Don't miss the Cognitive Dissonance of the patent office clerks
A Hundred and Four Years Later
December 17, 1903, a hundred four years ago on the beach at Kitty Hawk, in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, men realized the dream of flying. It came true. Two fellows, brothers from Ohio, made it happen.
Four years back this December 17, a hundred years later, December 17, 2003, it happened again. Same place, same thing. Members of the EAA, (Experimental Aircraft Association) have created a replica of the flying machine that the brothers used, The Wright Flyer, and will reenact the event. Every one is keeping their fingers crossed; hoping it will fly and no one is hurt. Those close to the project it say it doesn’t fly very well. I, like all the rest, am hoping too! I want it to happen.
I look at where we are a hundred four years later and marvel at the progress made. Why, we went from the sands at Kitty Hawk to the surface of the moon in less than 70 years! In the field of Aviation, we’ve made some progress. I wish that were so in government.
Let me tell you this little story about the Wright Brothers and compare it to our government in North Georgia.
Hearing, They Heard Not and Seeing, They Saw Not
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, worked in the bicycle business in Ohio. They are remembered for having been the first Americans to fly an airplane. Indeed! They are recognized as having built the first airplane.
In their quest to fly, they would leave their business in Ohio and travel to North Carolina, to the beach where the winds blew. If you have ever flown a kite, you may remember, wind helps! It was at Kill Devil Hills where their efforts to fly paid off and their machine flew and carried them with it!
Having accomplished something no one else had, they sought to protect their discovery and obtain a patent from the US Patent Office. They had a hard job with this; the folks at patent office would not issue a patent for a heavier than air flying machine because every body knew a machine heavier than air could not fly!
This is where the story gets good and you can understand that "
hearing they heard not and seeing they saw not"!
Two of the men from the patent office had gone goose hunting together. They knew of and were familiar with the application from the Wright Brothers for a patent for a flying machine. Hunting was good. Each of the fellows from the patent office had been able to shoot and recover several geese. They had the geese and were walking back to camp discussing the patent application and how foolish it was because every one knew that any thing heavier than air could not fly! Oh the Montegolfiers had flown their hot air balloon in France, but Hot Air Balloons were lighter than air.
The talk turned back to the hunt and how it was necessary to shoot ahead of the birds as they came in to land; else you would miss the shot. The birds flew fast. One fellow said to the other, "It's a good thing we are almost to reach the camp, these geese are heavy!
Whoa! Don't you miss that! The geese were heavy! A lot heavier than air! The guys from the patent office “heard not and saw not” In their “blindness”, stupidity, ignorance and just plain inability to comprehend! They didn’t see that if the birds were heavy and they flew, then a machine that was heavy could also fly!
Well now you might say, “Just how does that relate to government in North Georgia?” We are just like the patent office guys! We’re blind, stupid, ignorant, just plain can’t comprehend that Democracy is a Government of the people, for the people and by the people.
A hundred years later Democracy as a government in North Georgia is still, “on the sands of Kitty Hawk”!
Most Counties and cities in the area are small and sparsely populated. With little industry.. Our Government officials commit fraud and theft and most of us accept this as “normal”, and don’t try making progress and coming into the 21 first century.
Our school is one of the largest industries in the County. We spent about $14,000 per year per child- in an attempt to educate the students. It’s obvious we could save money and do a better job if we just gave half of what we are spending to the parents and let them send their children to private school.
If we could just open our eyes and see we really don’t have to stay on the sands of Kitty Hawk, we can have a government of the people, for the people and by the people. ALL areas of local government; the Sheriff, The probate Judge, County Commission, The School Superintendent The District Attorney, Oversight of ALL areas of government is in the hands of the people ALL the time. You don’t have to wait four years, or until the “next” election, for corrective action. The Grand Jury has oversight of local government all the time. If, and I say again “IF” we can leave the ignorance of thinking like patent office folk and just open our eyes and take hold of our authority given us in O.C.Ga. 15-12-71 and other code sections and USE IT to subpoena, question and indict, we can make progress and leave the place where we were a hundred years ago!
Please make this Dream of a Government of the people, for the people and by the people come true. Please do a democracy thing; please do a patriotic thing, please save a democracy for our fighting men to come home to! Please read the code sections and tell your grand juror members and district attorney to enforce the laws against corrupt elected officials.
