Hey, did anyone notice that Sawyer used a Taser on Sayid? I didn't think those existed in the 70s.
I definitely don't think Ben is dead. Sayid should have shot him in the head to make sure. It seems to be one of those things where if you thought you could stop an evil person while they were a child, would you do it? Sayid probably would have.
I definitely think something has changed, but I need to see what's going on with the future to see exactly what. I feel that the island definitely feels that Sayid, Sawyer, Juliet, Hurley, Jack, Kate, and the others in the 70s all have something important to do there or it wouldn't have brought them there.
Another thought, though far fetched. Maybe the bullet gets lodged near Ben's spine and a tumor forms around it. Then, in the future, Jack removes that tumor not knowing about a possible bullet or bullet fragment. Or, maybe the gunshot contributed to the tumor.