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They have no shame. They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on... Healthcare may be the only reason, but you also have i

by d--b 7y ago

They have no shame. They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on... Healthcare may be the only reason, but you also have it everywhere else...

rsync 7y ago
"They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on..." As someone who owns a business in CH and visits there relatively frequently, I understand what you are saying, but I have two initial responses to you: 1) technically, CH is, in fact quite diverse in terms of population stats - especially Zurich and Geneva. I was surprised to look up and see that 25% of the population of CH is foreign born[1]. 2) That being said, to whatever degree CH is really, really homogeneous (and it definitely seems so as you travel outside Zurich/Geneva/Basel) isn't that a feature ? Isn't that the point of a Switzerland ? I don't want the entire world to be strip malls and walmarts - I enjoy local culture and diversity in nations. [1] https://www.thelocal.ch/20180831/foreign-residents-now-make-up-more-than-a-quarter-of-the-population-in-switzerland https://www.thelocal.ch/20180831/foreign-residents-now-make-...
DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
Switzerland is extremely diverse. There are four official languages, and 20+% of the population is foreign-born. In Zurich, that rate is much higher.
- jupp0r 7y ago
  That's like saying Texas is extremely liberal. Moving to most places in Switzerland that are not Zurich, Bern or Geneva will yield a similar experience as moving to non-Austin Texas.
  - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
    Most people don't live in the rural areas you're emphasizing. If you exclude cities, the US begins to look pretty homogeneous too. One out of five people living in Switzerland weren't born in the country. There are three major languages, plus a fourth national language. By any reasonable measure, Switzerland is an extremely diverse country. The amazing thing is that a country that's so linguistically balkanised is so stable and orderly.
- d--b 7y ago
  Ok, well, depends what you call diversity. In the US, it generally means racial diversity. Sure Switzerland has a lot of European people from various countries. But it is nonetheless a very white country... I'm just saying that writing that Switzerland is more diverse than Silicon Valley is ridiculous.
  - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
    That's a very superficial measure of diversity. There's a lot more to a person than the color of their skin. It makes no sense to apply that extremely narrow definition of diversity to a European country, or even to the US.
    - d--b 7y ago
      Yes, I am kind of simply stating what people imply when they say diversity. For most people a group of 3 people: one Chinese, one Egyptian, and one Columbian is a culturally more diverse (my definition), than a group of Germans, Austrian, French, Belgians and Dutch...

by d--b 7y ago

They have no shame. They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on... Healthcare may be the only reason, but you also have it everywhere else...

rsync 7y ago

"They went as far as praising Switzerland's diversity and inclusiveness... Come on..." As someone who owns a business in CH and visits there relatively frequently, I understand what you are saying, but I have two initial responses to you: 1) technically, CH is, in fact quite diverse in terms of population stats - especially Zurich and Geneva. I was surprised to look up and see that 25% of the population of CH is foreign born[1]. 2) That being said, to whatever degree CH is really, really homogeneous (and it definitely seems so as you travel outside Zurich/Geneva/Basel) isn't that a feature ? Isn't that the point of a Switzerland ? I don't want the entire world to be strip malls and walmarts - I enjoy local culture and diversity in nations. [1] https://www.thelocal.ch/20180831/foreign-residents-now-make-up-more-than-a-quarter-of-the-population-in-switzerland https://www.thelocal.ch/20180831/foreign-residents-now-make-...

DiogenesKynikos 7y ago

Switzerland is extremely diverse. There are four official languages, and 20+% of the population is foreign-born. In Zurich, that rate is much higher.

jupp0r 7y ago
That's like saying Texas is extremely liberal. Moving to most places in Switzerland that are not Zurich, Bern or Geneva will yield a similar experience as moving to non-Austin Texas.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  Most people don't live in the rural areas you're emphasizing. If you exclude cities, the US begins to look pretty homogeneous too. One out of five people living in Switzerland weren't born in the country. There are three major languages, plus a fourth national language. By any reasonable measure, Switzerland is an extremely diverse country. The amazing thing is that a country that's so linguistically balkanised is so stable and orderly.
d--b 7y ago
Ok, well, depends what you call diversity. In the US, it generally means racial diversity. Sure Switzerland has a lot of European people from various countries. But it is nonetheless a very white country... I'm just saying that writing that Switzerland is more diverse than Silicon Valley is ridiculous.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  That's a very superficial measure of diversity. There's a lot more to a person than the color of their skin. It makes no sense to apply that extremely narrow definition of diversity to a European country, or even to the US.
  - d--b 7y ago
    Yes, I am kind of simply stating what people imply when they say diversity. For most people a group of 3 people: one Chinese, one Egyptian, and one Columbian is a culturally more diverse (my definition), than a group of Germans, Austrian, French, Belgians and Dutch...