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I don't have a whole lot to support my ideas here, other than a collection of my own ideas etc. When your whole country is about 8.5 million people it must be

I don't have a whole lot to support my ideas here, other than a collection of my own ideas etc. When your whole country is about 8.5 million people it must be difficult to ever go anywhere and be a complete stranger. The USA seems to be such a huge land, both geographically and demographically, that I think it lends itself to a variety of groups exploiting others. I don't think The USA is a homogeneous whole. Or, if there were a scale on which various countries could be placed to describe homogeneity The USA would be at the far end of one extreme of that scale. I think that's why The USA seems to be such a hodgepodge of poor planning and action.

oblio 8y ago
> When your whole country is about 8.5 million people it must be difficult to ever go anywhere and be a complete stranger. I know it's not HackerNews material, but: LOL. In a country with 8.5 million people it's not like you're living in a village with 5000 people where you know everyone. I think that once you have more than about 1 million people it's quite feasible to have perfect anonymity. More than that, in Switzerland they speak 4 different languages (German, French, Italian and the Romance language Romansch). The communities are quite separate, it's entirely possible for your average French Swiss to not have much to do with his fellow German Swiss countrymen.
- cascom 8y ago
  I don’t think the OP was being completely literal, and your point about language barriers is well taken, but in the context of America, Switzerland is the state of Virginia in terms of population (and about 40% of Virginia’s land area). In that context, Swiss national politics is more akin U.S. state level politics, where there tends to be much more cohesion.
  - CaptainZapp 8y ago
    Actually, as a fiercly federalist country politics are very much comparable to a lesser corrupt US. In fact parts of the US system were implemented with the founding of the Swiss Confederation. Namely the two houses. The principle of governance is to push as much power as possible as locally as possible. Communities and cities as well as cantons (states) in Switzerland have a lot of leeway in handling their affairs. As long there's no violation of higher principles. For example a violation of the federal constitution.
    - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
      > parts of the US system were implemented with the founding of the Swiss Confederation Specifically, on the California constitution. (The Swiss system improves on California’s referendum process by making the referenda texts non-binding as law, but binding as instructions on the legislature.)
      - mkempe 8y ago
        You're inventing a past influence of California as a model for other parts of the world. The Swiss constitution of 1848 is modeled after the US Constitution [1], not after such a thing as a Californian political model -- especially since California was not admitted to the Union until 1850... popular initiatives (not just referenda) were adopted in Zurich before spreading to other Swiss cantons and then being also adopted at the Federal level. [1] http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland-federal-constitution-1848.html http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland...
cascom 8y ago
Not to mention that in the U.S. there is Federal, State, and typically multiple leveles of municipal bureaucracy to contend with. However, you also have to remember that in the typical American’s most of the services that they consume are at the local/municipal level
- mkempe 8y ago
  Come on. Switzerland has the same Federal structure, with 26 States, and municipal governments. Even the educational system is split at the State level, with barely any Federal intervention! Maybe you should learn about other countries before claiming that your personal experience in the US is absolutely unique or completely distinct.

oblio 8y ago

> When your whole country is about 8.5 million people it must be difficult to ever go anywhere and be a complete stranger. I know it's not HackerNews material, but: LOL. In a country with 8.5 million people it's not like you're living in a village with 5000 people where you know everyone. I think that once you have more than about 1 million people it's quite feasible to have perfect anonymity. More than that, in Switzerland they speak 4 different languages (German, French, Italian and the Romance language Romansch). The communities are quite separate, it's entirely possible for your average French Swiss to not have much to do with his fellow German Swiss countrymen.

cascom 8y ago
I don’t think the OP was being completely literal, and your point about language barriers is well taken, but in the context of America, Switzerland is the state of Virginia in terms of population (and about 40% of Virginia’s land area). In that context, Swiss national politics is more akin U.S. state level politics, where there tends to be much more cohesion.
- CaptainZapp 8y ago
  Actually, as a fiercly federalist country politics are very much comparable to a lesser corrupt US. In fact parts of the US system were implemented with the founding of the Swiss Confederation. Namely the two houses. The principle of governance is to push as much power as possible as locally as possible. Communities and cities as well as cantons (states) in Switzerland have a lot of leeway in handling their affairs. As long there's no violation of higher principles. For example a violation of the federal constitution.
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > parts of the US system were implemented with the founding of the Swiss Confederation Specifically, on the California constitution. (The Swiss system improves on California’s referendum process by making the referenda texts non-binding as law, but binding as instructions on the legislature.)
    - mkempe 8y ago
      You're inventing a past influence of California as a model for other parts of the world. The Swiss constitution of 1848 is modeled after the US Constitution [1], not after such a thing as a Californian political model -- especially since California was not admitted to the Union until 1850... popular initiatives (not just referenda) were adopted in Zurich before spreading to other Swiss cantons and then being also adopted at the Federal level. [1] http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland-federal-constitution-1848.html http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland...

cascom 8y ago

Not to mention that in the U.S. there is Federal, State, and typically multiple leveles of municipal bureaucracy to contend with. However, you also have to remember that in the typical American’s most of the services that they consume are at the local/municipal level

mkempe 8y ago
Come on. Switzerland has the same Federal structure, with 26 States, and municipal governments. Even the educational system is split at the State level, with barely any Federal intervention! Maybe you should learn about other countries before claiming that your personal experience in the US is absolutely unique or completely distinct.