As we enter the new millennium we find ourselves subjected by the New World Order. A world order where the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the electricity we use, and the news we hear, are controlled by corporate Goliaths: the Multinational Corporations. Their mission is to have dominion over the world's economy and resources. Profiting by extracting both natural and human resources, they control markets, abuse labor and human rights while trying to convince us that we are all better off than before.
Multinationals run the media and sensationalize the news, distracting the public from true controversial issues, making certain people won't even hear about those issues. By creating public ignorance they are winning the first battle of the war waged against a people who are unaware that they are even involved in a war. This war is about free choice, human rights, environmental rights and the future of a sustainable, living planet. Multinational Corporations would like to manage us like well-trained dogs: dependent for our food and water, trained enough to take orders, too ignorant to ask why.
Corporations attack our democratic process through the World Trade Organization (WTO) whose edicts supercede our laws. WTO decisions have always taken the side of Multinational Corporations over clean air and water, pure food, environment, labor and human rights. They, like all big bullies, don't have to play fair; they take, push, impose, threaten, slap and try to run the game. Every now and then a "David" comes along and takes one on, but, there are many Goliaths. Individually we are virtually powerless against corporate rule. But, collectively we are voters and consumers with buying power and, if organized, we outnumber the bullies. We can strike back by revoking their corporate charters, making them accountable for their crimes and prosecuting their CEOs. Or, we can choose to start a new game without them, with our own local and regional business, money, goods and services. In preparing for Y2K we are also laying the groundwork necessary to topple the corporate giants.
Knowledge, community organizing, networking, conservation of energy, living more simply, practical skill building, skill sharing, barter, conscious choices, personal responsibility, and self-sufficiency are the tools we need for Y2K preparation. Coincidentally they will also be our best weapons in the corporate war that is being waged upon all species.
Knowledge is the first step in Y2K community preparation. We need to know where our water comes from. How is it distributed, how pure is it, how do we filter it, what are our storage capabilities, how can we reduce our consumption? We need the same level of knowledge for waste: Where does it go, how can we reduce it? Energy consumption: How much do we need, how much can we conserve, where does it come from, how can we sustainably generate it? Food: What can we store, what can we grow, what can't we grow? Do we have adequate medical supplies, who are the medical providers, who will provide emergency transportation? These questions must be answered on both a personal and community level. We must not only take personal responsibility for basic needs, but also strive for self-sufficient communities. Local currencies and bartering can be established for exchange of goods and services. The poor, the elderly, the ill and the unprepared need to be planned for. We must learn to work together for the common goodÑgive a little more and take a little less.
The Y2K problem is truly an opportunity to change society for the better. We will become more able to provide for ourselves and our communities through the lessons we learn before and after Y2K. As we learn to rely on each other and ourselves we can organize to meet the challenges of the new millennium, whether these challenges are basic survival or restructuring the world order.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1999
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited