What Swiss issues influence the world?
Do you travel a lot around the world and encounter Swiss issues? Or do you live abroad and are confronted with questions about Switzerland?
There are many great nations/tribes in the world today. Switzerland is one of them. In my opinion, the Swiss are smart, clever innovators; they are great in attracting businesses and best researchers; they are excellent builders/engineers/architects.
Swiss governance is much better than in many countries of the world; but I do not think it is entirely free of bias and corruption. Humans (per capita) are pretty much the same everywhere, addiction to greed for more power and money exists in all peoples of the world, to a similar degree.
Switzerland is also smart enough NOT to get involved in these current "power-grab" wars, just as they stayed neutral during WW2 (very sensible).
Staying out of geo-politics nonsense and troubles, is the best attribute of Switzerland so far; hopefully Switzerland maintains its clever "neutrality".
Its funny, as children, our parents often said - Stay away/out of trouble, do not get involved in conflict/fights. But it is sad that, even in 21st century some "weapon-powerful" but not smart grown-ups love conflicts and imposing their views on others. History tells us that such people always lose in the end (law of nature). I am happy to see that Switzerland, up until now, has balanced its needs very well.
What Switzerland teaches/can teach others is - how to be smart/clever at building a very successful country/tribe, and how to stay away from this "power" nonsense (power - as mentioned by MM Sharma). I admire Switzerland for that; and that is what other countries can learn as well.
You have explained this very clearly (even if Switzerland is often criticized for interpreting neutrality solely to its own advantage)
Das haben Sie sehr anschaulich ausgeführt (auch wenn die Schweiz nicht selten dafür kritisiert wird, dass sie die Neutralität einzig zu ihrem eigenen Vorteil auslegen tut)
M.M. Sharma, you are right, but only partially. English is universal, and German is non-standardized.
First, what does most "powerful" mean? What is this human obsession with "POWER"? Does fiat money buy real/effective power? NO! The de-stabilizing, self-destructive impacts of recent years have shown that the "power" you refer to has only back-fired.
Power lies NOT in weapons, military bases and excessive PR/propaganda, but it lies in:
- Educating your people to a high standard.
- Providing your people with good-quality food, and not with toxin-laden fast foods from 1000s of low-quality eateries and packaged foods.
- Providing your people with services to enable good health, and NOT by providing very expensive medications/treatments, which do not eliminate illnesses and require ill people to make pharmaceutical companies even richer.
- Enabling your people to think for themselves; and not waste hours and hours watching netflix.
Innovations driven by greed for more money, are often useless, and even damaging for human society. Vegan Burgers, Lose-weight pills, Expensive mobile phones, Social Media, Streaming movies, etc., are all examples of things that are making humans sicker and dumber (watch Idiocracy).
If all German-speaking tribes spoke more-or-less the same German, that would really be a strong plus for Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and German would become more international. I love German, but is not used widely.
I have been asked several times now in Munich why the Swiss SVP National Councilor Roger Köppel is actually beating the advertising drum for the AFD in Germany. That is rather embarrassing.
But Swiss abroad often have to listen to embarrassing things from Switzerland at the moment - starting with the collapse of Credit Suisse and ending with the refusal to supply old tanks for Ukraine.
And of course our friends are always wondering about this very peculiar Swiss understanding of neutrality in the 21st century and like to call it a "cowardly fig leaf policy". Our ears always turn a little red!
Ich bin in München nun schon mehrmals gefragt worden, warum eigentlich der Schweizer SVP Nationalrat Roger Köppel in Deutschland für die AFD die Werbetrommel rührt. Das ist schon eher peinlich.
Aber AuslandschweizerInnen müssen sich momentan oft Peinliches aus der Schweiz anhören - das beginnt mit dem Zusammenbruch der Credit Suisse und endet bei der Weigerung alte Panzer für die Ukraine zu liefern.
Und natürlich wundern sich unsere FreundInnen immer wieder über dieses sehr eigentümliche schweizerische Neutralitätsverständnis im 21. Jahrhundert und bezeichnen es gerne als "feige Feigenblatt-Politik". Da werden unsere Ohren jeweils etwas rot!
I am a migrant. I have lived in several countries for years (and I encourage everyone to do so, if possible, as it makes a person a smart global citizen who cares about all peoples (not just visit, but live for a few years).
Migration in itself is not a problem. Many migrants fail to integrate fully. Many natives may not accept migrants, due to lack of understanding about other cultures (which is why living in various countries makes the world better).
You say - "That is rather embarrassing.". Why? I am not embarrassed if Roger Köppel has certain views and/or hangs out with AFD; it is his free choice!
We tell other countries that we have - Free Expression/Free Choice and they do not. So, if we have freedom to formulate our own views and own choices, then you should not be embarrassed. You can of course disagree, and that is your free choice/expression.
The simple reason behind popularity of parties like AfD is: The sheer incompetence of governance in Germany. The first job of public servants is to listen to the concerns of the taxpayers who pay their salaries - that is what should happen in a democratic system.
Most people in Germany (and most European countries) do not want any more migrants or participation in wars or to escalate wars by sending ever more weapons (which leads to more deaths and more refugees). It is their country, and their right to - have or not have more migration, to spend money on weapons or not.
Even as a migrant myself, I do not see that as racist.
Parties like AfD are simply capitalising on the incompetence of the current government, which has eagerly involved themselves in escalating the current war/conflict, while they ignore what their own citizens want. Is that democratic?
One version of the "right/wrong" is not the only version. In a democracy the people get to decide if they want to pay for more weapons, more/bigger war and more refugees. Right?
Dear Tiktok2021
To add to my previous comment, here is what happens when people start to think that their leaders are not listening:
In a democracy the leaders cannot dictate the rights and wrongs to the taxpayers. The leaders are just one of us, but paid to do what the taxpayers expect them to do; if not, then people resort to other unpleasant methods.
This also explains the outcome of the recent Dutch elections; regardless of whether many like the winning guy or not.
Did I mention, I am a migrant too? But I pay attention to what the masses want.
I don't travel a lot around the world, and live with my Swiss wife in Washington State's North Cascades, often described as " the American Alps." Many people here confuse Switzerland with Sweden. A few have some European knowledge, but little detail about my wife's homeland. So I am often confronted with questions about Switzerland, and even mistakenly identified as Swiss. We think most Americans should know more about Switzerland, because North America is so unstable by comparison. The Swiss issues that most influence the world are neutrality, stability, and neatness. Cheese, watches, and chocolate, of course also do superficially, but are extremely minor compared to the three political ones, in our experience, within this bubble of relatively educated and well traveled refugees from the crude dominate culture.
Good day,
could you please explain to me why in 2023 it is not possible to deduct or offset the "contractual" withholding taxes, in the case of Thailand, the 10% directly from the interest income via the respective bank. And let it go to the federal government.
This could kill 2 birds at once.
- The federation disposes of the money and saves itself
- high civil servant wages for the cumbersome, bureaucratic reclaim procedure.
An answer from a competent side would make me very happy. Thank you, and kind regards pje
Guten Tag,
könnten Sie mir bitte erklären, warum es im Jahre 2023 nicht möglich ist, die "vertraglichen" Verrechnungssteuern, im Falle von Thailand, die 10 % direkt von den Zinserträgen über die jeweilige Bank abzuziehen oder zu verrechnen. Und dem Bund zukommen lassen.
Damit könnten 2 Fliegen auf einmal geschlagen werden.
- Der Bund verfügt über das Geld und erspart sich
- hohe Beamtenlöhne für das umständliche, bürokratischen Rückforderungs-Prozedere.
Eine Antwort von kompetenter Seite würde mich sehr freuen. Danke, und freundlichen Gruss pje
Almost on a daily basis in the US there are questions/discussions regarding Swiss banks still holding dirty money for tax cheats as well as for sanctioned Russian oligarchs. Of course the biggest matter is that of the Swiss refusing to allow the reexport of munitions and armaments to Ukraine. Of course, most Americans understand and respect the concept of Swiss neutrality, however only as far as it respects direct Swiss involvement. Why are these munitions and armaments even produced by Switzerland? For practice and war games only? It is now assumed that Switzerland will lose this valuable industry in the coming years as they will not be viewed as a reliable partner.
As a neutral state it has it own army which also protects the Vatican and its military supplies, it is very logical considering we dont have military allienses like Nato. If Switzerland re-export its military to Ukrain it will no longer be neutral. It is very small country, so we need to be neutral to survive. I don't mind our military production to shut down, producing weapons is not a peacefull way of life anyways. I am sure we will keep one gun producing though, the one which Hollywood uses anytime they need a handheld. If as you say Usa respect our neutrality, why question it or force us to re-export by saying if not we will shit your production down. Very peaceful, very friendly, very American.
Switzerland will never lose the munitions and armaments. One could then also compare this with Nato. One would then also have to ask why NATO has so many weapons of war if they are a defensive organization. Weapons will always be needed and we Swiss would be eaten by the wolf if we lose our neutrality. I live abroad though not in America , in Asia and here people find only crazy people would give up neutrality and give away our direct democracy just to have other countries decide for us in Switzerland. Many find more of a motivation to bring neutrality and direct democracy to their own country so that politicians can be kept in control. This would then also promote democracy and free thinking along with the rule of law.
Die Schweiz wird niemals die Munition und Rüstungsgüter verlieren. Das könnte man dann auch mit Nato vergleichen. Man müsste sich dann auch fragen, wieso die Nato so viele Kriegswaffen hat, wenn sie eine defensive Organisation sind. Waffen wird es immer brauchen und wir schweizer würden vom Wolf gefressen, wenn wir unsere Neutralität verlieren. Ich lebe im Ausland allerdings nicht in Amerika , in Asien und hier finden die Leute, nur verrückte würden die Neutralität aufgeben und damit unsere direkte Demokratie wegzugeben, nur um andere Länder für uns in der Schweiz zu entscheiden. Viele finden eher eine Motivation, die Neutralität und die direkte Demokratie in ihr eigenes Land zu bringen, damit die Politiker in der Kontrolle gehalten werden können. Damit würde dann auch die Demokratie und das freie Denken zusammen mit dem Rechtsstaat gefördert.
Your analysis is flawed; reliable partner for whom, for one side? It is this mentality of dividing the world, which has lead to today's wars.
Type in - wars since WW2 on search engine; see which countries have been involved in more wars. Issue is NOT good tribe vs bad tribe; issue is about greed for more power/control, which nature has always punished. Just as the greed for more power/control during WW1 & 2, weakened the very countries who pretended to be the "good guys"; Germany turned out to be the economic winner; still is today!
If we look at history, most wars have no absolute winners. It is time that we humans focused on negotiation, dialog with our neighbours, and NOT focused on building more weapons and military bases. WW1 was started by "powers" to control others; which left Germany destroyed and its surviving people traumatized, poor, and eager for revenge. This lead to WW2, and deaths of even more millions. Why no one ever asks - Why was WW1 fought? Why were we so foolish to kill so many? Today, it would be a good question to ask; as we foolishly race towards another useless war.
Weapons and military bases can never lead to peace; they can only be used to kill more humans.
The refugee crisis that Europe is facing is also a consequence of greed for more power/control/natural resources. This foolish greed has destabilized many countries where refugees are now coming from.
We need to ask ourselves - truthfully: What should we have not done or done differently. If we do not, then, blaming other countries will do nothing good for us. We need to stop telling others how they should live, whose side they must take, who they can buy/sell goods to; is that not - Free Choice? Or is free choice only IF we like the choices other make?
We should stop trying to control others by using the pretext that our morals/values are perfect/refined, and theirs are not.
And we should do that because that is the only way for us to live peacefully and prosper. And we MSUT learn to end conflicts by listening to the concerns of others, by negotiating and by compromise.
Very well said. Wars will continue to escalate as long as weapon supply is maintained. It would be foolish to think that anyone in power really cares about the Ukrainian people. These poor people are suffering just as the poor people in Russia or in any conflict zone are suffering. The masses have no say in most wars.
As an example did the masses who so happily and ignorantly signed-up to join WW1 (when it was a small conflict) really know the true reasons why "powerful" countries were eagerly escalating the conflict into a large conflict, which ended up destroying their own economies? The answer is, NO, the masses did not know, just as they do not know the underlying real reasons for current conflicts, even today.
The problem is that we still end up paying the price. Millions of suffering people and economic migrants continue to enter Europe. Our taxes will have to pay for the support of such issues, for decades to come.
What will we have gained? Is our brand value improving in the world? Are our economies doing better or did we gain access to more highly-qualified and skilled labour force? Are many migrants viewing us as their saviours or they view us as tribes which contributed to the conflicts in the first place? If we do not discover the true answers to such questions, will we do better or worse as a society?
Ask questions! Do not believe - when anyone says - this is right and that is wrong. Investigate yourself. Talk to both sides. Understand, learn, then make your own we-informed conclusions.
You must live in idealistic Eden. Look around you and face the hard cold facts of realty.
Hmmm.., logic would tell me that the smaller and WEAKER the country the less it can afford to be neutral. Since the beginning of time Europeans have fought one another. Yes, for greed, power, religion and politics. We in the US are sick of defending Europeans vs. Europeans.
Typical Swiss response - you expect all the benefits of the EU without playing by its rules and you’ll certainly expect NATO protection if, God forbid, you are attacked someday. Or the Swiss can once again play cat and mouse with the aggressor by financing them and turning their back on religious persecution as they did in WWII.
Well actually I think a lot of people worldwide sort of envy me that I have a Swiss passport. (they do not realize how costly it would be to reside there)...
Here in the posts it is said that worldwide hardly anyone knows Switzerland; respectively that it is often confused with Sweden. Do you, where you live, not have to explain what/where/how Switzerland is?
Hier in den Beiträgen heisst es, dass weltweit kaum jemand die Schweiz kennt; respektive, dass sie oft mit Schweden verwechselt wird. Müssen Sie, da wo Sie leben, nicht erklären, was/wo/wie die Schweiz ist?
in the tourist island of Lombok in Indonesia, everyone knows the Swiss, although not too many people come here...
im turistischen Inselchen Lombok in Indonesien kennen alle die Schweizer, obschon nicht allzu viele sich bi hierher verirren...
More than 4 billion of the world's 8 billion people have probably never heard of Switzerland, and another 2 billion can't tell the difference between Switzerland and Sweden. So it's unlikely that anything about Switzerland will really shock the world. It's just a joke.
全世界80亿总人口中，恐怕有超过40亿的人没听说过瑞士，另有20亿人分不清瑞士和瑞典。所以瑞士的任何事情都不太可能真正震惊整个世界。这只是一个玩笑。
You missed!
Switzerland or Sweden or Swaziland.
But, does it really matter? Does remembering names of all or most countries change or resolve the many human-made issues? (climate destruction, greed-driven ears, ultra-processed/foods, obesity)
You never hear about anything Swiss unless there is a crisis, like an almost bankrupt major bank getting bailed out and sold to a competitor for a knock-down price. A friend of mine once did karaoke abroad and said he was Swiss. The other customers just laughed and said no way, as the Swiss are boring. That is their reputation abroad.
Yes, that is the fate of small countries: 'The world' only notices them when there is a big scandal or other sensational incident.
And I, as a Swiss, find it more pleasant when I can surprise other fellow human beings with my irony, instead of being expected to be able to make a joke about everything :-)
Ja, das ist das Schicksal kleiner Länder: 'Die Welt' nimmt sie erst dann wahr, wenn es einen grossen Skandal oder andere aufsehenerregend Vorkommnisse gibt.
Und ich als Schweizer finde es angenehmer, wenn ich andere Mitmenschen mit meiner Ironie überraschen kann, statt dass von mir erwartet wird, zu allem einen Witz machen zu können :-)
I find Swiss humour very sarcastic. Mine is cynical. Both black humour, but they do not mix. An ex-Swiss girlfriend was very sarcastic. We got into quite a few arguments over our humour, and had to say we were joking. Until we split up.
When I open my Facebook, I read "effusive" words of high praise about Switzerland. "they really fall in love with Switzerland". Of course, these are mostly tourists, but they are also important for our economy and reputation.
When I am traveling with Germans in Thailand and the Thais ask me where we are from. I first introduce my German friends. There are almost no reactions, but when they ask me at the end about my origin, I am overwhelmed with compliments and positive remarks. I then also realize that the Thais mean what they say. Thais are not very emotional in public. Of course, I am very happy about this, although I also know the dark side of Switzerland very well. But they don't want to know about these.
Wenn ich mein Facebook öffne, lese "überschwengliche" hoch lobende Worte über die Schweiz. "they really fall in love with Switzerland". Natürlich sind das meistens Touristen, aber die sind für unsere Wirtschaft und unser Ansehen auch wichtig.
Wenn ich mit Deutschen in Thailand unterwegs bin und mich die Thais fragen, woher wir kämen. Stelle ich zuerst meine deutschen Freunde vor. Dazu gibt es fast keine Reaktionen, wenn sie mich aber am Schluss nach meiner Herkunft fragen. werde ich überschüttet mit Komplimenten und positiven Bemerkungen. Ich merke dann auch, dass die Thais das auch so meinen wie sie es ausdrücken. Thais sind in der Oeffentlichkeit nicht sehr Emotional. Natürlich freut mich das sehr, obwohl ich auch die Schattenseiten der Schweiz sehr gut kenne. Aber von Diesen wollen sie nichts wissen.
About your penultimate statement - Would you mind sharing? I am interested to know even if the Thai are not.
I travel as little as possible, and the only Swiss issues I encounter are my Swiss wife. We do live abroad and people we meet ask if she misses Sweden, but we do appreciate Swissinfo.ch, even if there is no humor in Switzerland worth laughing at.
I'm glad you appreciate SWI swissinfo.ch. We too are working [url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/switzerland-says-sorry--the-fondue-invasion/47603186]on our humor[/url] ;-)
Schön, dass Sie SWI swissinfo.ch schätzen. Auch wir arbeiten [url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/switzerland-says-sorry--the-fondue-invasion/47603186]an unserem Humor[/url] ;-)
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