Ric Burns, not Ken, produced a film for PBS called New York: A documentary film. You may have seen it, as it is relatively old, 1999 to be exact. The Nonagenarian and I have viewed episodes 1 through 3. We have 4 more to go.

The third episode sparked an inner dialogue that inspired this post. E3 covered 1865 to 1898…a period that saw a Great Depression, ethnic tensions and great waves of immigration. Sounds familiar? I thought so too.

The quoted epithets and slurs published and spoken about immigrants to the U S A sounded just like those being bandied about in the current race for president south of the border. Also similar were the economic tactics of bankers and investors. Nothing has changed. Power was in the hands of a small number of insiders then as it is now.

I wish I could mail a copy of this doc to every voter, just like the Academy does at Oscar time. Only voters can break the hold of the few on the many. American voters who by their nature look forward, need to look to the past.