Y2K and 9-11. (The Right Perspective).

Though it now seems little more than a trivial event from the distant past, only a few short years have gone by since the U.S. and the world shuddered in collective dread of the so-called Millennium Bug.

Back then, in the years leading up to the end of the millennium, many computer professionals believed that computer systems programmed to recognize dates by only the last two digits of the year would treat 2000 as if it were 1900, thereby causing permanent worldwide data loss or corruption.

Many authorities, and a number of charlatans, caused Americans to fear the worst. The world's advanced computerized society would be incapacitated overnight, they said. The more hysterical among them fretted that the Millennium Bug would erase as much as 500 years of material progress. It didn't happen. When clocks across the globe struck midnight on January 1, 2000, screens still flickered, transistors still hummed, e-mail was sent and received, web pages were downloaded and uploaded, and, in general, life went on as before.

So what happened? Why didn't the computer disaster that nearly everyone predicted come to pass? A look at corporate Securities Exchange Commission filings from the era provides a clue. Those filings show that American corporations spent vast quantities of money on Y2K repairs, fixing their computers to ensure their continued operation well beyond the year 2000. After all, if Y2K had crashed corporate computer systems, billions of dollars could have been lost and the very existence of business ventures called into question.

The impulse for self-preservation held true for all levels of business, and even for government, though to a lesser degree. Each individual business owner, each corporation, and even each govern mental agency and bureaucrat sought only self-preservation and perpetuation, but the collective effort helped ensure that society would not be harmed.

With the 9-11 attacks, America faces a more immediate, more frightening, and far more deadly threat than Y2K. Interestingly enough, though, the Y2K lesson can be fruitfully applied to the current situation.

Like Y2K, the terrorist-security crisis threatens the existence and profitability of business as well as the continuity of constitutional government and society in general. And as with Y2K, most commentators in business, the media, and politics insist that solving the problem requires a more pervasive and powerful federal government.

Fortunately, the example of Y2K points to an alternative to government growth and intervention as a remedy for the current crisis: Let private industry, as much as possible, provide for its own security. Airport security is a case in point. On 9-11, privately owned, civilian property was commandeered and used to attack civilian lives and property. As a result, federal authorities have taken over airport security. The only quantifiable result of this change is the increased harassment of innocent civilians.

A more effective policy, and one in keeping with the natural right to self-defense -- as well as with the Constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms -- would be to allow the airlines to defend themselves, their customers, and their property in the event of an attack. This would mean, at the very least, arming pilots. In addition, airlines could hire armed security personnel and station them aboard flights. And responsibility for airport security should be returned to the private sector.

Would this policy work better than turning loose Big Brother? Consider: Airlines, as property owners and businesses seeking to earn a profit, have a direct and compelling interest in securing their physical assets and in providing a safe and inviting environment to customers. The government employee at the airport, even if he or she is a good, competent person, is nevertheless a mercenary of sorts, with much less at stake, and, therefore, with much less motivation to do a good job.

The September 11th terrorist attacks themselves demonstrate how private initiative is the better route to security. No government agency managed to stop the attacking aircraft once airborne. For all our considerable military might, targets in Washington and New York were sitting ducks. It was the heroics of private citizens on Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers staged a counterattack against the hijackers, that proved to be the only successful measure taken against the attackers that day. Moreover, it was private citizens, along with airline staff, who stopped shoe bomber Richard Reid from blowing up Flight 63 over the Atlantic Ocean.

If we want to ensure national security, then removing restrictions on the private sector and letting the market take its course is the best solution. Such a strategy would fortify internal security, facilitate economic health, and free government to pursue legitimate constitutional duties, all without infringing on the rights and liberties of the American people. It was a policy that kept the Millennium Bug at bay. It's a policy that will work today.