5 ms·

Living in Switzerland ruined me for America and its lousy work culture

25 points by lleims 11y ago

allendoerfer 11y ago
All those averages say very little about the situation. The country has a very stable middle class, salted with high-skilled and/or high net-worth German immigrants, while the US has super rich people, very poor people and everything in between. So the average does say very little about a college educated white-collar worker. Switzerland is also a tiny country that would be a tiny state in the US but is still segmented in kantons that each have their own tax system and negotiate individual tax deals with super rich immigrants. I am not an expert on the Swiss tax system, but based upon my anecdotal knowledge about these individual tax-deals I doubt that these numbers are universal. They each apply only to a small number of people, remember Switzerland is tiny and you compare a subset of it with all of the US. To make this comment a bit less negative: Everything else aside from the numbers and about the cultural differences in working environments is quite interesting. I enjoy to read outside views about your own culture or even other cultures.
- olewhalehunter 11y ago
  Switzerland has also been a parasite on European finance since the renaissance and especially since the Treaty of Paris in 1815, every outcome of Germanic squabbles ending in unpaid damages and debts to other European peoples from the Hussite war to World War II has ended in Germanic warlords fleeing to Switzerland with their wealth, laundering their finances into the black hole of the Swiss economy and banking system, then conveniently shrugging "Switzerland is neutral ground, sorry" to avoid any responsibility in European politics.
- eonw 11y ago
  it would be interesting to see the break down of the wealth housed in Switzerland based on nationality of its owner. I know a number of notable Germans have gone there, but i would imagine other countries have as well, in fairly large numbers also.
hwstar 11y ago
If more people knew they could live a better life outside of the USA and the immigration policies were more open outside of America, the USA would experience mass emigration. The corporate-controlled media avoids comparing or discussing US employment laws to other developed countries specifically for this reason. The puritan work ethic is partially to blame as well. People in Europe know how to live their lives in balance between play and work. Americans were never conditioned to live this way in public schools or by their parents. In America, all that matters is profit and the almighty dollar, and be damned with making the country a better place to live and work.
- stuxnet79 11y ago
  > People in Europe know how to live their lives in balance between play and work. Americans were never conditioned to live this way in public schools or by their parents. Do you have some personal experience with this? I keep hearing this and I'm very curious as to why it is the case. I'm in grad school and even I have noticed that my European colleagues tend to be more laid back.
  - hwstar 11y ago
    I have seen for myself how people in the UK live compared to the US as I have family in the UK and have been back to visit quite a bit.
  - k__ 11y ago
    In Germany you have to take about 28 days holiday a year.
nikdaheratik 11y ago
Let's not limit this to Switzerland or even Europe. Many of these same work laws, health care benefits, and actual working public transport, exist in Australia. And I would assume many other countries that decided that Socialism, and some regulation of business, does not lead to a some kind of Communist revolt. Health Insurance companies, Auto companies, and other big business industries managed to squeeze concessions out of the U.S. that would cause huge protests if they tried to pass them in many other countries around the world. And Americans are so inward looking that they don't even notice the differences.
ilaksh 11y ago
American work culture is lousy, but I'm not sure we can all copy Switzerland. There are only so many favorite countries for criminals to hide their money. Switzerland is rich.
- michaelochurch 11y ago
  We (the U.S.) are the favorite country for criminals hiding their wealth, and it's not even close. The problem is that they buy real estate in the most expensive areas (New York, Bay Area) and that hurts far more people than it helps. Sure, there are the Swiss bank accounts, but every corrupt official in China has a house in Silicon Valley in case he gets caught.
  - yuhong 11y ago
    Canada too.

25 points by lleims 11y ago

All those averages say very little about the situation. The country has a very stable middle class, salted with high-skilled and/or high net-worth German immigrants, while the US has super rich people, very poor people and everything in between. So the average does say very little about a college educated white-collar worker. Switzerland is also a tiny country that would be a tiny state in the US but is still segmented in kantons that each have their own tax system and negotiate individual tax deals with super rich immigrants. I am not an expert on the Swiss tax system, but based upon my anecdotal knowledge about these individual tax-deals I doubt that these numbers are universal. They each apply only to a small number of people, remember Switzerland is tiny and you compare a subset of it with all of the US. To make this comment a bit less negative: Everything else aside from the numbers and about the cultural differences in working environments is quite interesting. I enjoy to read outside views about your own culture or even other cultures.

olewhalehunter 11y ago
Switzerland has also been a parasite on European finance since the renaissance and especially since the Treaty of Paris in 1815, every outcome of Germanic squabbles ending in unpaid damages and debts to other European peoples from the Hussite war to World War II has ended in Germanic warlords fleeing to Switzerland with their wealth, laundering their finances into the black hole of the Swiss economy and banking system, then conveniently shrugging "Switzerland is neutral ground, sorry" to avoid any responsibility in European politics.
eonw 11y ago
it would be interesting to see the break down of the wealth housed in Switzerland based on nationality of its owner. I know a number of notable Germans have gone there, but i would imagine other countries have as well, in fairly large numbers also.

hwstar 11y ago

If more people knew they could live a better life outside of the USA and the immigration policies were more open outside of America, the USA would experience mass emigration. The corporate-controlled media avoids comparing or discussing US employment laws to other developed countries specifically for this reason. The puritan work ethic is partially to blame as well. People in Europe know how to live their lives in balance between play and work. Americans were never conditioned to live this way in public schools or by their parents. In America, all that matters is profit and the almighty dollar, and be damned with making the country a better place to live and work.

stuxnet79 11y ago
> People in Europe know how to live their lives in balance between play and work. Americans were never conditioned to live this way in public schools or by their parents. Do you have some personal experience with this? I keep hearing this and I'm very curious as to why it is the case. I'm in grad school and even I have noticed that my European colleagues tend to be more laid back.
- hwstar 11y ago
  I have seen for myself how people in the UK live compared to the US as I have family in the UK and have been back to visit quite a bit.
- k__ 11y ago
  In Germany you have to take about 28 days holiday a year.

nikdaheratik 11y ago

Let's not limit this to Switzerland or even Europe. Many of these same work laws, health care benefits, and actual working public transport, exist in Australia. And I would assume many other countries that decided that Socialism, and some regulation of business, does not lead to a some kind of Communist revolt. Health Insurance companies, Auto companies, and other big business industries managed to squeeze concessions out of the U.S. that would cause huge protests if they tried to pass them in many other countries around the world. And Americans are so inward looking that they don't even notice the differences.

ilaksh 11y ago

American work culture is lousy, but I'm not sure we can all copy Switzerland. There are only so many favorite countries for criminals to hide their money. Switzerland is rich.

michaelochurch 11y ago
We (the U.S.) are the favorite country for criminals hiding their wealth, and it's not even close. The problem is that they buy real estate in the most expensive areas (New York, Bay Area) and that hurts far more people than it helps. Sure, there are the Swiss bank accounts, but every corrupt official in China has a house in Silicon Valley in case he gets caught.
- yuhong 11y ago
  Canada too.