Real Millennium Group (TM)
An Interview with Rick Wade of the Times Today newspaper
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The following is an e-mail interview I had with a reporter named Rick Wade from the Times Today newspaper. I am sorry that I cannot remember where the paper is located, except that it is in New Jersey. This is the complete and unedited e-mail I sent to Rick. Any further thoughts or additions I have added now will be in <<arrows>>.
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Subj: Answers to your questions 
Date: 1/11/00 
To: rwade@timestoday.com

Hi Rick. Here's the answers to the questions you sent me (finally!) in case you can ever use them. Sorry it took so long, but between being sick for half of December, all the extra work at the bowling center, and having to rewrite all the AOL pages to a new publisher, I have just been overwhelmed, and haven't been able to keep up with all the stuff I really wanted to get done. 

Jim Bergevin, Jr.
The Real Millennium Group (TM)
www.RealMillenniumGroup.com
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Now that all the faux millennium celebrations are over, what's your take on the hype surrounding it? Has your outlook changed?


I think the word "overhype" can be applied to the entire situation. It's a product of the "media mentality" that has taken over society in the last couple of decades. The OJ Simpson trial, and the incidents surrounding it; watching Baghdad get bombed for a few nights on TV, like it was some kind of video game; the overwhelming interest in "tabloid" type stories about people. We have become a society of 2 year olds -- we want something we see, and we want it now, and we want it big and fancy, no matter what it costs, because it will make us happy. If we don't get it, we throw a hissy fit. The millennium celebrations are just the most recent reflection of that. 

As for my outlook. I don't think anything has changed. I'm going on as usual, and will keep writing letters and creating web pages for the site as long as is necessary. It's the attitude that worries me, and so long as the attitude prevails, there will be causes that need to be taken up by people like me.
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Who or what is responsible for the faux millennium celebrations? Ignorance, innocence, apathy, clever marketing?

 
All of the above. No matter what anyone says, money had something to do with it. There's no other explanation for why every news anchor in the world touted (and many still tout) the millennium and century beginning in 2000. If it was ignorance, then we should be very afraid since we are letting the TV educate and baby-sit us and our children in today's society. I don't want to say ignorance, per se, caused many people to believe the millennium starts in 2000, but just lack of common sense thinking, and a redefinition of how we consider the numeral zero, now that computers are a major part of our lives. Many people just don't realize that in a typical counting system, zero is not the starting number. But since zero is the starting number for computer and binary systems, they just assume that we can start counting anything intangible (like time) at zero.
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How soon do you anticipate marketing people to begin the campaign to sell millennium merchandise, etc., for the real millennium?

 
I think it will slow down, due to the overhype of 1999, but we will see millennium products every day until January 1, 2002 (we have a whole year of "first of the REAL millennium" in 2001). It will, of course, build up again by the fall of 2000, but I don't think we will see as much hype for it as we did in 1999. After all, we have many reputable people cast in with the 2000 crowd, and their egos probably won't allow them to admit their mistake, unless it benefits them in some way.
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What does it matter that so many were unwilling to admit the truth and wait for next year?

 
That gets back to what I mentioned before -- commercialism; the way people think of the number zero; and the fact that we are turning over our chronology like a car odometer. Even I get a little excited seeing my car odometer go from 19,999 to 20,000, and that factor has something to do with it. But I always believed that arriving at the 2000th year of the Christian Era was special enough to deserve a big celebration without tacking on any added significance. But what puzzles me are the people who think 01-01-00 looked neat. I think 01-01-01 looks a little better, and the dates like that (8-8-88, 9-9-99) always received a little mention in the papers because of the duplicate numbers.

<<Upon reviewing this question and my answer it appears I thought he wrote "why" instead of "what" to begin the question.>>

<<What does it matter? I think the truth matters greatly, whether it be about the millennium or anything else. Without truth, what do we have to believe in? Why bother learning when anything we might learn can be changed upon the whim of a sponsor or a special interest group. Every day we see the truth become less and less important as we become a "Politically Correct" society where we seem to now have the right to go through life without ever being offended by someone's words, actions, or beliefs. That is a completely rediculous attitude (and a dangerous one).>>
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On your site I read about your concern for bowling records (i.e., the first 300 game of the millennium). I suppose that is true for first millennium babies, first millennium whatever? Do you really anticipate lawsuits?

As lawsuit crazy as this country is, I would be surprised if this didn't spawn at least a few of them. Whether they receive any amount of publicity depends on who is suing who, so I think there will be lawsuits, but don't anticipate any big mention of them in the media.
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How do you prefer to be referred to in the column, Wyler or Bergevin?


I should be referred to as Jim Bergevin. BJ Wyler is just a screen name; all paraphernalia and letters I send out, and interviews and such use my real name.
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It was interesting so many media reports buried any mention of the real millennium deep into stories or not at all. Are journalists accomplices in some kind of conspiracy, or just out to make some bucks or what?


I don't think it is a conspiracy, per se, but when a lot of money is involved, the line between Truth and commercialism gets blurred, and unfortunately, as we have seen, Truth usually looses out to the big bucks. Journalists are also becoming more and more like politicians, due to the fact that their organizations look to make a profit (big bucks again), so they will go with the flow -- the sensational story -- so they can get the ratings, and the sponsorship dollars that come with it.
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When you wrote letters to various publications, what kind of reactions did you get?


I received very little reaction. I have talked with other people who have written a ton of letters, and the responses they have received (when they received any), mirrored most of the ones I got -- "What's the big deal?" "We know you are right, but there's really nothing we can do about it, everyone is still going to celebrate in 2000." Stuff like that. Again, it seems people either wish to remain part of the ignorance, or are afraid to take a stand and go against the popular opinion. That comes from a society that has become too politically correct. Just look at what they are doing to Braves pitcher John Rocker. Since when did it become criminal to speak your mind? We still have the freedom to say what we believe, as wrong and stupid as it may be, but more and more, we are losing a sense of the truth because we are afraid to offend anyone.
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Isn't the U.S. known for rewriting its own history countless times a decade? What about Viet Nam? Or when we imprison someone like Manuel Noreiga as a drug dealer when some 20 years ago he was our ally, but dealing drugs then too?


History is a product of rewritings and the victors of a conflict. That is why it is so hard to discern the truth about our past, and a lot of research must be done on a subject before getting a clearer picture of what happened. We can be sure that what school's in England teach about the American Revolution are different from what we learned as kids. That facts remained the same, but the slant is different. We were the oppressed colonists fighting for freedom and rights. To them we were upstart rebels who didn't appreciate what we had. 

The difference now between what government's do, and things like the millennium, is that governments hide the truth so they can continue doing whatever it is they are doing. With the millennium, we are ignoring the researched facts of our history and the laws of basic mathematics just so we can have a big party, and companies can make some money. We are changing the facts, whereas in times past, like with the Revolution, the facts remain the same, but the opinions and feelings are a product of who is writing the history. The dates of the battles; who won or lost; who was commanding -- things like that are still the same, no matter who is teaching the history. With the millennium, those facts are completely ignored so we can insert our own version of what happened to fit with our current desires. Instead of oppressed colonists/upstart rebels, we are in essence saying that the English won the war, and the colonies lost.
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What do we do now? I am already sick of hearing about the millennium, it kind of burns me out on the whole thing.

 
I feel pretty much the same way. As much as I want the true date recognized by the public and media, I certainly don't want the hype circus we had to endure in 1999. I have to cast my feelings in with the 2000-ists in this matter -- it's just a date. Just like other recognized dates and holidays, they have no bearing on our lives outside of what we have planned for that particular day. The sun will still rise, and life will go on January 2, 2001. It is important to recognize that we have achieved a milestone in our chronology, and remember why this particular date has achieved importance, but it certainly isn't worth all the hype about it. Just like celebrating a milestone birthday -- 30, 40, etc. Personally, I don't feel any different on that day. I just go about doing what I have to do, and just pause every once in a while to reflect on what I have done for all those years, and what I hope to look forward to by the time the next milestone rolls around.
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According to reality, the decade, the century and the millennium all begin Dec. 31, 2001, right? I read a great quote from Arthur C. Clarke about all this. Do you think he is just speaking out so he can reissue 2001 and rake in the bucks? (Just kidding!)


It just goes to show you that not every "celebrity" put intelligence aside to have a great opportunity to have a millennium 2000 quote. What surprises me, is that the fact that his book is 2001, and not 2000, has been largely ignored by the media and public, despite the popularity of the movies and novels.
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Do you think all the fanatics and terrorists got the message and will wait until next year to create havoc?


I think they will use any opportunity to create havoc that they can. Since many are from countries that don't use the Christian Era as a regular dating system, the only significance it would have for them, is for their plans to attack those for which the Era is significant. 

With the reports of people trying to sneak into the country the week of New Year's, I thought to myself that we have less to worry about outside terrorists, than we do of the home grown variety. It seems, in addition to forgetting when the millennium really gets here, people forget that the last major act of terrorism in this country -- the Oklahoma City bombing was done by Americans. 

There were stories on the History Channel about people waiting for the Apocalypse, and Christ's return. They forget that 2000 and the millennium has no significance in this event, that I can see, anyway. The Religious Millennium, as I call it, doesn't begin until Christ's reign on earth begins -- and that can occur in 2000, 2001, or 2223. The only significance 2000 has is in the way we recognize numerical milestones -- a more recent attitude. If Christ was supposed to return 2000 years after his birth day, that would have happened any time from 1988 to 1996.
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