Event dispatchers are necessary for event driven programs. Something must detect events and trigger actions, and POE's Kernel is it. It's about as unnecessary as your brain, without which you wouldn't detect events and act upon them.
POE doesn't have a "stack"*. POE has so little for you to hate on that you've got to make up new stuff not to like. :)
Everything else was added at user request, usually after fighting with the author over whether it was absolutely necessary. To the death. Uphill. Both ways. Ask some people who actually know POE's development history. If you can be reasonable, you're always welcome in irc.perl.org #poe.
Here's a pretty video of POE's development history. It won't teach you anything, so it's safe for you to watch.
And finally, if big words like Kernel are too scary, check out Reflex for a more Modern approach.
-----
*Perl's call stack doesn't count.
--
Rocco Caputo - http://poe.perl.org/ - irc://irc.perl.org/poe
| 