Society and Development

Bahamas issue #1
Idustrial Education

Students in the Bahamas are now encouraged to take more math and science courses to take advantage of the jobs that are available in the Bahamas. Member of Parliament Kwasi Thompson said that the government has made it possible for students who pass five BGCSEs with a grade of C and above to attend The College of The Bahamas free of charge and encouraged students to strive to meet the requirements.

" Math, physics, science and technical areas need to be given a more intense focus, he noted, as a concentration in these areas will increase chances of employment on the island. "

Issue #2
Disparity

In the Bahamas, the middle class is mainly from the hospitality, financial, retail and construction sectors of its economy. The agriculutral sector is having a very hard time push themselves into the middle class.

The government decided to make a  blueprint to figure out what needs to be changed. The blueprint calls for the phased establishment of at least 100 Bahamian family farms, each on 40 acres of and on our pine islands, producing, among other things, West Indies Sea Island Cotton  for the development of a vertically integrated textile light manufacturing industry.

With the proper selection of crops, along with the proper crop rotation schedule, each of these farms would have the potential for a net annual income in excess of $150,000.

The Priniples of the Operation

a. Farmer selection and training for the 40 acre farms.
b. Land reform.
c. Organizational structure and management.
d. Funding.
e. Marketing.
f. Farm labour.
g. Government support.
h. Technology.
i. Seed Bank development.
a. Farmer Selection and Training.


Issue #3
Devolopment Indicators

The Government of The Bahamas and the Government of the United Arab Emirates established diplomatic relations, based on mutual willingness to promote friendship and cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

The United Arb Emirates are quite wealthy, with a GDP per capita of US$36,175. Joining forces with such a international powerhouse could really help the devolopment of the Bahamas, and make it a international power like US, Canada, China, Japan, Germany, etc..

If the Bahamas could grow in their economy and infrastructure like UAE has in the past 10 years, they could really become more than just a tourist destination.

Geopolitics/Economy

Bahamas- 

The main struggle of the economy of Bahamas is how dependent it is of foreigners, it is crucial for other countries to be doing well so that the tourism does well in the Bahamas. When the economic crisis hit nationwide around 2008, travel went down tremendously and the wealthy nation of Bahamas lost out.

There is barely any history of political violence or instability in The Bahamas, there has been some semi-violent labor union protests, the most notable erupted in early 1999 over Government plans to downsize the phone company. Bahamas must let businesses be open with foreign investments in financial and intellectual properties.

The economics of Bahamas are hard to study because they follow the GDP of other countries because of tourism, and the political powers in Bahamas seem to be doing a great job in managing the country with the resources it has. I think they should do more work in the IT field since they don't have enough resources to export non technological goods.

http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/bahamas-info/Talkin_Tourism_to_focus_on_Grand_Bahama15765.shtml


Guatemala-
The government of Guatemala isn't as wealthy as Bahamas but still could do a better job governing the country. The country overthrew its dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944, and they founded a new constitution in 1985. The first election was in 1986 and the Christian Democratic party candidate Vinicio Cerezo took office with almost 70% of the vote. Cerezo promised a new rule of law and a end to political violence. A new leader evolved in the 1990 election, although the winner Jorge Serrano illegally dissolved Congress and the Supreme Court and tried to restrict civil freedoms in hopes to "fight corruption". The next election will be in September 2011 and the main issue is violent crime.  The government also suffers to run democratically because of inefficiency, intimidation, and corruption.

Guatemala signed the peace accord in December 1996, and it positioned them for rapid economic growth, but the economic crisis in 198 disrupted the possible improvement.

Religion of Bahamas

Religion is very present in the Bahamas, 90% of Bahamians hold a religion. It has a dominated by Christianity but holds a lot of diverity in the branches. Protestant Christian denominations including Baptists (35 percent), Anglicans (15 percent), Pentecostals (8 percent), Church of God (5 percent), Seventh-day Adventists (5 percent), and Methodists (4 percent) are in the majority, but there are also significant Roman Catholic (14 percent) and Greek Orthodox populations. A very small amount of Jews, Muslims, and Jehovah's Witness' reside in the Bahamas. I found that most unaffiliated Protestant congregations were almost exclusively black, but most mainstream churches are integrated racially. The religion in Bahamas are also similar to the US, since it is mainly Christianity, but supports most of the denominations.

Food of Bahamas

Most of the Bahamian food is seafood, obviously because of its geographic location. Some of the most popular foods are crawfish, conch, land crabs, and the famous fish are grouper, yellow tail, and red snapper.

Conch is a mollusk, which is a shellfish that is a perennial favorite. It can be made into stew, chowder, salad, and fritters.

A typical Bahamian meal consists of crab and rice, steamed fish, served with baked macaroni and cheese and potato salad. Which sounds somewhat westernized with the mac&cheese and potato salad, but it is very popular all of the Bahamians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddfcCIU1-3Y

Political System

The Bahamas is a parlimentary democracy with the prime minister as head of state. It gained its independence as a former British colony and remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is run very similar to the United Kingdom, since much of the culuture was made from the British colonization. It is run by a two-party system similar to the US. The constitution protects freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. It gives the Bahamas a westernized culture to a country that is in a area of mainly poor and unjust governments. I know the people of Bahamas can't complain. Since the Bahamians have very low crime and violence rates, and people live safely. I believe they are doing so well because of the government, and because it gives them the same indeniable freedoms that the American constitution started.

Guatemala

Guatemala is a very poor country, with a GDP at $4,884. Not every close to the GDP in The Bahamas at $25,000. You can only imagine what life is like in Guatemala when they have 5 times less the money than The Bahamas, and over 9 times less money than us Americans live off.

Negative Effects

People coming into The Bahamas could take away jobs. It also could raise crime rates, or violence. There's also always the chain-reaction possibility, if some come and find good jobs, many might come and it could turn into a situation of too many immigrants that the government of Bahamas would have to deal with.

Positive effects

Migration to The Bahamas gives people a better opportunity than many other Latin American countries. If they can find a stable job in Tourism, which takes up most of the work force, they will have a much better living than the vast majority of citizens from their previous country. It also helps the diversity and acceptance and other cultures into Bahamas.

Causes

The causes for the migration to Bahamas are mainly because of it's wealth. It doesn't have the best health care, or education, but it makes up with its high GDP ($26k). In Latin America, there aren't many countries that have the greatest standard of living, and especially the countries located near The Bahamas. The landscape and job opportunity gives an obvious answer for the incentives to move to The Bahamas.

Linkage Patterns

As of now, there are many people leaving Haiti to The Bahamas in hopes for a better life.

Migration Patterns

Taino people moved into the uninhabited southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 11th century, they become known as the Lucayans.

Approximately 30,000+ Lucayans at the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492. The became a Bristish Colony in 1718. Now, there is little to no cultural remains of the Lucayans.

It is hard to briefly go through the settlement of Guatemala, because there is proof of civilization that goes back to 12,000 B.C.

Spanish settled the area in 1519 and took out most of the native population. On September 15, 1821 Guatemala gained independence from the Spanish and the Mexican Empire. In 1944 their dictator was taken out of power and Guatemala became a democracy.

World Map

On a world-wide map, Bahamas are near impossible to even see.

Latin America Map

On a larger scale, you can see how small the land-size of The Bahamas really are. (5,358 sq miles)

Bahamas Map

Bahamas are located northwest along Cuba and Southwest from Florida.