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DISCLAIMER: Any opinion expressed by a contributor is to be considered his/her own personal opinion, not the opinion of any other swiss-list member, the swiss-list website managers or the swiss-list committee.
Being open minded and critical of things around you are decent traits in any
person. But what drives me nuts is the fact that some people are only seeing
negative things and only in one country. Critical thoughts apply to both sides
of the coin. Do we ask to leave people whenever they are critical? Yeah, some
do, but doing so shows only our own inability to be critical (and to accept
criticism). The same is true for someone to publicly declare that Americans are
ignorant and 'I understand why they are hated'. It only shows our own ignorance
if we subscribe to stereotypes like this rather than being open. Not all people
live the same life and life-style or share the same ideas about what 'personal
happiness' looks like. By looking what's right or wrong you have to do a 360
degree turn and look at yourself as well as your country. For those interested
in mind games: try to put yourself into the mind of an American and imagine
your first week of living in Switzerland. How would you feel and think about
the locals?
Having lived in the US gave me some distance to Switzerland and low and behold,
all of a sudden I see things I never realized before. I still follow everyday
the Swiss newspapers and what troubles people back home. And it is not all
'Heidi-land' back there. If you want to hear some lashing, read on, otherwise
skip this paragraph. E.g. you could kill ten people in Switzerland, but it
would be legally impossible to lock you up for more than 25 years (it's called
'imprisonment for life' but any lawyer gets you out after 25 years). It was
recently concluded by a study that it is unethical to lock up mentally healthy
(criminal) patients for the rest of their lives. or e.g. the 'oh so good' Swiss
public school system, which generates one third of ninth graders that are
unable to understand and comprehend any newspaper article beyond the level of
'Blick'. Most Swiss people with children here in the US that I know want to
return to CH when their kids will go to school. I am not so sure if this is
really a good decision. Also the fact that Switzerland has the highest per
capita drug consumption in whole Europe is not 'Heidi-land' at all. Speaking of
recycling: I recycle here in San Diego more material through a city-wide
program than I was ever able to do in my hometown of Bern (but then again, the
isolation of our house is so lousy that the energy wasting compensates the
recycling.....).
And speaking of history. Swiss history is not so spotless as we think. Although
we did not participate in any war since the 'Saubannerzuege', we were heavily
involved in the world wars, either as weapon dealers, money shufflers or
intelligence dealers. Not to speak of the famous "J" stamps in the German
passports (invented by the Swiss to discriminate between Arians and Jews). That
alone must have killed thousands of people, but then again 'if we did not
protect ourselves we would have been invaded....'. How about all the stories of
involvement and support from Switzerland for the former 'Apartheid' regime in
South Africa. Or the refugee we granted to several dictators from Africa, like
Mobutu? Nice country, indeed, where we grew up.
So, having lashed out I want to mention again that there are many things in the
USA I absolutely dislike and I could never adopt the American way of life. But
I will never again look at Switzerland as the 'golden pond where all is good
and right'. We are NOT better or worse then anyone else in the world. We should
be critical, but also of ourselves and our homeland.
and finally: Switzerland made the Wall Street Journal front page today.
Have fun
Michael
William Tell Overture: Swiss Enlist
Heroes in Fight Over Joining U.N.
By ROGER THUROW Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
STANS, Switzerland -- The heroes have been dead for more than 600 years now,
but the politicians still seek their endorsements:
How would Arnold Winkelried, who sacrificed himself on the lances of advancing
Austrians in 1386 to preserve Swiss independence, vote in this weekend's
referendum on Switzerland joining the United Nations?
And what about William Tell, who according to legend was forced to shoot an
apple off his son's head about 100 years earlier after refusing to salute the
hat of the despotic Hapsburg governor? Would Tell now bow to U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan and place the country and its precious neutrality under the
U.N. Security Council?
"They would vote 'yes,' " says Joseph Deiss, Switzerland's foreign minister and
present-day defender of the realm. These heroes of legend, he says, never faced
the villainy of today's terrorists and would welcome the protection of an
international alliance. Tell and Winkelried, he believes, would recognize that
joining the U.N. "is now the best way to protect Swiss interests."
For almost every country on the planet, joining the U.N. is a no-brainer. The
U.N. currently has 189 members, and a seat in the General Assembly is usually
the first prize sought by newly independent lands, such as Bosnia and Croatia,
craving international recognition and a guarantor of their national
sovereignty.
Many people assume Switzerland is already in the U.N., what with all of its
international peace conferences, humanitarian missions and U.N. agencies based
in Geneva. But Switzerland has always looked after its own sovereignty and thus
remains, along with the Vatican, the only state voluntarily outside the U.N.
The prospect of joining the organization and pledging allegiance to decisions
of a far-away plenum of unfamiliar diplomats rustles the nation's ghosts and
spooks its soul.
And so, Mr. Deiss, in the company of a fife and drum corps, marched into the
ancient town square here, where Winkelried himself supposedly once trod, to
open the U.N. campaign several months ago. He posed for pictures beneath a
Winkelried statue, and he joined in singing a folk song praising the legendary
warrior "who embraces with all his manly power the many lances and buries them
in his hero's chest confiding in God and trusting in freedom."
Then, taking the legend to his own chest, Mr. Deiss gave it a modern spin.
In Winkelried's era, he said, "no one had ever heard of America. Everyone still
believed that the sun moved around the earth." But times have changed, he
continued: Old enemies, such as Austria, are now friends who will be needed to
fight today's threats. "We must work together with our neighbors and the world
community," he concluded.
Some in the skeptical crowd murmured their approval, but few were moved to put
down their bratwurst or raclette to applaud. After all, noted one man listening
on the steps of the Catholic church, the bullets from 18th-century French
invaders still are lodged in the altar.
"The history of Switzerland resonates," says Hansjakob Achermann, the archivist
in Stans and the canton of Nidwalden, which is one of the original states of
the Swiss confederation. "Those against the U.N. say, 'The U.N. means foreign
domination.' That's what Tell and Winkelried fought against earlier. That's how
the legends are used today."
The leading U.N. opponent, Christoph Blocher, a populist member of parliament,
conjured up the past when he gathered 1,300 of his supporters in the
century-old clubhouse of a Zurich shooting association, where the citizen
militia trains. He exhorted the Swiss never to surrender their right of
self-determination -- especially to world powers in an international
organization. To him, nothing less is at stake than the preservation of the
direct democracy that gives the remotest farmer on the highest Alpine peak a
vote on a foreign-policy issue like this.
He reached back to the Swabian War of 1499 and recalled the Swiss reply to
German demands that they surrender:
"We won't, we won't. And if we do, our women won't."
The hall erupted in laughter and applause.
After a campaign that has lasted through the summer, autumn and winter, the
prognosis for Switzerland becoming the 190th U.N. member remains uncertain. The
last time the Swiss voted on the issue, in 1986, three-quarters of them
rejected the U.N. Supporters this time, in the post-Cold War era, figure they
will win a popular majority. But they also need to carry a majority of the 26
cantons, or local government districts. Here the predictions get fuzzy, for in
the smaller cantons deep in the Alps, on the battlefields of Winkelried and
Tell, suspicion of outside influence lurks.
"We'll be drawn into wars," charged a young man confronting Mr. Deiss when he
returned to Stans in January for a town-hall meeting. No, countered the foreign
minister, under the U.N. charter no country can be forced to provide troops to
U.N. peacekeeping missions.
"U.N. membership will cost Switzerland its neutrality," insisted a woman close
to the stage. No, said Mr. Deiss, there are a number of U.N. members who
maintain military neutrality.
The Swiss have long cherished their neutrality, believing it has kept them out
of wars for nearly 200 years. During World War II, when the country was
surrounded by German and Italian fascists, the Swiss clung to their neutrality
-- even when the evils of the Nazis became undeniable. And during the Cold War,
the Swiss believe their neutral status outside the U.N. gave them a unique
intermediary role between the two snarling superpowers.
But with the end of the Cold War, the government argues, being outside means
being left out. In recent years, the U.N. has become more engaged in
environmental issues, humanitarian work and disaster relief. Switzerland, which
once led the way in these areas, feels that it is being marginalized. The
country contributes nearly $300 million a year to support U.N. projects and
agencies. So why not join the U.N., the government argues, and acquire a voice
that matches its payments?
But even such financial logic, which usually carries the day here, isn't enough
to offset the weight of history. At the rally of U.N. skeptics at the Zurich
shooting club, Swiss President Kaspar Villiger gamely pressed the pro-U.N.
position. He was met with a volley of harrumphs and whistles -- and one loud
voice.
It belonged to Heidi -- that is, Adelheid "Heidi" Frantsiskos, from an eastern
canton. "We'll pay, but we won't join!" she shouted, inspired by the flashback
to the Swabian War. "We won't. We won't."
Write to Roger Thurow at roger.thurow_at_wsj.com
Updated February 28, 2002
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Received on Thu Feb 28 2002 - 23:05:34 PST