Common Sense 2000

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again."
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, January 1776

If Thomas Paine were alive today, he might think it time for a "Common Sense Sequel" or a rethinking and retuning of life as we know it. His pamphlet, penned anonymously at the onset of the revolution, became an instant best-seller in the colonies and in Europe. It examined some absurdities of existence at that time and started people thinking in ways they hadn't thought before. His ideas stirred colonists to strengthen their resolve while postulating a special moral obligation of America to the rest of the world.

Kimberly Chapple
Editor

We could use a little of that today, don't you think? Common sense? Moral obligation? Thinking in ways we haven't thought before? We could have used it in all the hubbub leading up to the Y2K crisis. I use the word crisis as "a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events is determined." (Random House Dictionary) Whether anything of consequence happened or not during the transition to 010100, millions upon millions of dollars were spent by public entities and corporations in the final hours of the '90s to try and fix the Y2K bug identified decades ago.

The mass majority of people didn't know what to think about the possibility of a technological problem because they basically had no awareness -- or at least a very limited understanding -- of technology in the first place. They either had to consider their own experiences and think for themselves or make decisions based upon how entities and industries marketed themselves to the individual consumer or shareholder. Bankers wrote sermons for ministers; the government issued its readiness reports. Wall Street said there was much ado about nothing.

I hope they were all right, for my own personal experiences during completely random meetings left me kind of wary. For instance, I spoke to a hospital facilities manager who had received an array of non-Y2K-compliant components from a host of manufacturers, components that would have failed in devices January 1 had they not been tested. I met a chemical company employee who was hired to replace the former CFO who had been lying to the board about the corporation's Y2K readiness. I read an 11/1/99 Wall Street Journal interview which stated, "Wall Street generally believes what it wants to believe, that Y2K will be a benign non-issue -- a blip with no major problems. Corporate America sold the Street that bill of goods. Corporations regularly promote themselves and deceive. It is human nature." Where's the common sense here, the moral obligation to do what is right?

I have a feeling Thomas Paine would find the entire Y2K situation absurd. You see, in his time (which is not that long ago considering he walked the Earth with some of your "great-great-great grandfathers"), 40 corporations existed. And human nature was alive and well in those organizations. A corporation's #1 goal was to fulfill the public good. There was a corporate responsibility to help people in America and other parts of the world. Decisions based on the bottom line were secondary. A country was organized around this concept.

My, how we've evolved. Perhaps it's time for another pamphlet.

kchapple@aip.com