Awakening: The Upside of Y2K

Rather than recommend that we hoard canned goods and build solar panels in the face of a potential Y2K-caused computer meltdown, Awakening offers a far more sensible and surprisingly spiritual approach to the predicted technological catastrophe. This collection of engaging articles offers convincing evidence that Y2K could create extreme havoc in our daily lives--causing loss of electrical power, national food shortages, even a stock-market crash. Nonetheless, the contributors (which include national computer consultants, investigative journalists, a community planner, a retired naval officer, and a psychotherapist) never falter into doomsday, fear-inducing babble. Instead, they sound like the voices of reason and spiritual maturity, recognizing that citizens must prepare for extremes by creating a lifestyle that is less computer-dependent and more human-dependent. (Specific suggestions are offered throughout the book.) In fact, this is precisely the "upside of Y2K": a computer disaster that could ultimately lead to more small-scale, locally supported agriculture, more localized energy cooperatives, and certainly more faith in humanity than technology. In short, Y2K may be a welcome "glitch" in our social evolution--helping us assert and live out our highest human and spiritual values in the face of the new millennium. --Gail Hudson