The Wright Brothers

 The Wright Brothers

Wilbur and Orville Wright were two brothers that were able to create the world's first airplane. In 1903, the Wright Brothers were able to create a winged machine that was able to fly through the air. The first airplane was made of fabric, wood, and wire. The machine was able to fly 10 feet in the air and travel 120 feet in 12 seconds.

The Wright Brothers were able to keep discipline and work on their invention. They were able to create an even better airplane that was able to reach a farther vertical distance and be an improvement over the predecessor flying machine. 

It is interesting to know that the Wright Brothers were bicycle repairmen that were able to develop the world's first airplane and improved upon their invention. The Wright Brothers were from North Carolina. The Wright Brothers accepted awards for having created the first flying machine. Despite being inventors and being awarded numerous accolades, they did not become arrogant.

It is easy to assume that having created the first airplaine would have made them arrogant, yet they decided to keep humility and keep making improvements to their inventions. They kept humbleness and did not let the renown and accolades cause them to be conceited. The airplane was improved in 1909 and has had various improvements over the centuries. It is fascinating to know that Emilia Earhart was going to be the first woman to fly around the world (after flying across the Atlantic) in an airplane that did not have more than 34 years of being created.

George Westinghouse

George Westinghouse

Westinghouse was an inventor who realized that trains needed an air brakes system to prevent accidents. Most of the train accidents occured because train operators needed to apply the brake by hand. Westinghouse created an air brake system that was safer and easier to use. For his resourcefulness and innovation, he was rewarded and obtained renown. 

Westinghouse would keep innovating by creating an electrical brake system that told train operators when to brake. Westinghouse was an impressive inventor and creator in the 1800s. Due to Westinghouse's innovations, lives and cargo were saved. 

Westinghouse would keep innovating and developed generators producing alternating current instead of direct current. Westinghouse was slandered by associates of Thomas Alva Edison for being innovative. While Edison was an impressive inventor it was possible that he may have been corrupted or attempted to prevent competition from occuring. 

Despite being slandered by associates of Edison, Westinghouse persevered and his electric generators producing an alternating current would be chosen over the direct current invention of Edison. Associates of Edison tried to discourage the use of Westinghouse's invention that was a better invention than Edison's by lying and slandering Westinghouse's invention. Instead of competing based on talent and hard work, Edison took the easy way out. Despite slander, Westinghouse's invention prevailed and the direct current system was not used.

The Importance of Competition

The story of Westinghouse describes the importance of competition in true capitalism. Each idea, product, or service should be tested and compared to select the best possible option. This ideal in the United States allowed the United States to prosper describing that there were multiple inventions created. Without competition, the market suffers and the quality of products and services also suffers. This is seen in monopoly "capitalism", socialism, and communism where the market stagnates and there are no innovations. Inventiveness and creativity are shunned and red tape and bureaucracy prevents innovation. 

Edison probably did not want competition after being one of the greatest inventors due to envy. Westinghouse kept being persistent and developed his generators that were better than Edison's. While Edison was impressive for the inventions he created, there is still the need to compete and allow for competition between ideas, products, and services. We have seen how lack of competition in multiple fields has led to stagnation. Bureaucracies have been responsible for most of the red tape and non-compete mentality in the past century. This has been seen in music, sports, academia, and even in entertainment. We can persevere avoiding idolators who hate competition and innovation due to envy. 

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