The materials listed here are not the only good Y2K materials out there. They have been chosen for their potential at orienting people to both community and transformation. All of them are available in hard copy print or audio/video form.
Many of these are now selling quite cheaply, if they are available. Click here for details.
**Y2K Citizens Action Guide
- This excellent 120 page booklet from Utne Reader
is available on line free or in a lovely orange booklet for purchase
($4.95 each at bookstores or 50 copies for $57.50 ppd. from Bulk
Order, Utne Reader, 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403 USA).
Includes citizenship and preparedness for individuals, neighborhoods,
and communities.
Action
Y2K: A GrassRoots Guide to Year 2000 by Richard Thomas
Wright and Cathryn Wellner (Winter Quarters Press, 1999, $14.95)
- A guide toward solutions for communities, business (profit and
nonprofit) and individuals -- including unique chapters on media,
local economics, local currency and storytelling -- as well as
good coverage of preparedness, contingency planning and crisis
management. The book maintains a positive outlook and approach.
It shows that community action groups, working to build resilience
and capacity, can tip the balance toward the positive side of
any Year 2000 problem. Available from (250) 296-4432, http://grassrootsgroup.com/y2kguide.htm
or amazon.com
Just in Case:
Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Y2K Crisis,
Edited by Michael Brownlee, Barbara Stahura and Robert Yehling.
(Origin Press, 1999, $16.95) An up-to-date book with a transformational
perspective. (Their promo not unreasonably hype it as "the
authoritative introduction to the most urgent public issue of
1999"). Covers the US and global scene as of the beginning
of 1999 (including articles by Senator Bennett, Ed Yourdon, and
Rick Cowles -- including 2 articles on health care), as well as
38 pages of transformational articles by Meg Wheatley, Tom Atlee,
Gordon Davidson, and others.). Will be available from bookstores,
1-888-267-4446 and http://www.JustInCaseY2K.com/
- which offers reduced prices for advance orders... [For Tom Atlee's
article, click here.]
Y2K Bug: 101 Things You'll
Need to Be Prepared - a quick read to individual, family and
community solutions, by Charlie Magee - a 48 page booklet with
cartoons, humor and common-sense insight to help you prepare for
potential Y2K disruptions in your life in a simple, rational,
step-by-step manner. $11 postpaid from Signal Design, Inc., 207
W. Fifth Ave., Eugene, OR 97401 (Sometimes, as in the case with
this booklet, less IS more -- sort of like the famous "101
Things You Can Do to Save the World")
**The Hippy Survival Guide to Y2K by Mike Oehler -- an exceedingly well-written book. It is now my favorite Y2K book (hard to admit, given that I'm personally involved with two other Y2K books). But maybe that's because I'm sort of an old hippy; perhaps it wouldn't be so enjoyable for more mainstream people; I wouldn't know. At any rate, it is VERY personable and filled with "alternative" approaches and views that I find fabulously refreshing. But the biggest part of the book will appeal to every Y2K organizer: Oehler's 150-page diary from April 2 - Dec 31, 1998, during which he tries (with mixed success) to alert his Idaho rural community and county officials, reads internet Y2K reports, struggles with his garden and his dog, meditates on the surreal unfolding of the Monica Lewinsky story and the state of the world, and generally lives a passionate, ordinary human life in bizarre times, just like the rest of us have. Along the way he tells us that despite everything mainstream society has done to harrass homesteading hippies, they still love us and will do their best to support us if we come swarming out of the cities next year. His 60-page section of preparedness tips is basic and down-to-earth (occasionally more so than some folks may find palatable). In his closing political meditations, 1) he recommends a national homesteading program -- which I can't support because I fear it would destroy all natural areas (I think we can learn to live sustainably and well in networks of high-density communities surrounded by farm and then nature areas) and and he has some ideas I can't accept about the survivability of nuclear war (maybe it's because he specializes in building interesting underground houses) -- and (2) he offers a powerful essay on what he calls "The First Law of Industrialization" -- "As the standard of living rises, the quality of life falls." (a usefully thought-provoking formula). The book is available from bookstores for $14.95, or from 1-800-880-3573 or http://www.keokee.com/hippyY2K with $3 shipping.
Y2K: You Can Burn
This Book by Thomas F. Potter is one of the many detailed
Y2K survival manuals that I have no idea how to evaluate. However,
the reason I got it wasn't for the usual prep tips, but for two
unusual and well-written addenda: "The
Case for Non-violent Responses to Y2K Disruptions" by
Peter Ediger and "The Vegetarian
Approach to Food Shortages Associated with Y2K" by Mark
Reinhardt. The book can be gotten for $16.95 postpaid from http://www.chefbrio@ready2k.com
or 1-800-851-4905.
The Y2K Kit
for Individuals and Communities is up and running on
the Institute of Noetic Sciences site and is also available in
hard copy
for $5. It covers what could be called the "soft-side"
of Y2K -- the
psychospiritual, interpersonal and community dimension of Y2K.
It has
an extensive, annotated Resource section.
See also Study Circles Resource
Center's "Building Strong Neighborhoods" Guide
Sunship Publishing has come
out with a beautiful full-color 3' x
2' poster, Y2K WAKE UP, which provides a wealth of detail on
the Y2K situation in government and industry. On the reverse,
BEYOND: Creative Culture and the Community Ark, presents
a broad spectrum of information, resources, and contacts for
cultivating community resilience and a sustainable, joyful culture.
"Speaking of Y2K...A Guide to Open Dialogue and
Creative Action for Communities and Neighborhoods"
is a study circle guide available free on the Harbinger
Institute
website or in a little booklet by mail ($2.50-3.50 depending
on quantity). This two-session study circle can help create
do-it-yourself spaces for people with different points of view
to come together to create stronger understanding and action
over the long term. The Harbinger Institute sees Y2K as a
social opportunity -- a catalyst for building our ability to
engage with each other and work together.
You can use this as a resource to bring focus to the maze of
information
about Y2K. Use the study circle process to help you
think and feel
with others about what the the year 2000 problem means to you.
You
will find here inspiration and ideas for building neighborhoods
and
communities that not only prepared for y2k, but more sustainable
and
better places to live. This guide is an offering to support the
creation of
ways of living with our world that will ensure a future for humans
and
all our relations. The Year 2000 Problem:
An Opportunity to Build
Sustainable Community A Guide for Y2K Study Circles
Co-Op America Quarterly
Jan 1999 - 8 articles focusing on
how to create more opportunities for sustainable community.
Available for $3.50 from Co-Op America, 1612 K St. NW,
#600, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 872-5307.
Communities: A Journal of Cooperative Living, Winter 1998 -
More than a dozen articles on Y2K and intentional, sustainable
community. Available for $6 (bulk rates available) from
FIC (Fellowship for Intentional
Community, Rt. 1, Box 155-CM,
Rutledge, MO 63563. (660) 883-5545.
Yoga Journal, July-August 1999, has a 4,000-word feature
"ALL
TOGETHER NOW - Across the country, communities are finding
a surprising upside to the Y2K coundtown" by Gary Gach
<ggg@well.com>. Included is a sidebar of publications, URLs,
etc.
HopeDance, Jan/Feb 1999
- a dozen articles and stories on
all dimensions of Y2K. Available for $2 from HopeDance,
P.O. Box 15609, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406. (805) 544-
9663.
Talking Leaves,
Spring/Summer 1999 - three articles on Y2K
and sustainability (plus great non-Y2K articles about community
and some great book reviews!). Available for $5 from LVEC,
81868 Lost Valley Lane, Dexter, OR 97431.
Y2K Connections
® is a community-building game. Players learn
to stretch their understanding, embrace different points of view,
and strategize from a foundation of personal flexibility and
resourcefulness. Players who tested it in cities around the world
were "astounded to find how quickly doubters became interested
in helping to find solutions." See www.Y2KConnections.com
or order from www.PrepareForY2K.com
or 1-800-676-8181
Danielle LaPorte of the Arlington Institute recommends
"a very high-minded and practical Y2K video 'Y2K:
A
Family Survival Guide'. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy (aka Spock),
it's a
measured and thoughtful approach that, with the help of numerous
informed and balanced spokespeople, covers the history and complexity
of
the problem, and the remediation done to date, and puts the
philosophical emphasis on a collaborative, community response.
It
makes preparedness look hip, and easy. It positions Y2K as a platform
for us to look at humanity's history and future. Furthermore,
the
production is slick and fast paced. You can get it on Amazon,
of course."
(only $12.99)
a quick read to individual, family and community solutions,
by Charlie Magee - a 48 page
booklet with cartoons, humor and common-sense insight to help
you prepare for potential
Y2K disruptions in your life in a simple, rational, step-by-step
manner. $11 postpaid from
Signal Design, Inc., 207 W. Fifth Ave., Eugene, OR 97401 (Sometimes,
as in the case with
this booklet, less IS more -- sort of like the famous "101
Things You Can Do to Save the
World") http://www.pond.net/~cmagee/