Future of Montserrat Essay Example for Free

Future of Montserrat Essay The island of Montserrat is situated upon an underwater volcano created by a destructive plate boundary, with the volcanos peak protruding from the south side of the island by the name of Chances Peak in an area entitled Soufriere Hills (in the Caribbean). For 350 years the volcano had remained dormant; however a few weeks ago, Chances Peak became active again and began to emit dust and ash – warning signs that an eruption was almost imminent. On July 20th 1995 (yesterday) the anticipated eruption occurred, producing numerous quandaries for the surviving residents of Montserrat. Montserratians will experience the social impacts of the eruption; these may be the most direct of all the predicaments they encounter and therefore the most challenging to face. Since the volcanos on the island are perceived as unpredictable, the inhabitants are fearful of another eruption. Though they are presently being transferred to a temporary safe region, it is unknown whether a subsequent eruption would be more severe than the first and raise the figures for the injured or killed (19) unnecessarily. Hence the many who have left the island to reside (maybe permanently) in neighbouring islands, the UK or the USA, however this only applies to the populace that possess sufficient funds to do so. The safe regions are reportedly extremely crowded; consequently, with the low sanitation levels, the spread of disease will accelerate. Also, farmers are unable to farm due to constricted land and the devastating environmental impacts of the volcano. If the more wealthy (we can assume the more educated) no longer choose to reside in the island, a ‘brain drain’ will transpire, leaving farmers and communities with small businesses that rely on tourism on Montserrat, though if eruptions cease and the volcano becomes dormant again, life for the farmers could improve as over time the soil of the area would be very fertile. As a result of the ‘brain drain’ there would be an absence of teachers; therefore the children on Montserrat would not be able to learn for a period of time. Moreover, a deficiency of doctors and hospital personnel would leave many people in need of medical help unattended to. Furthermore, persons already residing in the north of the island would have to compromise with the new displaced people; this may cause some feuds over pace etc†¦ The GDP and GNP of Montserrat are predicted to face dramatic cutbacks due simply to the loss of people on the island, and the lack of income from farmers who do not have access to land they can farm on, or businesses that have been destroyed – which is common as many companies were positioned in Plymouth – a city that was completely covered by ash and soon after finished off by deadly pyroclastic flows. If the GDP and GNP do fall, citizens who have decided to stay will be significantly poorer, and therefore may not be able to pay taxes. In addition, a vast sum would have to be paid in damages to property and the building of temporary displaced peoples camps. Due to ash clouds, airports would be closed down, and airlines would have to pay massive amounts in lost revenues. Conversely, industries for other forms of transport (such as shipping companies) would benefit, as passengers search for alternatives to flying. The frequency of imports and exports would not decrease massively as a mere 1% of trade in the UK occurs on flights. Also, (elaborating on the point of aid given by other countries above) since the Montserrat was included in the Federal Colony of British Leeward Islands, the UK may offer some financial support to help improve the islands economy if the damage to it is serious enough. Additionally, the volcano has had colossal impacts on the environment (both positive and negative). Firstly, the ash has suffocated many of the flora and fauna, furthermore, the pyroclastic flow and lahars have killed all life (excluding human) within a 2km radius. Carbon dioxide emitted from the volcano is predicted by scientists to contribute to the greenhouse effect, sulphur dioxide expected to cause environmental issues as sulphur in the stratosphere is the main cause of acid rain. Nonetheless, as a result of two thirds of the islands population predicted to leave the island) the flora and fauna may flourish as there will be less human activity and settlements, leaving nature to itself without interference from machines, factories, and other forms of pollution. The land and soil affected by the volcano will also become fertile, which will, in turn, enhance the growth of plants and trees after an amount of time, and allow them to regrow. The slopes of Chances peak after the eruption are reportedly steeper than before, which will promote growth of delicate, and rare plants can grow with the protection of the slope. The volcano is also expected to alter the weather around Montserrat, causing rain, thunder and lighting. Sea temperatures have reportedly risen, killing some species that rely on specific living conditions, also silting in rivers or lakes has forced boats to stop navigating them as the depth is insufficient. On political terms, and elaborating on the point made above concerning tax and its correspondence with the lack of people on the island, the amount of tax received by the government would decrease too, resulting in a government prone to corruption. Moreover, the government may not be considered fit to run the country by its people, and may be voted out. The government of Montserrat may be forced to relinquish their independency, and amalgamate with another country to become part of their nation (a plausible example would be Montserrat re-joining Britain). On the topic of short term needs, a few that exist are food and drink, and temporary residency areas. Since the eruption would have most likely demolished many of the populace’s properties, and belongings, they will need an alternative place to stay such as the safe zone which has been arranged in the north of the island and is one third of the islands size, compressing hundreds into a tiny space. The government would also be burdened with the task of providing sufficient food and drink for the residents as they would have no means of income, or a market area to buy their own. Medical aid has also become necessary, however not as much as expected as (thankfully) most who occupied the most affected areas had been evacuated before the eruption. Long term necessities will help sustain lives devoid of poverty and hunger for the people of Montserrat. An example of a need which will help the populace in the ‘long run’ is loans to restart businesses and companies citizens had lost in the pyroclastic flows or ash. Furthermore, the government or a country aiding Montserrat could assist by building an early detection system or research facility, to identify when future eruptions may occur, therefore allowing time to prepare. MEDC’s like the USA or the UK might be reviewing plans to assist through the means of creating rehabilitation programmes, or even allowing the people of Montserrat to apply for permanent residency; this would solve the problem or relocating people to live their lives in a safe location.

Tourism Education And Work Experience

Tourism Education And Work Experience Tourism education supply has faced a rapid growth over the past three decades (Micheal Morgan, 2004). It is a global phenomenon (Joseph Joseph, 2000) and the reason behind is to guarantee qualified and well trained employees on the tourism employment market as demands keep on growing (M.S, Mohd Zahari, 2004). Both the government and the private sector play an important role in the provision of tourism education; at secondary and tertiary level. In Mauritius, tourism education undergoes a pyramid-type program system; meaning that tourism curricula is available a secondary programme, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (Tertiary Education Commission, 2010). Tourism education has been criticized for producing a tourism workforce regardless of the quality. Quality workforce is of great influence as it plays a key role in organizations meeting customers expectations and satisfaction (Evans Lindsay, 1999; Zeithaml et al., 1990). As students embark on tourism education programmes, it is expected that they come out with high quality knowledge, skills and the ability to meet the needs of the industry (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2006; Harris and Zhao, 2004; Kok, 2000). Szambowski et al (2002) put forward that significant emphasis should be placed on students gaining practical experience outside the classroom learning environment. However, increase in offers for tourism education has raised an alarm about graduates having difficulties in finding a tourism job in the coming decades. But still, the industry needs the services of qualified and committed workforce to impact positively on customers satisfaction of experience. To meet the industry demand, work experience has been added to tourism curricula to equip students with the technical, operational and professional skills under the form of internship. Bullock, Gould and Hejmadi (2009, p. 482) cited that internships have enhanced their understanding of their own life choices, enabled the acquisition of transferable skills and provided a tangible link between theory and application. It is the tool that gives students the opportunity to examine career possibilities in a realistic and real world environment and to explore a possible fit with a particular enterprise (Kapoor, 2000; Waryszak, 1999). Several researches were carried out in accordance to work experience and its importance in the tourism and hospitality perspective. It is essential according to Getz (1994) to investigate how work experience changes attitude and perception of students towards tourism and hospitality careers. Demonte Vaden (1987) stated that the factor that had the greatest influence on students decision for a tourism career was work experience. Further findings supposed that it may discourage students to enter the industry, instead of them looking forward to pursue a tourism career (Busby, 2003; Boud, Solomon Symes, 2001). Tourism as an employer There has been a rapid ascendancy of tourism to the worlds largest industry since the whole world continues to travel in a robust manner. Tourism as a sector has grown more rapidly than the total employment in the world economy (WTO, 2005; WTTC, 2005a). It is a service oriented industry, based on a labor intensive production system, meaning that employees play a major role in the delivery of products and services that influence the overall tourism experience (Chellen Nunkoo). Statistics depict out that world tourism employment is estimated at 258.6 million year to date, which is approximately 8,3% of total employment and it is forecasted to increase by a percentage of 2.3% per annum, to reach a figure of 323.9 million by 2021. These jobs include both direct and indirect employment (Justin Matthew Pang, 2010). Direct employment refers to the jobs helping in the creation of the business itself while indirect jobs refer to businesses producing goods and services that assist in supplying visitors and travelers directly (Justin Matthew Pang, 2010). Direct employment in the tourism industry is 99 million to date and it is forecasted to increase to 120 million by 2021 (WTTC, 2007). In Mauritius, for the year 2011, total tourism employment is figured at 28 039 (Survey of employment and Earnings in large Establishments). Beside such statistics, Li (2007) put forward that there will be a shortage of talent in the industry but this goes in contradiction to what Evans (1993) and Busby (1994) mentioned. They both put forward that the trend on increasing application for tourism related courses will accordingly, result in a surplus of graduates on the tourism labor market. Tourism has proved to be a major employer and contributor to the world economy. But still, the tourism industry is being criticized for creating low skilled and low paid jobs with low satisfaction, high level of staff turnover, waste of trained personnel and limited scope for promotion (Kusluvan and Kusluvan, 2000; Chellen and Nunkoo, 2010; Richardson, 2008; Richardson 2009; Roney and ÃÆ'-ztin, 2007). Such critics give rise to one of the major challenge of the industry which is to attract and retain qualified and motivated staff. Employers across the world, whether large or small, face the same challenge; attracting and retaining people with the right skills and personal attitudes and attributes to deliver a quality experience to tourists. It is a sensible issue for the industry as the tourism sector depends much on people (Baum, 1999). One of the reasons why there is such a need for people is because of the nature of its guest services and also its late adoption of technology and newfangled management process (Bull, 1995). This global phenomenon of attracting and retaining qualified workforce was once an isolated case for some markets but it has made its way through, to the whole world industry. Although there is much literature about tourism, there is very few addressing students attitude and perception to further a career in the industry (Roney and ÃÆ'-ztin, 2007). Now that the phenomenon is widely spread, the need to investigate on the issue is becoming more and more important for the whole tourism universe. According to Chellen and Nunkoo (2010), this would be helpful to get a clear view of the status of tourism jobs in the human resources planning process for the tourism sector. While working on tourism and hospitality workforce development programs, knowing tourism job status is deemed bringing more accuracy for the preparation of inline strategies. Human Resource plans focuses on the employment needs of large international tourism organization, especially in hospitality, neglecting how students perceive tourism as an employer. It is necessary for tourism and hospitality providers to attend to one of their most precious assets, namely, their human resource, if they wa nt to be competitive on the marketplace. In fact it has been argued that without employees having a positive attitude towards their work, there is minimal chance for the organization to achieve customer satisfaction and loyalty, thus an advantage over competitors (Rosentbluth, 1991; Zeithaml Bitner, 1996). Various researchers have been questioning the reluctance of many students to embark themselves in a career in the tourism and hospitality industry. They started to investigate in secondary and tertiary institutions, where the potential new recruits are found. Students from secondary schools were those who were the least exposed to experience in the tourism industry. Ross (1994) conducted a research in a secondary school in Australia and results showed that they had high level of interest in working at management level the tourism industry. Further researches were carried out at tertiary level as well as vocational institutions. Barron and Maxwell (1993) studied the perception of new and continuing students at Scottish higher education institutions and found that while students recognized the career opportunities attached to the tourism and hospitality industry, the majority could not foresee a long-term career in the industry. This is further confirmed by Johns and McKechnie, (1995) who stated that 50% of students choose careers out of the industry upon completion of their studies. Richardson (2008) research on Australian students revealed that more than 50% of tourism and hospitality undergraduate students were already contemplating careers outside the industry. According to Richardson (2009) the students look for job in more remunerative sectors upon graduation. Bloome (2006) cited that many students who embark on a tourism and hospitality curriculum do not join the tourism and hospitality industry upon graduation. Students complained not having the opportunity to develop managerial skills in tourism jobs according to Purcell Quinn (1995) while Casado (1992) investigated the basic expectations of students in the tourism and hospitality sector, and found their expectation to be fairly realistic before graduation. Students failing to integrate the industry for work result in wastage of trained and experienced personnel and above all, high staff turnover (Doher ty, Guerrier, Jamieson, Lashley Lockwood, 2001; Jenkins, 2001; Pavesic Brimer, 1990; Zacerreli, 1985). According to Kusluvan (2001), it is important to understand the attitude of students in order to gain an insight as to why many of them are disinclined to join the line or choose to leave the industry after a relatively short period. In order to understand this, Kusluvan (2003), states that it is important to see the perspectives of students who are currently pursuing a tourism and hospitality curriculum and those who have graduated. For the purpose of this research, only those ongoing a tourism curriculum will be questioned. Students opinion about jobs in the tourism sector get them to be reluctant in majoring a career in the tourism industry. Gu et al (2007) conducted a research in China and the students claimed that career development in the tourism and hospitality industry was not sufficiently promising. Furthermore, according to a research in China (Jiang and Tribe, 2009), students classified tourism job a short-lived profession. They were not committed to develop a career in the field where the nature of the tourism job itself, clearly affects their decision. Unlikely, there are actually, six million people employed in the tourism and hospitality industry in China. The statistics for tourism job in the country is forecasted to rise by one million in the next ten years. Students commitment to tourism jobs is what determines the prosperity of the sector on a worldwide avenue. As per Roney and ÃÆ'-ztin (2007), students commitment is one of the major factors that shape the image of the tourism industry positively. Through exposure to the industry, tourism and hospitality students become considerably less interested in selecting tourism and hospitality as their first choice for a career (Kusluvan Kusluvan, 2000; Getz, 1994). Students compare their expected career goals to the offer of the tourism industry, and as they notice the negative gap between those two, their interest for the industry deteriorates. Their images of the industry include poor treatment of staff, little or no training given, and effort outweighing rewards. For students who choose tourism education as first choice and having a clear view of what they will be facing in reality, their attitude towards working in the industry are positive (Lu and Adler, 2009). Those who embark on a tou rism education trek without realistic knowledge of the career opportunities and working conditions, claim that they would have not done so if they had a proper career guidance and orientation right from the start at secondary level (Roney ÃÆ'-ztin, 2007). Hence according to Kusluvan and Kusluvan, proper measures like efficient career guidance and orientation, written exam supplemented by interviews, psychometric tests like personality and service orientation tests, should be adopted to reduce uncertainties of future tourism students about tourism job. Most research pertaining to students perception and attitude towards the tourism industry end up stating that tourism students or fresh graduates had a negative image of the sector as an employer. Kusluvan Kusluvan certified his works by evidence that students have an unfavorable evaluation towards different dimensions of working in the tourism industry. According to Getz (1994), the percentage of people who considered the hospitality attractive decreased from 43% to 29% over the periods 1978 1992. This represents a nearly half percentage decrease in the statistics. Most hospitality graduates have been found to believe that a number of extrinsic factors, such as poor working conditions, high pressure, long working hours, and a lack of motivation, training programs, and career opportunities, may contribute to poor employment aspirations, high turnover rates, and the wastage of educational investment (e.g., Kang and Gould, 2002; Jenkins, 2001). This should be a cause for concern sinc e attitudes are considered to be effective predictors of intention and behavior (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980), and negative attitude would make students less willing to look for tourism jobs. Several books and journals have been published on tourism, but very few were to address the issue of tourism students perception towards the tourism and hospitality industry in Mauritius. To enlighten the situation in Mauritius, this paper seeks to identify the factors influencing students perception and attitude towards furthering a career in the tourism sector in Mauritius. Though there is a lack of such literature pertaining to developing countries, the paper will try to adapt the research to the country which is a developing one and as well the fastest growing region in global tourism (Chellen Nunkoo). This paper aims at studying the attitude and perception of tourism undergraduate students towards a career in the tourism industry in Mauritius. To further understand how attitude and perception helps to predict ones intention to integrate the industry, this paper will make use of the Theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), which predicts behaviour by intention. Then, to strictly measure the students attitude and perception, an instrument of 9 dimensions adapted from that developed and tested by Kusluvan Kusluvan (2000) will be used. The 9 dimensions are classified as nature of work, social status, industry person congeniality, physical working condition, pay and fringe benefits, co-workers, promotion opportunity, managers and commitment. Two likely studies have been carried out in Mauritius by Chellen and Nunkoo (2010) and a University of Mauritius tourism graduate (2011). However this paper, in addition to the 9 dimensions of Kusluvan and Kusluvan (2000), bring up the issue of work experience for differentiation, as a tool capable of shaping students attitude and perception towards a career in the industry upon graduation.

La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre :: Our Lady of Charity South Florida

La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre One of the primary unifying forces of the Cuban community in South Florida is La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, or Our Lady of Charity. In 1898, after Cuba won its independence from Spain, she became the official patroness of the island. The Cuban soldiers credited their victory to the Virgin's intervention in their crusade for independence. The Virgin is seen as a religious tradition that strongly unites Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. In South Florida, Cubans throughout the United States gather each year to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Charity on September the eighth. Alongside the traditional Catholic service, many within the exile congregation offer their hopes and prayers, to the Virgin, for a Cuba free from communism. Though Cuba is where the celebration of La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre originated, each year, her statue, which was smuggled out of Cuba in 1961, is ferried by boat to Miami Marine Stadium. The reason for smuggling the statue, a scant two years after Fidel's revolution, was because the Catholic religion was not allowed to be openly practiced within Cuba. In recent years, a mass has been celebrated to honor La Virgen at the Hialeah racetrack. Taking all these South Florida celebrations into account, one could say that the Virgin plays an important role in the lives of many Cuban men and women who make the journey from Cuba to the free shores of the Florida coastline. They rely on her for protection and guidance while journeying across the Caribbean Sea. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre as well as La Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, the church that was constructed in her honor, have both become important Cuban cultural landmarks. Built along a stretch of Biscayne Bay, her shrine was completed with the donations of newly arrived Cuban exiles. The $420,000 raised helped pay for the construction costs. La Ermita can be seen as a unifying force for the Cuban population in South Florida; with the entire community contributing to the construction and maintenance of this site, she belongs to everyone.

Effects of Popaganda films on World War II Essay -- essays papers

Effects of popaganda films on WWII The effects of film on WWII propaganda Without the advent of the medium of film to wage a war of propaganda both the Axis and the Allies of World War II would have found it difficult to gather as much support for their causes as they did. Guns, tanks, and bombs were the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, more subtle, forms of warfare as well. Words, posters, and films waged a constant battle for the hearts and minds of the masses of the world just as surely as military weapons engaged the enemy. Persuading the public became a wartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets and planes. Both sides launched an aggressive propaganda campaign to galvanize public support, and some of these nation’s foremost intellectuals, artists, and filmmakers became warriors on that front. Propaganda in the broadest sense is the technique of influencing human action by the manipulation of representations. These representations may take the spoken, written, pictorial, or musical form. Since the cinema uses all four of these types of representations, a filmmaker would seem to wield a lot of power as a propagandist. If he so chooses to use his power to its fullest potential. The essential distinction lies in the intentions of the propagandist to persuade an audience to adopt the attitude or action he or she espouses. This is ever so prevalent as Hitler gained support from his nation to exterminate the Jewish people from Germany and Europe alike. He adopted such support by using his Nazi propaganda films as a weapon of mass distraction and manipulation of the people of Germany. If he had not idealized the German soldier as a hero, and bestowed nationalism in his people, and blamed the economic problems of German on the Jewish race then he never would have been able to acc omplish what he had in such a short amount of time. The most famous Nazi propaganda film is Der ewige Jude (â€Å"The Eternal Jew†). â€Å"Der Ewige Jude† was engineered by Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda.It was created to legitimize the exclusion, and the ultimately the destruction, of an entire people. It depicts the Jews of Poland as corrupt, filthy, lazy, ugly, and perverse: they are an alien people which have taken over the world through their control of banking and commerce, yet which still live like animals. The narra... ...at the various means of propaganda have on the great masses, film is without question the most powerful. The written and spoken word depend entirely on the content or on the emotional appeal of the speaker, but film uses pictures, pictures that for eighty years have been accompanied by sound. We know that the impact of a message is greater if it is less abstract, more visual. That makes it clear why film, with its series of continually moving images, must have a particular persuasive force. Film is a very effective tool in waging a war. With out it, it would be hard to get the people to stand behind you and support your cause. Without the people it is hard to win a war. Thus I feel that with out films contribution to the propaganda effort the WWII would have been very, very different. Bibliography â€Å"Der exige Jude†: Quellenkritische Analyse eines antisemititschen Propagandaf ilms, Institute Fur Wissenschaftlichen Film, Gottingen, 1995,p.134 Ellul, Jacques, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes. New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 1965. Hippler, Fritz, â€Å"Der Film als Waffe,† Unser Wille und Weg, 7(1937), pp.21-23. â€Å"Propaganda,† Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000.

being in college :: essays research papers fc

Prof. Wu Essay #2 The Learning ?Life? Everyone goes through this journey in his or life. Some fare better than others do; yet we all strive onward. The journey in I am discussing is the schooling system. It is set up for an individual to progress gradually through levels; each designed specifically for stage in which the mind is, at that point in time. Some may agree and some will disagree, but the reality is everyone is ?graded? throughout his or life according to school when it is the knowledge learned outside of class, which makes the difference.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Looking back on my previous years of schooling, I have noticed that many of the subjects covered in school do not exactly deal with the ?real world.? For instance, when is the last time someone has used the number x giving the price of an item? There is no number x. Or when has someone asked for the year in which Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. These are facts of useless information. Unfortunately, these facts must be known for a person to reach the next level of learning (grade). I do not understand why classes are not taught for an individual to learn how to change the oil in his or her car or even change the tires, common material needed for everyday life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many times though I remember the teachers whose job was to teach the students these ?useless? facts and theories. I often admired many of them for the pure reason of them trying to adapt their teachings to ?real world? subjects. They understood that everything that they teach their students is not going to be used, but they know that it will make them a well-rounded individual. Teachers know when students do not care a lot about the subject in which they teach, as Terkel says in his essay, so they use tricks to enchant the minds of the students. ?Falling asleep is a tendency of the students,? Kelly states. History teachers for example usually talk about current events that all the students are familiar with and then tie the history event with the current event. Science teachers will conduct experiments using paper airplanes and lipstick to bring an idea across to every student. In his essay, Neusner explains different grading policies for students to grade their t eachers. ?Students should look at teachers as teachers look at students,?

Allusion: Literal meaning Essay

I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant (II,ii,14)Hamlet is giving instructions to the troupe of actors that has come to the castle. These actors are going to perform a play within a play and Hamlet has added some lines to the play in the hope of exposing Claudius’ treachery. â€Å"Termagant† is an allusion to a god that Elizabethans believed Muslims worshipped. It out herods Herod (III,ii,14)Herod is the king in the Bible that had John the Baptist beheaded and was responsible for Jesus’ death. This allusion is particularly important to Hamlet because like Claudius, Herod married his brother’s wife. John the Baptist told Herod that this was evil, so Herod’s wife Herodias instructed her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist, a request with which Herod complied. Hamlet is telling the players not to overdo their acting, not to be more like Herod than Herod himself. â€Å"For O, For O, the hobbyhorse is forgot†Hamlet is talking to Ophelia. It is right before the play is to be performed. He looks at his mother and Claudius and complains that they have forgotten all about his father, who has only died two hours ago. Ophelia tells him it has been four months. Hamlet’s response continues his pretext of being mad because he replies that his father has been dead two months, trying to convince Ophelia further that he is mad, but if a man is to be remembered after six months, he must build churches, otherwise he will not be remembered any more than a prostitute. The hobby horse allusion refers to a player in the pagan May-Day festivals and is sometimes associated with prostitutes

Partisanship

Before I continue I would like to reassert that this house believes that a two-party system is preferable to a multi party system. Partisanship is a problem that has plagued America for centuries. In recent decades the issue has become even more severe with the American people witnessing the first government shutdown in the nation's history in 1981. A government shutdown is the result of the failure of congress to pass a budget for the new fiscal year and results in the halt of most federal services. The shutdown in 1981 occurred because the president of the time Ronald Reagan vetoed a budget that had been passed by the Democratic majority in congress. In 2013 the government fully shut down for over two weeks; the result of the partisan debate over Obama care. In recent years the problem of a government shutdown has become increasingly prevalent as the sectarianism within the essential political institutions such as the United States congress become even more extreme. This year the government has already shut down twice. A clear sign of the danger that the irrational level of partisanship within the United States' government poses to its citizens. Beyond government shutdowns partisanship drastically affects many other aspects of government. Recently the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has showcased the intensity of the sectarianism in the United States today. The hearing, which should have served to validate or invalidate the claims made against Kavanaugh, was instead used by members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties to point fingers at one another in mock outrage. This is only one example of how sectarianism has frequently prevented the United States' lawmakers from properly doing their job, causing laws that benefit many Americans to fail. Laws such as the DISCLOSE Act, which would have forced companies to disclose their political spending, would have helped to ensure transparency in government-private business relations, is only example of a law that was killed by sectarianism. There are countless other examples of laws stopped by nothing but partisan hatred such as the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have ensured equal pay for men and women doing the same jobs. In other words, for no reason then hatred of the basic ideology of another party dozens of men and women in the United States congress have chosen to vote against bills that would serve to make America an even greater country. All that has been accomplished in this country's recent years: rapid economic recovery and growth from the 2008 crash, government subsidized health insurance, and the legalization of gay marriage, has happened despite, not because of the partisanship within our government. Furthermore the sectarianism outside of the United State's government negatively impacts the people of the United States. Far too often people are unable to agree with or even recognize perfectly reasonable claims or ideas simply because they are presented by a person who does not share the same political affiliation as them. This leads to discordance and dissatisfaction among the American public, as well as most populations around the world, as people who do not share opinions constantly fight and bicker failing to see things that are legitimately important. Additionally partisanship leads to extremism such as that propagated by groups such as ISIS or the KKK, due to people forcing the opinions of their party on those who do not share those opinions or violently attacking those who refuse to change their minds. It is clear that with only two parties in America the sectarianism in the country is already stretching the country to the breaking point. With only two parties America's governmental institutions struggle to pass the bare minimum of laws to keep the government running. Ultimately, the addition of new parties to a two party would only add to the strain felt be the American government and others like. More parties would mean more sides, each with their own separate agenda, attempting to force laws through a legislative branch filled with people that oppose them. As no one party would have the majority in a true multi-party system it would be next to impossible for any law to gather enough support to pass through congress let alone the desk of a president who, in all likelihood would be of a different party affiliation than the people trying to pass the laws. The sectarianism seen among the public of America and other countries today would increase as well, the result of even more separate political affiliations, causing further social unrest. The famous saying, â€Å"united we stand divided we fall,† is true. A multi-party system will divide a country's citizens, causing discordance and the eventual failure of its government, while two or fewer parties will unite the country, allowing it to continue unimpeded and grow stronger. From the arguments that the members of my team and I have made, it is clear that a two party system is far preferable to a multi-party system. We affirm the resolution and strongly encourage an affirmative ballot.