Changing History

If you could change one historical event, which event would you choose, and how would you change it? Why would that change be for the best?

Changing history is not something to be undertaken lightly. There is no real way to know what might result from even the most seemingly insignificant change. Consider if merely the wall color had been different during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What if the walls of the White House had been an aggressive color such as yellow, orange, or red. Would the outcome have been the same, or would we all be bits of radioactive waste right now. If even such a small change has the potential to make such a drastic effect on the course of history, then how can we even consider large changes?
But of course it is always possible that even the most glaring changes could result in very little noticeable effects. If Columbus had never found the Americas, for instance, what would the world be like now. I would be inclined to think that it would be very much the same. Some European was bound to find America around that point in history. That time period was one of great exploration by European powers, and it is highly unlikely that Columbus, even if he failed, would have been the only one to venture far enough west to find the continents that we now call America. With that being said there seems little point in trying to make a change in order to create a specific course of events.
Take for instance the Holocaust. How would one go about trying to prevent the Holocaust? Is there a single event that could possibly prevent such a horrible tragedy? Perhaps if Hitler had never existed things would have been different. But there are no guarantees. Much of Europe was extremely anti-semitic at the time. It is entirely possible that even without Hitler some other ruler would have implemented much the same policy. Another question that is raised by eliminating Hitler is World War II. Would it have even happened. Would it have been worse, better, much the same? Without German participation in the war, it is quite possible that it would have been a showdown between the United States and Russia. If so would there have been a Cold War afterwards? And without a Cold War would there have been a space race, or the development of the atom bomb?
Since there is no real way to know what the outcome would be, the only real purpose in changing an historical event can be for experimental purposes: to find out what would happen. For this reason I would choose to eliminate Hitler's existence. This would be a very interesting change for many of the reasons listed above. It also brings up the question of individual impact on the world. Hitler could be considered one of the most influential men of the twentieth century, but would his non-existence really change anything significantly? It is possible that all of the major events that we are familiar with would have occurred with some other maniacal dictator leading Germany. But it is also possible that the scenario described above in which the Cold War never happens could be the outcome.
These are only two of the infinite possible outcomes of changing this one aspect of history. Each on is equally as likely as the other despite how drastically different modern life would be based on the different paths. So the real lesson here is that there is no real point in changing an historical event. There is no way to ensure that the desired outcome will result, and even if it does there is no way to know how that might change the rest of history up until this point. That is why I would chose not to change history even in the most minor way, but if I had to make a choice I would make one that I thought would have the most experimentally interesting possible outcomes.

boring

I have decided to save all of my college essays to this blog. Since it was originally intended as a way for me to keep a portfolio of my work, I might as well keep my more directed work as well. So if you don't want to read college essays you should probably ignore the posts labeled VCU.

Poem for the Night People

I sit here in my bed, waiting for the sleep
That does not come to take me to the land
Of dreams, and so I write
A poem about the butterflies
I sometimes see as I walk down the street.

They're many colors.
Not a single one that I can
Easily recall. I know
That brown is not the color.
If that was the case they would be moths,
But these are butterflies,
Vibrant in their majesty
Creatures of the day.

If they were moths,
I'd recognize them.
I know my kin.
I see them all the time
As I lie awake at night
Thinking about their cousins,
Vibrant in their majesty
Creatures of the day.

Words, Words, Words

Words are meaningless
If meaning is a less
Than worthy word.
Its heart is full
Of idle tricks and turns.
Nothing is certain.
No word has the power
To stay the same.
No word can hold its meaning
When it feels the test of time.

ultrahightechsupermultiuniversal

Bits in space and time.
Are we finite?
Are we on or off?
Or are we as we are?
We are surely something.
That we are is sure.
But is our being,
Being who we are,
Part of a greater being?
Or being as we are,
Merely our own being.

I wrote a book

It's done. I just finished the process of publishing a book. Its a compilation of many of the poems on this blog and can be found for purchase on lulu.com. http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/death-and-life/8561375 You can also download a pdf version for free from Lulu.

why?

writing words here now is wrong
jobs told stories of hard lives and short breaths
as the fumes lift you away
and falling the world seems so real
but not the short things
change as the wind varies with caterpillars

that seem to go on forever and
the sentence never ends
the song never ends
the lyric never ends
the word never ends
the sound never ends
the noise never ends
it all goes on before it
stops

the trees are not green
why do they say it
brown water don't drink and eat
the seafood covered in ice cream and a cigar
the whole thing is just fucked up

why
why
why

don't think just think
eating small birds doesn't make sense
so what's the point of it all
is the end near or far in the pink
gummy bears with green ears just eat it

it won't hurt you
there is nothing to fear
ignore the man behind the curtain
ignore the curtain
without a curtain there can be no man behind it

but don't forget the painting
it must have cost at least fifty cents
maybe even a dollar
why didn't you just buy the lighter
you can't torch a bowl with a dumb painting
and it doesn't even look good

but if we put the apple sticker on it
maybe it will look better
no

faces carved in stone change with the weather
radiant smiles turn to blank stares
it all just fades away into nothing
but it never ends
nothing never ends

Weather

It seems as though your plans
to sit outside all day
have washed away.

The drip and drizzle wouldn't be
so bad but wind and cold
have taken hold.

Weather is a fickle thing.

Rain and snow and sleet and sunny days
that hold you in their fist and squeeze.
Until you scream out.
Too cold! Too hot!
Too dry! Too wet!

We cannot end this strife.
It must be won,
else losing we shall lose our life.

A delicious idea

My dad told me today that I should put together a review of fried chicken joints in town. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I realized that this was an excellent idea. Now I have an excuse to eat as much fried chicken as I can. It may take some time. And I can never be sure that I have finished this task. There could always be some little hole-in-the-wall that I don't find. But I will do my best to eat at as many places as I can and figure out some way of judging them so I can find out which is the best. On second thought I might just go eat a bunch of fried chicken and never write anything, so I guess this post has no real purpose. But there is a chance that I will remember to write about them. So I make this statement: there could be reviews of fried chicken in the future, and I will most definitely be eating some fried chicken in the future. That about sums it up.

Right now my favorite is Church's. That could easily change, though. I haven't tried many local places. Most of my experience is with chains. Right now the judging is really between KFC, Popeye's, and Church's. In that order. There are other places but it has been too long for me to remember what they were like. I've had those three recently enough that I feel I can make a reasonable comparison.

we'll have another sentence before we get to the now

It's been a long time... Whatever that means, I mean it with an emphasis on the meaning of meaning. Now that we've weeded out the swine who can't understand basic English syntax, we can get down to the real business at hand. Of course it would help if we knew what that business was, but unfortunately that is not to be. On a side note, never put the not between the to and the be. It's okay to boldly put only one adverb there. As it turns out, the real business at hand is to give me a hand with my business. That sounds wrong. Maybe we should just call the whole thing off. Or we could start businessing our hands for real. No that sounds wrong as well. What I meant to say is 'I'm in the business of real hands.' I can get you a decent pair, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg. Now I'm wearing out the cliches faster than a Tijuana hooker. Talking of Tijuana hookers they sure know how to give you a hand with your business. Let's get our minds out of the gutter here and start thinking of important matters, although I'm not sure how anything can matter if it's not important. The important thing is to remember the matters we are discussing, whatever they may happen to be. And since we are going to remember them, we'd better start discussing them. Otherwise it would be a waste to have remembered them. Of course I have no recollection of said things or matters, no matter how important they may have been going to be. Ah-ha, bet you weren't expecting that. I don't even know what tense it is. Definitely perfect continuous, possibly present or future. I'm thinking present perfect continuous, but the to be at the end is throwing me for a loop. Oh what I wouldn't give to be at the end of this jumble of words, but sadly it is not to be. There sure is a lot of being in this particular whatever-it-is that I am writing at this particular time. All the particulars seem to be in order, but I can't say the same of the participants. It really doesn't seem like you are even trying to understand what I'm saying. Of course I could just be saying nothing in particular, in which case you may be understanding me all too clearly. We can't have that, you ungrateful bastards. I'll show you what happens when you try to understand what I'm saying. Nothing good can come of it. I swear by the god in whom I don't believe. Stop it! Stop it right now! I can feel you this instant, desperately trying to understand this strange convolution of perfect English syntax and grammar, but it won't work. There is no sense here. All the trains have departed. There will be no law and order. There will be no death and destruction. There will be no elephants. Okay maybe there will be a couple elephants, but not too many. We don't want them crowding up the place. And we can't have any more than one octopus, because then we'd have octopodes. Ha, this damn spell-checker doesn't even know fucking English. Trying to tell me that the plural of octopus is octopuses when anyone in their right mind would know that because it comes from the greek the correct plural form is octopodes. Now I'm just jabbering on, so I guess I will come to the end right about... No I was just fooling we'll have another sentence before we get to the now.