Opinion of Switzerland
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  Opinion of Switzerland
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Author Topic: Opinion of Switzerland  (Read 3499 times)
Tetro Kornbluth
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« Reply #25 on: July 24, 2014, 03:43:20 PM »

Can't you people admire countries which are... a little more exciting and a little less bourgeois?
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Cassius
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« Reply #26 on: July 24, 2014, 04:10:16 PM »

Can't you people admire countries which are... a little more exciting and a little less bourgeois?

Bourgeois equals exciting.

Anyway, massive freedom country of course. I mean, I almost grew up in Switzerland, my Godfather is married to a Swiss woman and lives there. And of course, any country dubbed greedy and xenophobic is, by definition, a freedom country Cheesy
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Associate Justice PiT
PiT (The Physicist)
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« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2014, 12:41:15 AM »

     The true light that guides this world.

I certainly hope not.

But disregarding politics, Switzerland is a nice place. Expensive, but nice.

     You're just jealous because you have yet to dispose of the genitive case. Tongue

I love the genitive case Smiley

But it's slowly dying out here in a lot of cases it should be used. "Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod"

     I do too, actually. I just find it to be more difficult to use. Oddly enough, I have found the dative case to be rather intuitive, even though it is home to some genuine oddities. *cough*helfen*cough*gefallen*cough*
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bedstuy
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« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2014, 12:54:50 AM »

It's among the greatest countries in Europe. Massive Freedom Country. Smiley


Roll Eyes

Why are you rolling your eyes? Switzerland has a lot of racist people.

While this is admittedly an assumption; I'm guessing that he thinks the country is racist due to its well-publicized opposition to mass immigration. I've heard people call the country racist because of this. Firstly, that doesn't make much sense when you consider the fact that a majority of the country's immigrant population actually consists of other Europeans. Besides that, it's perfectly reasonable to oppose allowing the entry of immigrants from countries like Turkey and Albania who are more likely to be unskilled, more prone to crime, have next to nothing in common with the native populace, and show little to no respect for the country's native culture or customs.

No, the problem is that these people are very discriminatory against people who aren't white, and in some parts of the country (rural areas mostly), places with no tourism, nonwhites are labeled as gypsies and viewed with distrust. It's immigration views among the people are also a reminder of how backward they are in regards to that issue, because if an albanian family moves next door they are viewed with distrust, but if an arabic family moves next door all hell breaks loose.

There's also the whole issue of Switzerland stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from Jewish people during the holocaust and refusing to give back the money for 60 years.  And, the complicity with the Nazi regime by the Swiss banking system.
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ingemann
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« Reply #29 on: July 25, 2014, 02:58:59 AM »

Can't you people admire countries which are... a little more exciting and a little less bourgeois?

I'm not sure what you mean.

Should I be excited over Liberia, because they're so anti-bourgeois that there ran an warlord around with the name general Butt Naked?

Should I be excited over Venezuela because they run out of toilet paper?

Should I get excited over Greece, because... well because Greece are Greece and they can be called many thing but bourgeois are not one of them.

I like countries with low poverty, low corruption and trains and buses which run around the time you expect them. That may be "bourgeois".
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Chunk Yogurt for President!
CELTICEMPIRE
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« Reply #30 on: July 25, 2014, 05:43:08 PM »

America should act more like Switzerland.
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they don't love you like i love you
BRTD
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« Reply #31 on: July 25, 2014, 05:50:45 PM »

Can't you people admire countries which are... a little more exciting and a little less bourgeois?

Hi Snowstalker.
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Flake
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« Reply #32 on: July 25, 2014, 06:28:24 PM »

America should act more like Switzerland.

No, we shouldn't.
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Tetro Kornbluth
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« Reply #33 on: July 25, 2014, 06:41:46 PM »

Can't you people admire countries which are... a little more exciting and a little less bourgeois?

I'm not sure what you mean.

Should I be excited over Liberia, because they're so anti-bourgeois that there ran an warlord around with the name general Butt Naked?

Should I be excited over Venezuela because they run out of toilet paper?

Should I get excited over Greece, because... well because Greece are Greece and they can be called many thing but bourgeois are not one of them.

I like countries with low poverty, low corruption and trains and buses which run around the time you expect them. That may be "bourgeois".

I see you have familiarized yourself with those atlas perennials, Mr. False Dichotomy and Mr. Inventing what your debate opponent said. Kudos. We all want to have friends.
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Chunk Yogurt for President!
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Junior Chimp
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« Reply #34 on: July 25, 2014, 11:03:58 PM »


I don't think we should be as restrictive on immigration, but I love the neutrality in foreign affairs and the country;s efficiency on everything.
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freefair
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« Reply #35 on: August 11, 2014, 11:49:50 AM »

Does everything it does very well. A nice nation to live in, well governed,free & democratic, good consensus based political culture, prosperous & secure, situated right in between the crossroads of the Germanic & Latin worlds.
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Simfan34
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« Reply #36 on: August 11, 2014, 12:21:45 PM »

Honestly, from the few hours I've spent in that country- all of it in transit- I wouldn't be inclined to think so highly of them. The last time I was there, which must have been three years ago, was spent travelling to and from Milan. On the outbound journey, we witnessed two drunks stumble into a bathroom on the train from the airport (there was a man sitting across from us that had a look that plainly said I'm-sorry-this-is-the-first-thing-you-see-of-our-country) and had to deal with an incredibly apathetic woman at Zurich when we couldn't find our train tickets to Milan.

On the return, whilst waiting for the train to the airport, we had two police officers carrying Uzis run across the train tracks towards us and question my parents because they had "heard that there was an African family arguing". The experience of being questioned by heavily armed police officers being totally alien to me, I slowly backed away, which they did not escape their attention. So on the whole, not the best of times.

But the country is run well, and I've always been fairly understanding of societies that are a certain way and wish to remain so; it is a far more logical attitude than others that welcome immigrants and then, only after immigrants have put down roots, decide they don't care for immigrants all that much. At the same time, having experienced about as much overt racism in the few hours I spent in Switzerland than I can recall offhand in a lifetime living in the US, it is clear more open-mindedness would not hurt. The minaret ban being a example of something crying out for that.

On that note I do admire the general resistance in referenda to bad ideas, the recent example of soundly rejecting setting the minimum wage to $25 or so being a prime example. I'm skeptical such a thing would happen here.
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Anna Komnene
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« Reply #37 on: August 11, 2014, 03:24:49 PM »

If racism is the standard, pretty much the whole world is a terrible place.

Switzerland has a lot of interesting things like being the only country in the world with national public initiative and one of the few countries in the world with linguistic representation.  It's a pretty fun place to study, and I've met a lot of nice people from there, especially from Geneva.  My favorite professor ever was a Swiss.

And well... the whole bomb shelter thing is pretty cool.
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Rockefeller GOP
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« Reply #38 on: August 11, 2014, 07:54:19 PM »

It's among the greatest countries in Europe. Massive Freedom Country. Smiley


Roll Eyes

Why are you rolling your eyes? Switzerland has a lot of racist people.

Where in Europe doesn't?
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Goldwater
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« Reply #39 on: August 11, 2014, 08:27:26 PM »

I hate their foreign policy and their weather. But FC overall, I guess...
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Velasco
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« Reply #40 on: August 12, 2014, 03:09:21 AM »

     The true light that guides this world.

Lol. Certain uncle of mine would agree with you, but I'd say Switzerland wouldn't want to be bothered with us and even less to guide us towards the light.
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Cranberry
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« Reply #41 on: August 12, 2014, 04:09:33 AM »

It's among the greatest countries in Europe. Massive Freedom Country. Smiley


Roll Eyes

Why are you rolling your eyes? Switzerland has a lot of racist people.

Where in Europe doesn't?

As if 'Murica is less racist then Europe Roll Eyes
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Gustaf
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« Reply #42 on: August 12, 2014, 05:35:47 AM »

The racism and conservatism are big minuses. I do have a soft spot for their crazy political system though. I also have a personal connection since my grandparents lived there for decades.

Switzerland is MORE racist than most Western countries. I'm pretty sure a party couldn't use imagery about kicking out the blacks in the US and still win an election. They also didn't let women vote until the 70s (which I guess would increase their approval on this forum though).

They also have a generally nasty attitude to foreigners. Simfan's experience is not a one off, it's fairly standard there. It's worse if you're black, of course, but not even limited to that.
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SNJ1985
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« Reply #43 on: August 12, 2014, 10:21:26 AM »

It's among the greatest countries in Europe. Massive Freedom Country. Smiley


Roll Eyes

Why are you rolling your eyes? Switzerland has a lot of racist people.

Where in Europe doesn't?

As if 'Murica is less racist then Europe Roll Eyes

Neither Europe nor America are any more racist than any other part of the world.
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Franzl
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« Reply #44 on: August 12, 2014, 11:58:10 AM »

We've had this debate several times. I think the correct answer is that institutional racism is a far bigger issue in the States, having a large effect on many peoples' lives without expressibg it much. Openly appearing racist is a big no-no. Whereas openly racist sentiments are more commonly found among a usually outspoken minority in most European places. Switzerland being an extreme example, and one where the outspoken minority is close to being a majority...
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