Joey thinks: why all the Edison Hate?

So I've observed a strange phenomenon over the past few years.  When I was young (like 10, I think) my parents provided me with a series of cartoons called something like great American heroes (it was produced by the same guys who did The Living Scriptures).  One of the episodes was all about Thomas Edison.  It was about how he invented the light bulb and the struggles therein.  It was pretty inspirational stuff.  He tried over ten thousand different filaments to make his incandescent bulb work.

Shown: Tommy and the Cronies

     When I was a kid, Thomas Edison was a hero.  Parents hoped their children would end up like him, he was the inspiration of inventors and forward thinkers.  Even people who objected to his ethics (the man electrocuted a giraffe in public once, though to be fair this was years and years before any kind of animal rights movement started), had to respect him.

     Sometime in the last ten years that's changed.  Oh, maybe you haven't been exposed to the movement personally, but lately every time I hear about Edison, its very, very negative.  Specifically, all anyone can talk about is how great an inventor Nikolai Tesla was, and how the evil, dirty, backstabbing, unscrupulous Thomas Edison broke his will to invent, stole all his money, and made him die a penniless popper.

     I think the first time I became aware of this movement was on an episode of Myth Busters (don't get me started on Myth Busters) where they tried to get some of Tesla's untested experiments to work.  Of course none of the experiments worked.  If they had any value they would have already been tested and either refined, or discarded.  This total lack of success did not stop them from taking time off to talk about how bad Edison was.

So much talent, experience and douchebaggery all rolled into two guys.

     At this point I should put forth the disclaimer: I don't hate Tesla.  In fact, I have no problem with him whatsoever.  I acknowledge that he was a brilliant man, and was quite likely Edison's equal, possibly his superior, in the realm of science.  I do, however, have a problem with people who blandly and ignorantly call Edison the Devil, while worshiping the ground Tesla walked on.

     Since then I've seen Edison hate on How Stuff Works, Cracked.com, Epic Rap Battle of History, and the Internet in general.  Type in Edison VS Tesla in Google and you'll be bombarded with articles about what a piece of filth Edison was and what an absolute saint Tesla was.

     So, what changed?  Their story is the same as it was ten years ago.  History hasn't changed.  So obviously it was us, but how?  Well I thought about it for quite a while.  And I now know what changed.

     You see, no one really hates Edison for Edison.  They hate him because he beat Tesla.  They say he used underhanded tactics, he never really invented anything, just refined already invented things, and used dirty business practices to put Tesla out of business.  I read a fine article the other day by Alex Knapp of Forbes called Nikolai Tesla Wasn't God, and Thomas Edison Wasn't The Devil that disproves most of these.  I could try and emulate his article, and disprove these, but instead I'll link to his, since I could never do such a good job as Knapp does.  Just bear in mind that most of the criticisms are exaggerated, if not outright fallacious.

     Here's what people really, really hate about Edison.  He was a winner.  He won, and he won, and he won so hard that some people lost.  He knew what he wanted and he went for it.  Tesla was brilliant, and he was kind, but Edison was a winner.

     Over the last twenty years, Americans have started to hate winners.  All of this has its roots in class warfare.  It used to be that rich people, if not admired, were at least respected.  People looked up to them as a way to live; as a goal to achieve.  But the government has been trying to change that.  After all, its easier to tax a group of people who are seen as villains, rather than the hardworking producers that they are. So for as long as I've been around, the government and the media have been preaching the Gospel of Envy.  The Gospel of never being satisfied with what you have.  The Gospel of hating those who have more.  They've preached that when someone gets something, it inherently takes from us.
     This isn't entirely false (after all, only one team can win), but is entirely harmful.  Envy is possibly the worst thing you can inject into your life.  It eats you up from the inside.  It makes you hate those who deserve no ill will.  It sours everything good in your live.  After all, how can you be happy with what you have, when someone else has more?

     Winners are villains in this world we live in.  When Edison won, Tesla lost.  All these things people come up with are just excuses.  You can find reasons to hate anybody if you look hard enough.  Well, look no further.  If you're going to win, someone else has to lose.  That's not just a byproduct of a broken society or some other BS.  It's a fundamental law of nature.  It's what makes some species survive, and some die out.
     There is a great deal of value in the compassion that comforts losers and helps them to achieve in life.  There is NO value in punishing winners.  Its so backwards and harmful.  And yet that's what we do all the time.  There's no good reason to hate Edison.  If you have personally been drawn in by this foolishness, recant your ways and come towards the light of reason and intelligence.