HOME  E-DEMOCRACY 98  E-DEBATE WEB MN-FORUM

Thomas Fiske      Response 1

Question 1: What must the governor do, if anything, to head off or prepare for a possible computer systems distruption as a result of the Year 2000 compter bug?

A high proportion of computer systems that are vital to the lives
of Minnesotans are part of the productive wealth of privately 
owned capitalist enterprises. These enterprises compete with 
each other to minimize production costs, grab a larger portion 
of the market and maximize profits for their owners.  There are 
tens of thousands of these enterprises, ranging from very big to 
quite small.  Many of them are liable to see the Y2K computer
problem as an unnecessary cost of production.  And they 
cannot easily be policed by the state government.

A function of the governor's office or the state government 
should be established to help the unions or other groups of 
employees to publicize incidents of irresponsible failure to fix a 
Y2K computer problem of capitalist enterprises that will affect 
the health and safety of the public.  Such efforts to publicize 
irresponsible corporate actions are needed in other spheres 
of the economy as well.  For example, vitally needed are 
committees of workers and farmers to monitor the prices of 
farm inputs like pesticides, fertilizer and tractors and prices 
of food in the grocery stores. Such committees could shed a 
public spotlight on the exploitation of the family farmers by 
the monopoly pricing of the big agribusiness and food 
distribution monopolies.

Existing state laws that hold companies accountable for the 
health and safety of the public whom they affect should be 
enforced to the letter of the law against capitalist enterprises. 
For example, if a utility company fails to provide heat and 
power in the middle of a Minnesota winter due to a Y2K 
computer problem, they should be prosecuted and penalized 
to the full extent of the law.

Finally, a state resource panel of computer professionals could 
be funded to give help and advice to family businesses who 
need help.