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  keep asking
people, what does the beginning of a new century and millennium
mean to you? The dominant answer seems to be, not much. Y2K is
turning into Yawn2K. Of course, everyone is curious to see what
technology hath wrought and if any serious accidents will be
triggered by clicking over into the double-zero or "oh-oh"
zone.
 But
overall, most people understand that the "oh-oh" effect
is our creation -- as much as any and all Y2K computer "bugs."
As one friend put it, "the majority of people around the
world don't even use our calendar," so it's really just
another exercise in self-adulation, a self-imposed excuse to,
well, party like it's 1999.
Will our "New
Year's Resolutions" mean any more because we happen to be
here at this moment of calendar coincidence? And just exactly
how are we supposed to pronounce "00"? It's the end
of the nineties but the beginning of what?
Maybe it can
matter more than just another new year. It can become a demarcation
point other than just the clicking over of a decimal system.
The next most popular answer in my survey has been from people
who look forward to an opportunity to start something new.
When I was
a little girl, I remember hearing that the 21st century would
be the time when amazing technologies would enlighten our world
and that it would be a bright and beautiful time: truly something
to look forward to.
I am still
very positive about our prospects. The internet is an amazing
development and will continue to transform human communication
in ways we cannot today predict. It is this "unpredictable
future" that I have the highest hopes for.
I heard yesterday
that the volume of email has already surpassed the volume of
regular "dead tree" mail. This is a totally new form
of communication and is bringing millions of people together
to discuss issues of the day who would never have had the chance
to exchange ideas with one another.
The fact that
is has taken so long for the web to commercialize is another
hopeful fact. While some form of commercialization was inevitable,
the fundamental values of the web have not been about commercials
and selling stuff -- but about sharing and building relationships.
The values of web have been solidly about communicating people-to-people
about things they value, independent of commercial gain. The
vast majority of websites are still noncommercial. The vast majority
of communication is via noncommercial email.
This new form
of "borderless" communication provides the possibility
for great innovation and especially political change. I would
say my fondest hope for the future is that more and more citizens
will participate in civic organizations and politics. We need
for more and more civic-minded people to become willing to enter
the public arena as both volunteers and to become politicians.
We need politicians who understand the need to deal fairly with
the major "bombshell" issues of day for the local political
arena: mobility, environmental protections, and equity.
A. Bartlett
Gia-matti, President of Yale University, has observed, "What
concerns me most today is the way we have disconnected ideas
from power in America, and created for ourselves thoughtful citizens
who disdain politics and politicians, when more than ever we
need to value politics and what politicians do..."
It is still
an open question what political policies the internet will spawn.
All the regular political gadfly problems will be there. But
what is also there is the ability to communicate rapidly and
inexpensively with millions of registered voters and volunteers
via networks of thousands of personal email lists and websites.
Whoever and whatever is able to tap into this new form of human energy will transform politics as we know it. I can hardly wait. We live in interesting times when individuals have unprecedented abilities to create and communicate. Now let's get to work. What are you starting new or reinvigorating for your new century? Please share them with us by sending your email to  , visiting our website or faxing us. Please feel free to write the old fashioned way too (using the blank side of one-side-used paper is recommended).
"Each
of the great social achievements of recent decades has come about
not because of government proclamations, but because people organized,
made demands and made it good politics for governments to respond.
It is the political will of the people that makes and sustains
the political will of governments." -- James Grant, Executive
Director, UNICEF. 
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