This is a time for each of us not only to help our own local communities pull together but also to try to revive the idea of "public citizenship." By public citizenship I mean taking responsibility not only for the people who live close to us or who are our natural kindred spirits, but for those vulnerable and politically powerless people and countries who so often go "unseen" and neglected. In this highly interdependent world we have created, their problems are, in fact, our problems.

Thus, public citizenship is essential to meeting the Y2K challenge. We must work together to increase public awareness about Y2K. We must identify systems critical to the larger society, such as access to health services and protection of the environment, and make the necessary Y2K preparations that will safeguard these systems. In all our efforts, we must pay particular attention to assuring essential services for the poor and vulnerable. (See "What Public Citizen's Can Do about the Y2K Crisis," on page 36. --ed.)

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This is a time for each of us not only to help our own local communities pull together but also to try to revive the idea of "public citizenship." By public citizenship I mean taking responsibility not only for the people who live close to us or who are our natural kindred spirits, but for those vulnerable and politically powerless people and countries who so often go "unseen" and neglected. In this highly interdependent world we have created, their problems are, in fact, our problems.

Thus, public citizenship is essential to meeting the Y2K challenge. We must work together to increase public awareness about Y2K. We must identify systems critical to the larger society, such as access to health services and protection of the environment, and make the necessary Y2K preparations that will safeguard these systems. In all our efforts, we must pay particular attention to assuring essential services for the poor and vulnerable. (See "What Public Citizen's Can Do about the Y2K Crisis," on page 36.--ed.) 

We need to know how much of our national infrastructure is ready for Y2K. We can't fix critical problems or plan work-arounds without such information. Accordingly, all of us need to press businesses and governments for much more openness about the state of their Y2K compliance efforts. We need to know about the risks associated with the failure of embedded chips in hospital medical devices and systems, and breakdowns of the supply chain for life-preserving pharmaceuticals. We need to know the Y2K status of key infrastructure components in our localities, such as transportation and firefighting systems. We need to develop contingency plans for possible failures in power grids, in communications systems, in water and food supply networks, and in solid waste disposal.

We must make contingency plans to address some of the "worst-case" scenarios if we hope to be able to mitigate them. Community organizing efforts led by churches, synagogues, schools, and other local institutions, for instance, could consider setting up emergency relief centers, complete with supplies of food, water, and blankets, as well as backup generators and fuel. Such relief centers might help members of the public feel protected against freezing or starving in the event of a major infrastructure breakdown. If people are aware that such relief centers and plans exist, they will have the confidence to remain calm and can help prevent or minimize the risk of civil disorder that could follow from hoarding and other individual/exclusive behaviors, rather than community/inclusive responses to infrastructure breakdowns.