Y2K: 'The Year the Earth Stands Still'
'Scary Gary' Says Y2K Will Wipe Out Every Western Government; Governments Report for Work Jan. 3
Newsletter writer Gary North called 2000 'The Year the Earth Stands Still'. At midnight, the Earth kept going.
What was said
“The Y2K crisis is systemic. It cannot possibly be fixed. I think it will wipe out every national government in the West. Not just modify them—destroy them.”
— Gary North (newsletter writer, garynorth.com) · due Midnight, January 1, 2000
Midnight came, the lights stayed on, and every Western government made it into the new millennium. The BBC's headline: 'Y2K bug fails to bite'.
The Story
Wikipedia describes North as 'a prominent promoter of exaggerated predictions of computer failure' from Y2K in the late 1990s, nicknamed 'Scary Gary'. His home page said Y2K 'may be the biggest problem that the modern world has ever faced' and labelled 2000 'The Year the Earth Stands Still'.
The quote is from his communications with fellow Christian reconstructionists, as quoted by Wikipedia (citing Adam C. English, 2003). Wired summed up his forecast: mainframes would shut down or spew bad data at midnight, creating 'a nightmare for every area of life'. The exact date of the quote isn't pinned down.
An earlier computer-date scare is on file: mcafee-michelangelo-1992.
Later spin
January 2000, on his website (reported by Wired): 'I am certainly willing to say that my assessment of the threat, as things have played out, was incorrect.'
Receipts
- Gary North (economist), Y2K section - Wikipediaaccessed 2026-09-29
- Y2K Alarmist: Wha' Happened? - Wired (Jan 2000)accessed 2026-09-29
- Y2K bug fails to bite - BBC Newsaccessed 2026-09-29
As of Oct 9, 2026
since it didn't happen
Put this counter on your site →