Do you remember Y2K? For our younger readers (or anyone who is missing context), Y2K, or “year 2000” was an enormously-feared computer glitch for when the millennium ticked over.

At the highest level — we are, shocker, not expert programmers or computer scientists — early programming languages considered dates to be a two-digit format (back in the year of ’96, etc).

This was expected to cause a global technological meltdown when 1999 became 2000, because computers would read that as the year “00,” which could wreak havoc on critical infrastructure such as bank systems, government networks and all the other myriad unusual ways computers influence our daily lives — even 25 years ago.

But, as the world collectively held its breath at 11:59 p.m., 1999 — not very much happened.

Computer systems ticked over and kept working as intended, and, with some relatively minor exceptions, the whole thing was a complete nothingburger.

Millions of dollars and thousands of hours of manpower had been dedicated to preventing this problem…and for what?

Nothing happened.

But wasn’t that the goal? Didn’t that mean it worked?

And yet, as time has passed, a surprising number of people seem to have developed the opinion that it was a waste of money and effort, that the problem was just magically fixed without anyone needing to lift a finger.

We see this with other historical crises, as well. In the 80s, we — collectively, as a world — came together to ban the production of a type of chemical that was chemically breaking down the ozone layer at the poles.

How about DDT and the havoc it wreaked on bald eagles?

And so on.

As a species, we are capable of enormous deeds.

With every crisis we defeat, however, it seems as though we grow more and more inept, lazy and subject to fatalistic thinking.

While many of us go about our lives without spending much time thinking about looming disasters like climate change or microplastics, there are many people who spend enormous amounts of time and energy decrying the very thought that we can, in fact, effect change.

Being a skeptic did not stop Y2K from crashing our systems.

Being a defeatist did not stop the ozone hole from growing.

We can take action. We can make our world a better place. We can improve the lot of those who live within it.

Locally, we see this attitude often enough: be it a reaction to unresponsive elected officials at various government levels; to issues with school districts or their boards of directors; or to rural issues like closing businesses, healthcare withdrawals, low wages and so forth.

The answer is the same as it is on the big stage.

Get interested.

Get educated.

Get involved.

Maybe you don’t like Taco Bell. But that doesn’t change the fact that a few enterprising individuals fought for the company to come to town for years before it finally happened.

There are people who are employed because of their efforts and, judging by the parking lot and the lines, a lot of satisfied enthusiasts.

It can be easy to feel like you don’t have agency in today’s world. Everything is complicated and exhausting, especially if you’re under a certain age.

Many work long hours or multiple jobs to make ends meet, or spend time and energy taking care of loved ones and family members.

There simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone. There are a number of local organizations and clubs that can help you amplify your voice and your reach, for a huge variety of subjects and interests.

Feeling political? There’s local groups for both the Republicans and the Democrats that help candidates get elected and advocate for various causes.

Want to make your voice heard? Send us a Letter to the Editor. Even if you aren’t a great writer, we can work with you to make it make sense.

How about helping with community service? There’s a plethora of organizations and clubs ranging from Downtown Rotary and LH Kiwanis to the Lions, Elks and beyond, all of which specialize in helping in different ways.

There’s church groups, events at the library, community committees, Master Gardeners and dozens of other ways to get involved.

You just have to pick a subject, and take a step.

Somewhere along the way, be it social media, economic malaise or any of a bunch of possibilities, we, as a community, state, nation and species lost the belief that we can actually make a difference in our world — and, more than that — the desire to even try to, to feel that the future is worth fighting for, for ourselves, for our neighbors, for our friends and family, kids and grandkids.

History shows us how wrong that is.

We can do great things. We simply must first believe that we can, and then…

Begin.