Chris Johnson
JA WestenbergAnti-vaxx is a classic upper-class luxury belief.
You reject vaccines, not because you’ve studied the science, but because your zip code has a 97% vaccination rate.
Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊Thank you for an excellent article.
A parallel feels like it might be made to the Year 2000 bug. Those of us who were around (and sophonts) back then remember it pretty clearly, the various different ways in which the banks and other financial institutions, retailers everywhere, software developers, everyone was scrambling to ensure that the rollover from 99 to 00 didn't cause massive disruption across the board.
These days, in the cultural milieu, it's regarded as a bit of a joke, a potential explosion which turned out to be a fart. But that's because the preparations worked. People, seeing the world work the day after December 31, 1999, shrugged and smiled and figured it wasn't that big a deal after all, the systems managed to hold together.
And that was entirely the wrong lesson to learn. Come January 19, 2038, we're going to be having the exact sort of thing occur again, this time with the UNIX Epoch, and it's going to require even more effort and work to get over the edge of the hurdle.
Of course, it's not a perfect analogy by any stretch. Vaccination is a matter of making sure that the public are protecting one another, that we all take our part in signing the social contract seriously. Financial institutions and similar groups did work together to preserve the public interest, but more in service to themselves surviving another day. (Though that loops back around.)
In either case, though, what we need to see is that disaster is not optional: it's inevitable. Things will go wrong, and we rely upon one another to help minimize the harms, to limit the extent of the damage, and to rebuild afterwards. We can't kick that responsibility down the road, not truly, without increasing everyone's suffering a hundredfold, including quite probably our own. And externalizing the cost of survival is absolutely kicking the can down the road.
Howard Tayler expressed it more pithily in this Schlock Mercenary comic, though. https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2019-04-17
@theogrin Thank you! And yes that is an entirely accurate analogy
Mike Loukides
Dr Andrew A. Adams #FBPE 🔶@theogrin @Daojoan @Daojoan
The other thing that's ignored is the cost not just in getting those systems to where they didn't massively fail on 2000/01/01, but in loss of functionality. Many systems sacrificed some functionality from 1999 to ensure the functions they did have were Y2K safe. With longer lead times, that loss could have been avoided. All systems that might be in use in 2036 need to be worked on now.
The other thing that's ignored is the cost not just in getting those systems to where they didn't massively fail on 2000/01/01, but in loss of functionality. Many systems sacrificed some functionality from 1999 to ensure the functions they did have were Y2K safe. With longer lead times, that loss could have been avoided. All systems that might be in use in 2036 need to be worked on now.
Shannon Clark@theogrin @Daojoan I worked for a bank in the late 1990’s. Our Y2K efforts were massive and all encompassing and planned years in advance.
We had over 1200 apps in the bank pre-Y2K. Every single one either had to be updated and certified
Or we offered rhe leader in charge of that app a chance to sign a document stating that the app wasn’t critical to the bank’s operations - and they could then get an exception.
We had no takers.
We culled 600+ apps and upgraded and tested all the others
@theogrin @Daojoan And yes it was a massive budget (the bank at the time had 1000 full time developers and this was at the height of the Web 1.0 era and basically every single one of them had to spend time testing their apps. The bank took the opportunity to upgrade internal systems, to standardize servers and development processes but it also invested a lot of very real money to avoid any issues. (I left for another firm where I also did Y2K work but we were well on our way when I did)
hetoug@theogrin @Daojoan I have had to handle the 2038 issue back in the early nineties. Calculating when a person will be able to retire passed the magic 2038 and causes all sorts of "funny" effects. The y2k problem was far earlier. People tend to forget that dates are not just 'now' but can be in the future.
Hence my sneering at the firms trying to sell us y2k updates to our software.
Hence my sneering at the firms trying to sell us y2k updates to our software.
ChrisRoberts@Daojoan Nailed it.
Raymond
Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈@Daojoan "Anti-Vaxx is a Luxury Belief!"
I like it, 'a view wallowing in privilege', these creepy rich fucks need to be exposed for what they are.
CrazyDogLadysezBreatheWithMe@Daojoan Same with being anti-fluoridation.
“…opposition to fluoride in the U.S. is often strongest in well-resourced communities — where alternative dental services are abundant, fluoride toothpaste is affordable, and public skepticism, political mistrust, or misinformation can take hold. For many of these people, unfluoridated water may not pose an immediate risk — they have the means to compensate through private care.”
https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/24/fluoride-ban-florida-dentist-public-health-cavities/
CyberFrog@heartofcoyote @Daojoan this one is extra funny because a lot of those people will use bore water, or other natural sources of "hard" water with minerals and fluoride levels that are way above safe limits anyway
half of the time they're not avoiding fluoride but in fact are drinking much more than normal, especially if they spend a bunch of money to drill new bores or buy "natural" water instead of the city supply
half of the time they're not avoiding fluoride but in fact are drinking much more than normal, especially if they spend a bunch of money to drill new bores or buy "natural" water instead of the city supply
meow
hotarum
Michael Vilain