Had he not existed, people would not have realized that your chewing gum loses its flavor on the bedpost overnight.

People would have used the same chewing gum for several days, rather than a new piece each day.

Chewing gum purchases would have been much lower.

Profits of the major candy companies would have dropped substantially.

The stock in those companies would have declined, triggering a general decline in the stock markets, which would have cut off the postwar economic boom and relapsed the world into depression.

The Soviets would have been encouraged by the distress of the West, and attempted more aggressive tactics in the cold war.

The US and the other NATO nations would have responded violently, encouraged by the unspoken thought that war spending might again trigger a business recovery.

As hostilities escalated, one side or the other would have initiated the use of nuclear weapons.

A spasm of nuclear attacks by both sides would have broken out, not only killing millions directly, but destroying the world's ecology in a "nuclear winter" scenario.

No higher life forms would have survived on the planet.

So whatever you didn't like about him, it's probably better that he existed.

Peter