Smooth Sailing into Y2K? - Don't Bet Your Life on It!

[Guest guest]

Hare Krsna dasi

*****************************

 

I very much appreciated Bhuta-bhavana prabhu's recent text, "Are You Prepared

to

be Wrong About Y2K?" (SWEAT and the absence of it. [Text 2307782 from COM]

May

11, 1999.)

 

I thought about his essay when I was talking to my son last night about a

driver

training course. He's worried it will interrupt his summer work schedule,

"...And

besides, Mom, what is the point of learning to drive if we're going to run out

of

gasoline by 2002?"

 

I told him, "Ashto, the thing is, we really can't know for sure which way

things

will go. That's why we have to do the best we can to be prepared for things to

go

either way."

 

On March 26, 1986, in front of a room full of devotees, I took a vow against

gambling, so I thought that Bhuta-bhavana's point was significant. This is not

something we should gamble on. It's not something we should bet on.

 

If we quit our jobs, stock up on MRE's and guns and head for the hills, we are

in

a sense, betting that Y2K will mean the end of civilization as we know it.

 

Likewise, if we sit tight in our situation, making little effort to prepare for

possible disruptions, that means that we are betting that we will have smooth

sailing into the 21st Century.

 

Bhuta-bhavana's point is important, we have to be prepared to be wrong. If we

put

*all* of our eggs into one basket or the other, then we are betting on one

option

or another. That's a dangerous proposition. Its a proposition that could

endanger our preaching opportunities or our lives.

 

For those of us who are greatly concerned about possible disruption and perhaps

even severe disruption in our lives as a result of Y2K, we still should also be

prepared to continue our Krsna consciousness and to continue our preaching if

it

somehow turns out that disruptions to our lives are mild or non-existent.

 

By the same standard, even those who are fairly confident that Y2K will not

produce major disruptions are not acting responsibly if they do nothing to

prepare

for possible problems.

 

We have heard warnings of the possibility of serious disruptions from credible

sources such as the Red Cross, the World Bank, the CIA, the US State

Department,

the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, the Gartner Group and others. In

light

of such warnings, for an individual to completely refuse to make preparations

is

simply folly. But for those who are in any position of authority in our

temples

and communities to fail to prepare for severe problems is a reprehensible

neglect

of duty. Such stubborn neglect to prepare for a crisis means they are gambling

the lives of their dependents (whether brahmanas, cows, women or children) on

the

bet that there will be no severe problems. In one text, I read that the US

State

Department was advising embassies to have a 30 day supply of food and water on

hand, just in case there are difficulties. How can it be that the State

Department wants to protect US government workers, but few of our temple

leaders

seem to be taking steps to protect Krsna's devotees? Are government workers

more

important?

 

In my own personal opinion, I think special arrangements should be made this

summer to prepare our cows for a sharp drop in the availability of outside

financial support and feed supplements this winter. And I think that all

children

under 12 years old and their mothers should be at least temporarily located

outside city temples from December 20 until such time in January as it becomes

clear that there are no significant disruptions in the city. This is

especially

true in most countries outside the US, even in European countries such as

Spain,

Italy, Greece and even France.

 

Why should we gamble their lives on the chance that there won't be major

disruptions caused by Y2K? How can city mothers take care of their young

children

if they lose access to things like electricity, heat, light, water, milk,

sewage,

banks, drug stores or telephones? How can our city women be safe from harm if

emergency help such as the highly Y2K-vulnerable 911 emergency telephone

services

go dead - especially if a breakdown of government services and banking in some

countries results in rioting and looting? It is a gamble to let them remain in

the city - even if there is, for example, only a 10 percent chance that they

might

be endangered. Would you let your child go for a ride in a broken down car if

a

mechanic told you there was a 10 percent chance of brake failure? Why gamble

with

the life of someone you are responsible for?

 

But, to make a smooth transition, we need to start this summer to establish

mutually helpful links between our city temples and our rural communities.

 

This does not mean that we must move everyone out of our city temples to the

farms. In countries where the possibility of a complete breakdown seems very

high, this might be the best course. But for the most part, we simply need to

situate ourselves so that we have the choice whether to stay out of the cities

in

the event of problems or whether to return to the cities in the event that

disruptions are minor.

 

I looked up the word "hedge" in the dictionary. If somehow or other we get

into a

position where we have to make a bet one way or another, in the interest of

preserving our initiation vows, at very least we must hedge our bets:

 

[transitive verb] 3. To minimize or protect against the loss of [something] by

counterbalancing one transaction, such as a bet, against another.

 

[intransitive verb] 2. To take compensatory measures so as to counterbalance

possible loss.

 

 

Indeed, we all have to be "prepared to be wrong" about Y2K. Don't bet your

life

that everything is going to collapse. And, don't bet your life that it's all

going to be smooth sailing. You might lose the bet.

 

And, above all, we need to make plans for how to continue to spread Krsna

consciousness to others, no matter which scenario plays out.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi