As I left the shop, he was jumping up and down in excited panic, "I'm gonna blow their damn heads off if they try to steal my food." It was then that things changed for me. I had just infected this guy with not only fear and panic, but hopelessness; I had left him to fend for his own sanity. What the hell had I been doing for the past several months? I would never be able to turn away a hungry neighbor if things got bad. I would share my food, my provisions, my shelter with all who needed it. There was really no other option for me. I realized that aside from the technological aspects of Y2K, there was the human factor. All the bug fixes in the world could not keep the money in the banking system if the public lost confidence in banks. According to my research, if as few as five percent of the saving public demanded their hard-earned savings from the banking system, the banks would be brought to their knees. I devoured everything written by Larry Shook, Bill Dale, Cynthia Beal, Tom Atlee, Paloma O'Riley, Rick Cowles, Bill Laird, Robert Theobald and other visionaries. They all seemed to be spelling out the specifics of a concept I have held in my heart for years, something that I have come to call "Community Compliancy." It was not the end of the world -- it was an opportunity to make a massive leap as a planetary civilization. We all had created it and we all would have to fix it. This would involve clear and definite technological fixes, but even more important was the need for "Social Compliancy." It was going to be a difficult problem, but it was also the greatest opportunity that we the people of the Earth had ever had. The last veil of fear lifted from me. My partner and I, along with [like-minded friends], established the COMMUNITY SELF RELIANCE COOPERATIVE (CSRC). We drafted a mission statement pledging that fear would not become our motivating impetus for action, and developed a Web site to disseminate educational information. A critical mass was reached. The Mayor of Kauai [decided that the island] needed to address the issues. She called a meeting of Kauai officials and other business and industry participants. We were asked to participate as "citizen representatives." The meeting was a huge success. [By the end of the meeting], the Mayor, along with her invited guests all understood that the social aspects of Y2K could have as big an effect on the economy as the technical aspects. Her response was to instigate a Y2K task Force to address both technical and social issues, and prepare contingency plans where mitigation and/or remediation might not be completed. Then the Mayor went on Public Television with some of us from the newly-created task force. She pledged to bring the island of Kauai into a state of "Community Compliancy" that would exist outside of the realm of technology. This would involve a broad, system-wide approach that would [include] community gardens, county-sponsored first aid classes, study of our food reserves and natural resources should we be cut off from the rest of the world, fuel reserves, water and sewage, and education. Most of the participants signed up to help the Mayor and CSRC construct a fast-track plan of Social Compliancy on Kauai. We have instigated an island-wide Y2K Awareness Day, and [started holding] meetings on every part of the island. It will not matter if Y2K comes to be regarded as the biggest hoax in human history, the simple act of bringing our island into a state of "Community Compliancy" will build much-needed bridges. There is no wasted effort. There is no adversary. There is only the simple actions of a community remembering what it means to have neighbors. Just as Kauai is an island in the Pacific, all counties, towns, cities, neighborhoods, states and countries of the world are also islands in a sea of denial if we do not see that our very existence depends on a true and honest admission of our absolute interdependency upon each other. If, because of a simple computer glitch, we realize that we must embrace that interdependency, then our sea of denial might become a doorway through which we, as world community, [are able to walk gracefully] into the next millennium. Karlos deTreaux The Community Self Reliance Cooperative (CSRC). eMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: www.hawaiiy2k.com [Since his initial posting, Karlos deTreaux has been caught up in a dizzy whirl of meetings, speeches, conferences, and TV interviews. The following edited selections are taken a message dated November 25.] [I found myself] beginning to put too much faith and dependence on a "Government Rescue" and was unconsciously moving away from the "grassroots" method and mentality that will ultimately be our salvation as communities in the next millennium. It is crucial that the community members approach the task of Y2K outreach, education and preparation as their own. The only way to get the message out on time and to effectively take the actions needed is [with] millions of individuals distributed across the planet working in concert -- not [as] heroes who could be suddenly taken out of the equation -- but [as] thinking, feeling people operating as one powerful yet gentle force of change on the planet. (JG) *************************** Copyright 1998 by NewHeavenNewEarth Please feel free to share this report with as many people as you like. 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