Who's Your hero?

Yesterday the world lost a great man, maybe even one of the last truly great men left.  Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 leaving a legacy of hope, justice and forgiveness behind.  I became aware of Nelson Mandela in the 1980's when the issue of Apartheid in South Africa was the popular issue for world activists much like Free Tibet is today.  Songs like Sun City, Biko, and Free Nelson Mandela along with movies such as Cry Freedom brought the issue of racial segregation to the middle class suburban masses of Canada and the United States.  It was through the story of Nelson Mandela that as a teenager I became interested in history and the stories the world held beyond the typical cold war rhetoric I had grown up with.  For me Nelson Mandela became a man to look up to, someone embodied strength, determination, compassion, sacrifice, caring and the willingness to sacrifice himself for his ideals.  Since my teenage years Nelson Mandela has always been there as a symbol that not all sacrifices go unrewarded, sometimes right does win and individuals do matter. For me Nelson Mandela was the living embodiment of histories greatest figures like Martin Luther King Jr and Ghandi.

The world is messier now than it was then.  We like to focus on the failings of people and we live in a world where people's personal lives and every misstep are often exposed to the world.  Professional athletes are regularly in the news for being arrested, our politician caught in scandal, our heroes constantly being brought back down to earth.  Mandela and his fight against Apartheid reminds us of a simpler time when there was a right and wrong stance and it was OK to pick sides, even if the people you were siding with weren't perfect.

Visit the following link and explore the life of Nelson Mandela and the legacy he left for world.  Then examine your own beliefs and who matters to you. Leave a comment on a person you admire or an issue you believe in and explain your stance.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nelson-mandela-dead-at-95-1.2417872

Click on the following links to see some more on Nelson Mandela

Mandela's Release from Prison Speech
Who's is Nelson Mandela
Mandela, The Man and His Country

The Depression Takes Hold

During the 1930's the Canadian economy was dependent on the export of raw materials such as wheat, lumber, and minerals, all of which saw foreign markets plummet after 1929.  Manufacturing companies in Canada were forced to cut back on production and lay off workers because of the dramatic slump in demand for the goods they made.  Unemployment skyrocketed.  Young, single men, frequently in search of their first jobs after leaving school, were particularly affected.  Many of them traveled across the country, hitching rides on railway freight cars, in what was all too often a vain search for work.  

During the Great Depression, many desperate Canadian wrote directly to Prime Minister Bennet, Appealing to him for assistance.  There were few other places they could turn at that time, since there were few social welfare programs in place, and the need was so great.  Bennet a Millionaire, actually did answer many of these pleas for help, often enclosing a small amount of money in his reply.

Post a comment in the form of  a letter to Prime Minister Bennett as if you were either, an unemployed Canadian man traveling across the country in search of work, or a mother with four small children struggling to survive.  The letter should contain details of the problems the writer is facing along with an appeal to Bennet for help.  Remember, Bennet, his government and many wealthy Canadians thought it was unacceptable for people to get “something for nothing”. 

Letters from the Front

Explore the First World War website and Canadian Letters from the Front to get a feel for some of the details of the front lines in Europe.  

Create an interview between a reporter and a soldier or a fictional letter home from a Canadian Man or women on the front lines. Assume the person has served in the Battles of Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and Passchendale.

Post your interview or letter on this site under comments (be sure to include your initials at the end so I can give you credit).  Your interview or letter should aim to inform the Canadian public at home about and include details about a minimum of 5 of the following:

·         trench warfare

·         life in the front lines

·        the roles of technology in the war

·         the quality of military leadership

·         morale of Canadian soldiers

·         the effectiveness of Canadian troops

·         hospitals and medical treatment

·         the roles of women in the war

U.N. Interventions

Ever since the Suez Crisis Canadians have taken pride in looking at themselves as the world's Peacekeepers.  Over the years this has meant that Canada has been invo9lved in some very important U.N. missions while also being part of some misguided failed interventions.  Recently this has lead Canadians to question our role in international affairs and our support for the United Nations. 

However, before we can understand were we are going we need to have a clear look at where we have been.

Task:  Visit the following link and read the CBC article History of UN Interventions. and read through the list of U.N. sanctioned interventions.  Find one mission that Canada was part of and research our involvement.  Leave a comment on this page summarizing your findings.  Be sure to include the date, location and reason for the mission.  Include and details you can find about Canada's involvement, number of troops, role etc., and if the mission would be considered a success or not.

Lessons from the Holocaust

And I Said Nothing

In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionist, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.


TASK: Write personal reflection on the atrocities of the Holocaust and how it has (or hasn’t) changed the world.

Keep these questions in mind:
• Who is to blame for the Holocaust?
• Could the Holocaust have been stopped?
• How to the "Stages of Isolation" show the gradual persecution leading to the annihilation of the Jews?
• What would you have done if you lived in Germany during the Third Reich?
• How does the passage "And I Said Nothing" portray the actions of the people in Germany during Third Reich? What is the danger in saying or doing "nothing"?
• What lessons must be learned from the Holocaust?
• How do we, as responsible and aware human beings, ensure that an event such as the Holocaust or any type of racial genocide never occurs again?
• Do you think we have “learned our lesson” from the Holocaust, use examples to support your point of view from more recent history

To view some images from the Holocaust click the following links.
http://www.phdn.org/histgen/schmitz/indexeng.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/phototoc.html

Battle Scenes

Explore the images of World War One and choose the one the best represents Canada's role in the War.  Copy and paste the image into a comment and explain why you chose it.  Remember it can be from the air, sea, ground or home front.

Exploring your Political Views

Read the following instructions and complete the activity. These were developed by a friend of mine, Mr. Thielmann, over at DP Todd.

Activity One
Purpose: find out what kind of political views you have and how they compare with world figures and political parties

Instructions:
go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/
read the instructions and complete the quiz
read through your results page to learn about your views
summarize what you learned from the quiz by commenting in response to this posting on the course blog -- http://www.soc11eh.blogspot.com

Tips:
left vs right: left-wing usually means more government control over industry and economy; right-ring usually means less government regulation and intervention (laissez-faire)
authoritarian vs libertarian: authoritarian means powerful government which controls rights and freedoms, sometimes it can be a dictatorship; libertarian means less government control of rights, sometimes less government in general