100th Article (Vegetarian World)

This article is to commemorate all the work I've put into Vegetarian World. With this article, I've reached the 100 mark. I hope to continue this project into the future.

About the Creation of Vegetarian World
I began Vegetarian World on September 6th, 2006. Before that time, I'd happened across this althist wiki and thought it was interesting. I'd read a bit of some other alternative histories. For years, I'd thought about alternative universes in my head, but I didn't really consider writing my thoughts down anywhere.

To tell you the truth, one event prompted me to start my own althist. It was the death of Steve Irwin on September 4th, 2006. I'd always thought that he was a pretty good guy who went above and beyond what most people ever do in their lives - that is, he tried to change the world for the better in his own way. Although he risked his life more times than almost anyone else I knew, his death came from an unlikely source. At once, his death underscored two main concepts. The first is that things are truly unpredictable and history could have easily turned out differently, just with a few minor changes. The second is that the world isn't fair, never was, and never will be. Of course, I understood these concepts before, but with this wiki, I found that I could control the destiny of my own world, which seemed pretty interesting. So I set off to do just that.

The Vegetarian World is neither fair nor without its fair share of problems. If I were a god, I would not make this Vegetarian World into a real world, because I would want my world to be perfect. However, I still wanted to write about a world that while not perfect, was more to my liking than the current one. What if things were a little bit more fair, on average? Steve Irwin would still be doing his thing, those Virginia Tech students would be having a nice time in college, and their killer would have been an aborted fetus. These things ring true in the Vegetarian World. Also, it turns out that borders and different, the religious map is drawn differently, and good art and urban design didn't nearly die out. And most importantly, animals are respected, and natural land is preserved - at least to a greater extent than *here*.

About Our Present World
What humans are doing now in our timeline, I believe, will backfire. This world cannot support so many people, especially people who use "resources" at such an unbelievable pace. (Sadly, both the pace of consumption and the total number of people are increasing.) That's why the Vegetarian World population is around 1.6 billion. If it were 6.5 billion like *here*, it would still be an unsustainable society doomed to collapse eventually. During my research for Vegetarian World, I learned many things about many previously unstudied areas, like Africa. I've also read a lot about the rise and fall of Empires. In this day and age, we think that everything will stay the same from here on out, except for increased globalization. For me, it's eye opening to compare the beginning of the downfall of Empires to the situation we're experiencing presently.

It's shocking to realize that even those people high up in governments, with all the data they need at their fingertips, are still unaware that the Earth does not hold enough resources for everyone, no matter the technology used to extract them. The lesson for humanity with no consideration for the other beings sharing this world is explored in my other althist Peak Oil 1996, which is currently in its infancy.

So Far in Vegetarian World
So far, in the 100 main articles, plus the many image pages and category pages not counted, I have been able to give information about a substantial area of the world. I have a. Maps of, , , , , the , the , and various individual countries are already up. Most of my pages are country profiles, with demographics and other information. There are also pages about some subnational entities, including provinces and cities. Some examples of pages about political entities are, , , and. Also, there are some pages about cultural or other information, for example and.

Future Work on Vegetarian World
I still have much work to do. I have not created any "Pachan" (South American) countries, though I have some ideas. The Caribbean is still blank, though it will probably be called the "Arawakean Sea". I have been thinking about Australia, but don't know exactly what it will turn out to be. It will probably be similar to Pemhakamik, in that there will be a few coastal nations with European populations while the center is mostly Aborigine. New South Wales will probably be a nation called New South Kent. And then there is Europe, with no map yet. I think I need to do more research about all of these places before I decide exactly how to shape them.

Even in my world, currently, the Middle East is a mess. This is set to change. I believe the people deserve better. Perhaps the Islamic cultures can change from generally intolerant and warlike to relatively tolerant and peaceful. This may at first seem impossible, but seeing as how Christianity made that same switch just over the past few hundred years, with some exceptions, there is nothing keeping Islam from pulling the same reversal. I've also had the fortune of visiting Malaysia multiple times and having a Turkish friend. Malaysia and Turkey, to me, seem to prove that it's not merely Islam, itself, but rather Islam mixed with entrenched traditions and hatred that hold the Middle East back in our world. In the Vegetarian World, something will happen to change this. I think that the Hashemites (expelled from Arabia and the current royals of Jordan) will continue to hold on to Hejaz. This, in itself, could have major implications.

Dedication
My Vegetarian World wiki is dedicated to fellow vegetarians, people who fight for nature, Steve Irwin, the Virginia Tech students, and all those good people, animals, and other beings who have suffered unfairly in this world throughout history. It is also dedicated to my parents and my girlfriend.

Special Thanks
Special thanks goes out to Sikulu for his many comments.

Note to New Readers
If you are unfamiliar with this althist, please look at the very bottom of the page (where it says "Categories:") and click the "Vegetarian World" link to see a listing of all the articles I've created.