Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Big_Bird]

Another thread (and a cheeky post of Jongno's) have just given me inspiration.

Now, one of the cardinal rules for time travel is that you must try not to do anything to alter the course of history. So, for example, if you travel back in the Doctor's Tardis to Austria in 1889, you shouldn't drown the baby Hitler, because although you might save millions and millions of civillians in the coming decades, you might alter the course of history in other unforeseen ways.

Certainly, I would be loathe to kill a pre-war Hitler, as in fact, I'd end up killing myself. This is because if Hitler hadn't invaded Poland, England might never have declared war on Germany. That would mean that British women would never have joined the war effort by joining the land army (to replace male agricultural workers enlisted in the forces). That would mean that my old granny would never have left a big industrial city to travel down to a small rural community. That means she would never have worked on the farm where she met my granddad. That means she would never have rolled in the hay with my granddad. That means she would never have got herself knocked up with my uncle. That means she would never have had a shotgun wedding which then resulted in a marriage which subsequently resulted in my mum. So thank you Hitler for invading Poland!

Now, my dad was already born. But who knows, perhaps he could have been destined to meet a lass far more fetching than my mum? Perhaps there was to be such a lass, but she (or one of her potential parents) was in fact killed by a German bombing raid. So, thank you to the Luftwaffe for possibly wiping out a potential rival to my mum, and so allowing me to be born!

An Israeli friend of mine also once brought this up. She hates Hitler for what he did to her grandparents, but pointed out to me she would not have been born if not for him, because her parents would have continued living in different countries, and would never had any reason to leave, and would never have met.

So Hitler was responsible for millions of deaths. However, his actions had such far reaching consequences, that potentially millions of people who are alive today would not have otherwise been born (though of course millions of other people who might have existed today have not been born because of him).

So, anyway, what's your story? Would you have been born anyway? Or do you too owe your existence to this evil unhinged madman from Austria?

[img]http://www.informationblast.com/images/thumb_f_fb_250px-Hitler-speech.jpg[/img]

Note: This is just a playful exercise - and in no way meant to be a tribute to Hitler who was a pathetic and worthless little individual.

[SPINOZA]

Reich n roll

[babtangee]

My dad told me some great stories about his father. My father was born before he left to fight the war, so I may still be here despite Adolf. But maybe not. These are some of the gems my dad told me:

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When dad came back from the war he brought a service revolver with him. One day I found it and was playing with it. It was really heavy. My dad saw me playing with it and said, "Come here." I handed the revolver to him immediately - fearfully. He said, "It's all right. It's not loaded... You know what we used to do to the Japs when we had no bullets?"

"No, sir," I shook my head. BANG! He smacked me on the scone with the butt of the pistol. I saw stars.

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One day dad took me and my brother for a long drive. He bought us a bottle of coke for the journey. We sat in the back of the car and drank all the coke. We were quiet most of the way, as was required of children at the time. When our two-hour journey finished and dad got out of the car he said, "Where's my coke?"

Me and my brother stared at him dumbly with the small, empty glass bottle of coke. He snatched the bottle from my hands and BANG! he smacked me on the scone with it.

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One day my dad took me for a walk. He bought two ice creams and gave them to me. On the way home he stopped at the pub, telling me to wait outside. He was in the pub for hours. When he came out I had the ice cream cones in my hands, melted ice cream running all down my arms. "Why the hell didn't you eat them, you idiot?" BANG!
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I suspect my grandfather's stoic nature had a lot to do with my dad leaving home to work on the Snowy River Dam at the age of 14. Highly unlikely that I'd be born if he hadn't done that. Whether my grandfather's nature was the result of fighting the Japanese I can't be sure - it's quite possible that he was just a mean old bstard to begin with.

You have to consider though - maybe many of the millions of people who would have been born in our place would have been much better people. Also, maybe they would never have felt the need to build The Bomb. Maybe.

[Big_Bird]

[Big_Bird]

[Boodleheimer]

(bb, please change the spelling of "definately" to "definitely".)

my grandmother was a dutch citizen born in indonesia. she and her brother and parents were taken prisoner by the japanese and spent 4 or 5 years in Tje Deng camp. of course, after the war the family was bankrupt, so while her family went back to holland, gran went to the USA to start a new life. i suppose i can thank a militaristic japan for my existence.

[cbclark4]

If Hitler had not existed the Eugenics projects may have become strict public policy in the US.

http://www.eugenics.net/

http://www.crichton-official.com/fear/index.html

Would be a cool topic for an Alternate History Novel (Harry Turtledove etc.)

cbc

[peony]

no effect at all, now if the korean war hadnt have happened, that's a totally different story as my maternal granddad came down from the north and got closed off from going back, met my gran and had my mom