Why shouldnt they be allowed to make a cap at 10M?
Because it's very likely against the Swiss constitution
Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
21–30 of 174 posts
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#22Good for them, I hope the vote will reflect everyone's wishes.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Swiss comp advantage started in WWII when they were used to exchange Nazis gold into other currencies - this gave them a topstart for the economic period after the war since they were perfectly connected globally and they understood to scale & keep this advantage for long time. Maybe its fading a little bit nowadays
To be honest during WWII, Switzerland was surrounded by the Nazis. Literally. On all sides, and learned a harsh lesson on not just the importance of military readiness but also economic resilience. So they took what they could get.
Switzerland is the best munitioned country on earth, because:
After military service, most people keep their guns and are forced to yearly practicing (or loosing the gun) etc. - they are battle-ready every time.
Plus: they are the only(!) country on earth who could offer bunker protection to 95%+ of society in case of war.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
im not sure about Switzerland, but there are areas in Germany, where you can.
I doubt that very much. Sure there's places where the rent is less, but there's no jobs there. So a very low rent will still be over 40% of your pay (ie. nothing)
Then maybe actually check places yourself?
I am looking at a 4 room apartment in a very nice villa next to a small national park right now, for 560€, with a train going twice an hour 15 minutes ride to the town with my potential next job. (In germany)
So salaries there are lower, but so is apparently rent. Way less than 40%, more like 20%.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#25Why shouldnt they be allowed to make a cap at 10M?
Switzerland is a state. Talking about what they're "allowed" to do is just meaningless.
But, it does seem like a terrible place to live. I fear for the immigrants who form the basis of the economy.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#26"Anti foreigner sentiment"? Dear NYT, try to find an apartment in the EU or Switzerland. At best, you will get a furnished (to circumvent rent caps), overpriced 30 square meter dump that takes up 40% of your net salary. Once that problem is solved, we can talk about "sentiments".
Maybe work on changing zoning laws instead of pandering to farmers and rural cantons?
You're stating this option like it's obvious and simple, but this all just amounts to choosing which of multiple ways to make one's country worse. While growth/immigration has macro-economic positives, it's not infinitely positive, so it doesn't justify ever-denser housing and ever-increasing cultural sub-dividing forever - and as people become less happy, they care less and less about "how the economy is doing".
Of course, nobody can agree on where the line is, or escape the shoulder-rubbing with racism and classism while trying to argue where the line is.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#27Context as a Swiss person: One of the strongest political parties in Switzerland today is the SVP (german acronym) which is right-wing. It has won a strong plurality in national elections for easily a decade.
This vote, however, does not stem from the federal (or even state-level) government, but instead is an initiative launched by a group of conservative politicians which happen to be part of the SVP party. The Swiss Federal Council (executive body) has come out against this initiative.
Switzerland has a form of direct democracy, where any group of individuals can propose a change in laws and if they collect 100k signatures (within 18 months) this proposed text will be voted on by the whole country. Here is a list of all referendums, a subset of which are these initiatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swiss_federal_referend...
These initiatives are a frequent feature in Swiss politics, and not necessarily indicative of broadly popular legislation. In fact, whether or not an initiative is accepted is heavily correlated with the support it receives form the federal government. Give that they oppose it, I would bet against this passing.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#28Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#29Two possibilities could be true at the same time.
There might be a population limit that a country wants to set, based on effects of population visible in employment, housing , transportation, and social services.
There might be a motivation to curb immigration from certain parts of the world, based on cultural factors and aligning more with one side of the political spectrum than the other.
Re: Switzerland to vote on capping population at 10M
#30"Anti foreigner sentiment"? Dear NYT, try to find an apartment in the EU or Switzerland. At best, you will get a furnished (to circumvent rent caps), overpriced 30 square meter dump that takes up 40% of your net salary. Once that problem is solved, we can talk about "sentiments".
Maybe work on changing zoning laws instead of pandering to farmers and rural cantons?
Social housing programs have historically doubled or tripled housing construction.
Has changing zoning laws historically ever boosted housing construction by more than 10%?