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Oh yeah they've got cradle to grave multi-generational welfare and ESB food stamps along with Obama phones for mothers with 6 kiddies from different fathers, Medicaid, Medicare Your list of gov't provided freebies is endless and growing.
Yep; they're a nation of gov't handouts alrighty!
Something you won't see in Switzerland is a great wheel and tire lease program running for those who can afford a $200.00 dollar 82 Old's Cutlass and want the 22" bling wheels on it.
Although it's not as topographically, ethnically, or racially diverse as us, it has a much greater population density. Much of Japan is urbanized.
...So how come they don't have such high inner city murder rates?
If people on the North American continent were forced to live in such close proximity to each other; well, there'd be far fewer of them, that's a done deal.
Although it's not as topographically, ethnically, or racially diverse as us, it has a much greater population density. Much of Japan is urbanized.
...So how come they don't have such high inner city murder rates?
Its a very homogeneous population- no diversity at all. Very nationalistic.
Its an island nation- their lack of natural resources has created a culture of efficient and productive workers.
High standard of living overall.
Relatively submissive to the authority of government, and the "norm"
So we need a top down, centrally controlled government, got it.
Switzerland is also a very small, mountainous country of 8 million people, where 98% of the population is white, with little ethnic or racial diversity. Meanwhile, we have well over 300 million people, are one of the most topographically, ethnically and racially diverse countries on the planet. You cannot compare the two countries.
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Originally Posted by stevo6
Its a very homogeneous population- no diversity at all. Very nationalistic.
Its an island nation- their lack of natural resources has created a culture of efficient and productive workers.
High standard of living overall.
Relatively submissive to the authority of government, and the "norm"
Funny how people who apparently know nothing about Switzerland and only look at skin color think it's all the same over there. A patently American-centric view of the world.
Yes, obviously the majority of people there will be white Europeans. But perhaps you didn't know that Switzerland actually has four official languages - German, French, Italian, and Romansch. You travel an hour or two and you have people who grew up speaking completely different tongues. Not surprisingly, there is very strong regionalism in Switzerland. Even though they are all predominantly white, these are towns that have been there for hundreds and thousands of years. The Romansch culture in the eastern mountains is very different from the French-speaking folks around Geneva.
Switzerland also has one of the highest immigration rates on the continent. Immigrants and resident foreigners make up about 20% of the workforce. If you spend some time in Zurich, you would probably be surprised by the different ethnicities that you'd see.
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Switzerland has one of the highest immigration rates on the continent. According to the 2000 census, 22.4 percent of the total population of 7.4 million is foreign born, and 20.5 percent, or nearly 1.5 million, are foreigners, defined as persons with a foreign nationality. While Switzerland used to be a destination for employment-seeking French, Germans, and Italians, in the latter half of the 20th century it became home to Eastern European dissidents, Yugoslavian refugees, and asylum seekers from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Switzerland, overall, is a much more liberal, progressive culture than the one in America, and they do a much more effective job of integrating diversity into their national identity. That has much more to do with why they have a higher standard of living than ours in virtually all respects, not the conservative argument of "they don't have blacks over there."
Switzerland, overall, is a much more liberal, progressive culture than the one in America, and they do a much more effective job of integrating diversity into their national identity. That has much more to do with why they have a higher standard of living than ours, not the conservative argument of "they don't have blacks over there."
Not at all. To be a Swiss, you need Swiss blood. To be an American, all you need is a certain longitude and latitude of your mom when she's giving birth.
I haven't lived in Switzerland, but I spent some time there, it's much more rigid then you'd care to believe. The only foreigners who like it there are the rich. There is a strong nationalist party in Switzerland that would be considered racist here in the USA.
-Government provided training
-Government subsidized loads (bullets)
-Fully auto perfectly fine if you served in the military
These people get it. They managed to stay out of WWII, have the strongest economy in Europe, and just about force feed gun ownership to the citizenry (citizen defense, built in homeland security)
The ultimate argument FOR a well-armed citizenry. And in the middle of the socialist states of Europe!!
Those fully auto rifles they keep at home are fine, but you forget to mention that they do not issue ammunition for them. The crime rate has nothing to do with empty rifles in their attics, and everything to do with the mindset of the citizens.
An accomplishment, sure, a disgraceful one.
I would feel pretty uncomfortable as an elderly swiss man visiting a WW2 memorial and seeing the names of the men who gave their lives to keep Europe free.
Why? There is no shame in staying out of other people's wars.
Not at all. To be a Swiss, you need Swiss blood. To be an American, all you need is a certain longitude and latitude of your mom when she's giving birth.
I haven't lived in Switzerland, but I spent some time there, it's much more rigid then you'd care to believe. The only foreigners who like it there are the rich. There is a strong nationalist party in Switzerland that would be considered racist here in the USA.
Yes and the last Canton to accept woman's suffrage did so in 1990! Amazing! The reason for this is that this sort of thing is typically decided by referendum, and since women couldn't vote...well you can see why it took so long!
Re: graph at the top: very curious that Lichtenstein has such a high crime rate, and it is just next door to Switzerland. By the way this looks like an old graph. The UK/England/Wales bar has risen to about 350 (similar to the US). Also note that Canada isn't shown BECAUSE THEIR RATE IS ABOUT 900!
I was wrong. Violent Crime means different things in different countries. Great Britain and Canada have a broader definition. In Britain, burglary gets counted as a violent crime. In Canada, different types of assault that we don't count gets counted. Bottom line: our rate is higher than in those countries when you compare apples to apples. I don't know about Great Britain, but in Canada its about 250/100,000 vs about 380/100,000 in the US.
I don't know how the chart on page 4 is accounting for these discrepancies.
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Mea Culpe
