December 99 December 98 December 97 _________________ Friday 31 December 99 New Year's Eve 8 43 pm pst   [ a letter to y3k ]   Dear reader in the year 3000,             My name is Rachel Lindsey Rein. I was born in 1977. In the year of my birth, a company called "Apple" was formed. My lifetime would mirror the growth of a new technology which would become increasingly prevelant: personal computers. And in my high school years, another phonemenon would appear: the internet. I made my first web page to get extra credit on an essay during my freshman [first] year of college. Working as a computer consultant during my third year, I began a daily chronicle of my life, accessible to anyone with computer access. The world wide web -- one of the most used components of the internet -- is a playground which I have never taken for granted. The web was an unexpected gift in my lifetime. It allowed for the free publication of any text and images (and sound and video) to any number of people, anywhere that telephone lines exist. I have offered up a little piece of myself -- a bit of text often accompanied by an image, and occasionally by a movie or sound clip -- nearly every day for more than two years, and I do not intend to stop any time soon. I enjoy my publication immensly. This letter is only one of hundreds of pages I have put forth thus more, and I am sure many more will come. The occasion for writing this letter -- now that the form is defined -- is the New Year's transition from 1999 to 2000. The media has latched on to the year 2000, commonly abreviated as Y2K. So people believe this New Year's Eve marks the dawn of the new millenium, while others argue that such an event will not come until 2001. We get excited about such changes. The new century was celebrated in 1901, and we are again celebrating in 2000, which means this past century lasted only 99 years. But these numbers are arbitrary anyway, so everyone is overlooking the inconsistancy. The oldest documented person in the world died yesterday, missing the year 2000 by two days. The person was 119; how old do people live to be on average in 3000? Now, 100 is very old, though I am intent on making it well past then. I wonder about the quality of life in 3000. What is the population of humans? Surely it has been regulated, but has such a constriction come from disease, famine, or from the will of humans themselves? Currently, there are many life-threatening diseases and illnesses, but the two most terrifying are cancer and AIDS. AIDS is the most deadly of our myriad sexually transmitted diseases. How do people control pregnancy in 3000, when they wish to have sex for recreational rather than procreational purposes? Or have we begun colonizing other planets, in which case the production of more children would not be remotely limited? I wonder if there have been further evolutionary traits. Cancer is a malfunction of the body's normal growth process. Are there new malfunctions of the body? And of the mind? Our small planet houses more than six billion humans. The birth rate is 22/1000 population, and the death rate is 9/1000. We cannot sustain such growth. According to the CIA 1999 Wold Factbook, we are divided into "266 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries." Are there still countries in 3000? Are there still different languages? [source: CIA: The Wold Factbook 1999] Heres a population chart I found fascinating [from Global Statistics]: milestones for the population of the world amount year (estimate) years in between 1 billion 1804 - 2 billion 1927 123 3 billion 1960 33 4 billion 1974 14 5 billion 1987 13 6 billion 1999 12           estimations: 7 billion 2013 14 8 billion 2028 15 9 billion 2054 26           source: U.N. World Population Prospects 1998. I am fond of numbers and statistics, and they are so much easier to provide than a detailed description of how life is. I spend every day trying to record bits of my life. I could tell you about cars. Cars are very important here in Los Angeles. I've never owned one, but I may some day. But what else can I provide for you? I can ask questions to which I will never know the answers. Those questions make me a little sad. I could offer advice which will no longer be relevant in your time. I can wonder if some fine descendent of mine is rading this. That idea warms my heart. I am a family historian. I can only tell you that as 2000 crawls closer, I am at home in the house of my childhood with the man I love cooking dinner and watching a marathon of The Twighlight Zone episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel. It is my favorite show of all time, and nothing has made me happier than this silly evening of indulgence. A safe and happy 3000 to you...                                           Rachel