A Short Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
I know there are alot of my fellow Canadians out there who don’t like America or much of what they think it stands for. Well maybe – just maybe – they might reconsider if they watch what promises to be an extraordinary documentary series on one of America’s most extraordinary families – a family has left legacies for environmental and social progress people across North America should celebrate and stand up for till this day.
While Canada has been ruled by Harperland around tar sands exploitation, climate change denial and gutting federal funding for health care and post-secondary education to give corporations, and whatever is left of the middle class another tax cut, it might be important to know that at least – once upon a time – there were people out there who cared about more than making money.
Those people were the Roosevelts of America who, as rich as they were, gave most of their life’s energy to helping others.
For all of their faults, and there were many of those too, Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were leaders in progressive politics in North America. And their story is being told, starting this Sunday, September 14th at 8 p.m. and continuing in a documentary series being aired by PBS (in this area, channel 21) until its finish, and produced by the great documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
Lest anyone wonder, I am not getting paid a penny l(like far too many mainstream media writers now are for running ‘sponsored stories) for urging you to check this series out.
My only motive is to encourage people to learn about some people who, most all of the time, placed the common good and their belief that government could be a force for good, in front of other interests.
You can find out more about the Roosevelt series by clinging on http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts/ .
(NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)
Niagara At Large 
Thanks Doug for your comments on this series. Many of the same struggles were won in Canada as the Roosevelts did but it was much harder since there was no such determined family to push them through. One victory, that I described in my book, “Two Billion Trees and Counting: The Legacy of Edmund Zavitz” was restoring our lands from dust bowl like desert conditions. While the United States has fairly well protected these legacies of the Roosevelts, in Canada they are under attack. Harper is closing down the tree planting nursery at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, which played a major role in curbing the dust bowl. He is also scrapping the community pasture programs, which is Saskatchewan, may result in the sell off of these conservation lands by his supporters at the provincial level.
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Unfortunately, I missed the first episode which I assume featured Theodore prominently. Although he could be a bully (Panama, etc.) & hawkish as well as a big game hunter he accomplished many progressive things. He eventually became an advocate of the National Parks system & a National Historic sites champion & overrode the wishes of many moneyed interests (who were his family’s peers & friends) who would have plundered natural treasures for greed by using a edict that enabled him to bypass congress & its influence. There was recently a programme on PBS (The National Parks) about his cooperation with Muir in setting aside places like Yosemite & the cliff dwellings in the south west for posterity. He camped out in blizzards in Yellowstone & the mountains (sometimes just himself & Muir) to experience the solitude he felt all Americans deserved to share.
As a man born to wealth he had the guts to stand up to his wealthy associates who assumed he would give in to their wishes in settling labour issues & realized without labour the big guys & the nation would be nothing. He also had, as did Franklin, tremendous charisma (& an infectious laugh), a trait so lacking in Emperor Harperius.
Franklin learned humility, compassion & strength from his bout with polio & from Eleanor’s examples of humanitarianism & advocacy for the downtrodden. He also had a major influence from Frances Perkins, an amazing lady in his cabinet, who was responsible for many of his social programmes. I hope she is mentioned prominently. (BTW, as a Scottie lover, Fallah better be mentioned too!).
Eleanor was a ground breaker who, although wealthy, knew what it was like to be outcast from some segments of society for superfluous reasons. Fortunately she had a mentor in school & the encouragement of her uncle Theodore plus the intestinal fortitude to put herself out there for good causes. She was a feminist ground breaker. She would have been a fabulous president herself but … heaven forbid, a woman president?
Too bad politicians now haven’t even a modicum of charisma, ethics or plain old cajones. While not without fault, I can’t think of many who could be their peers in many ways.
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