The Sept. 11 commission report stated that our biggest failure was one of "imagination." No one imagined that terrorists would do what they did on Sept. 11. Today few Americans can conceive of the possibility that terrorists could bring our society to its knees by destroying everything we rely on that runs on electricity. But this time we've been warned, and we'd better be prepared to respond.
Well, Senator you don’t know Jack! Now, I mean that quite literally – while you probably recognize Jack Bauer, the hero of “24”, you surely have not heard of yours truly – Jack Nargundkar of Germantown, Maryland? On the eve of the new Millennium (December 31, 1999), almost two years prior to 9/11, I had written an article entitled, “Musings for the New Millennium”, which is still posted on my web site. In it I had dreamed up this rather fatalistic scenario:
Finally there has been a whole lot written about the best “this” of the century and the best “that” of the millennium. In my opinion, the single most seminal discovery, since the beginning of time, is undoubtedly the invention of electricity! Mankind’s dependence on this fundamental phenomenon of nature as a source of energy is so basic to our existence – from the simple light bulb to sophisticated electronic appliances, from computers to communications, from transportation to manufacturing, from health care to agriculture, from the outer reaches of space to the inner depths of sub-molecular matter, etc. – we would be back in the Stone Ages if the concept of electricity failed! Our transition from the mechanical age to the Industrial Age, and on to the Information Age has been possible because of our dependence on this basic resource. We have tried to harness electric power through various means using drivers like water, the wind, the sun, and even nuclear reactions. Y2K bugs don’t scare me even a fraction of what would happen if those electrons suddenly stopped moving? It gives new meaning to the saying “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”!So I’d like to say, Senator, people do have vivid imaginations – but most of us, unlike the terrorists, don’t use our minds for destructive purposes. I would like to add that I personally believe that it will be very difficult for terrorists to carry out another 9/11-type attack on the United States. The terrorists possessed the “operational expertise” to execute a 9/11. However, unless they recruit – an interconnected network of people with the necessary talent and skills –within our borders, I suspect that they are going to find it almost impossible to carry out any more attacks on our homeland that require the kind of sophisticated intellectual expertise, which Senator Kyl worries about. Having said that, I wouldn’t suggest for a second that we not remain vigilant – it has become the eternal price to maintain our way of life. I would like to end by mentioning that my “Musings for the New Millennium” article was more prescient in another respect – I had actually called the historic 2000 presidential election almost a year in advance with this fantastic, or so it seemed at the time, outcome:
In fact, this could turn out to be a squeaker, where the losing candidate gets a slightly higher percentage (possibly within a 1 percent margin of the winning candidate) of the popular vote, but the winning candidate scores a majority of the Electoral College delegates. You read it here first!Imagine, Senator, it’s easy if you try, as John Lennon once did:
You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
and the world will live as one
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