Millennium madness is justified

Little Black Box
    By Alex DeMille

In writing for the last issue of the Herald before the new millennium, I felt it was my duty to say something about the coming apocalypse—I mean, New Year's—before we all part our separate ways and meet again in the year 2000 (or disintegrate in a devastating nuclear fire, if Times Square is your New Year's destination).

But why would we want to hear more crap about this stupid, arbitrary, artificial marker of time, you ask yourselves? There's no question that we've been bombarded with millennial predictions, paranoia, and, most of all, media marketing tie-ins since at least the middle of this decade.

DANICA NOVGORODOFF/YH

You know the advertising boys at Mars candy had their cute little M&M millennium campaign in the bag by 1992 at the latest. Pop culture has been saturated with references to Y2K ad nauseum, and it's been going on for years. Way back in '96, Scream's killer is asked for a motive for his slaughter, and answers simply "the millennium." The references haven't stopped since. And try to find one rap artist who doesn't have some sort of cheesy millennium homage. It's not the millennium, it's the Willennium.

So why beat the theme to death? Well I, for one, think the new millennium is actually something to get really excited about. This New Year's is not an event for the grumpy cynic, but for the wistful dreamer who can see beyond all the media hype and material extravagance. The millennium has not only brought on a new state of mind in the world of pop culture, but has permeated the human psyche. The fervor is everywhere; whether you pretend to be interested or not, everyone is waiting.

Other than religious types who see the New Year as the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ, the year 2000 does not have any immediate, tangible importance. However, it has attained meaning because mankind has assigned to it a special significance. It is no longer arbitrary—it has become a cultural milestone.

Most New Year's celebrations give us the chance to look back on what we have done in the past 365 days, and maybe even evaluate our own life if we're not too drunk (or even if we are). But with this New Year's, we are not only leaving the year 1999, but are climbing out of an entire century. Maybe it's time to evaluate a little more broadly, beyond our own lives, to the lives and legacies of our fellow humans who lived and died in these past 100 years. For all the wonders and achievements that have made us proud this past century, there is far more to be ashamed of.

The 20th century was a century of untold evil and destruction, of hollow bickering over ideologies that caused endless and pointless strife. But what could we do? Our generation was born too late, and even then it was unable to rectify all the injustices that it saw. But if we had no hand in the century we are leaving, we can at the very least learn from it and not make the same mistakes in the next. Personally, I will be truly glad to see the 20th century end. We don't belong here.

Our time is coming. So get excited. Party hard. When you get some time, think about the times you're leaving behind, and maybe about the people you knew who didn't make it to the new millennium with you. Be proud of where you are. Be proud of when you are. Be forgiving of the people who came before. Have faith in those who will come after. Chug some champagne and look to the stars. Oh, and don't worry about that Y2K computer bug thing. That's just a big sham.

Recent Herald Columns by this Columnist:
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• U.S. politics reach intellectual bankruptcy, 11/12/99
• KKK is not worth our hatred, 10/29/99
• Soylent Green is made out of people!, 10/15/99

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