Yesterday I came across a documentary about Switzerland, a country I admire a lot, but I've never had the pleasure to visit it, for good reasons. I have a friend who lives there and I know a lot from him.
For those of you who are not familiar what Switzerland is famous for:
Switzerland is among the world's most developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. It performs highly on several international metrics, including economic competitiveness, democratic governance, and press freedom. Zurich, Geneva and Basel rank among the highest in quality of life, albeit with some of the highest costs of living. Switzerland holds an international reputation for its established banking sector and for its specialized industries in watchmaking and chocolate production. source
In other words, it is known as one of the best places to live in, in the world, it is one of the beautiful countries as well, if you're looking for mountains, snow and a lot of green, but it comes at a cost.
We knew they have strict rules, that's why it is so selective, but it turns out even the slightest transgression is regulated there. Is this such a bad thing? Let's see.
The documentary started with presenting what an early morning looks like in the city of Lausanne for two police officers. It was barely 6 am and they were already out on the streets, looking for transgressors.
In a few minutes, they caught a man who threw his household trash bag into a street bin, a student who spat on the street and another guy who dropped his cigarette butt on the ground. They all got fined right away and they needed to pay between CHF100 and CHF150. Urinating on the street can also bring you a CHF200 fine and so on.
Moat likely these offenses or at least a part of it is punishable or fineable in many countries, but not many care. Well, Switzerland does.
It's shocking how people think and I give you an example. The guy who spat on the street, frustrated for being fined, he took off his backpack and put it on the ground, while dealing with the police officers. Imagine dropping his backpack into his own spitting. Gross, isn't it? It is, yet, he still spat on the ground and was frustrated for being called out and fined.
There was a list with the fineable offenses, and while I was going through it was thinking if this means excessive control or not. It may seem like it at first glance, but people make it necessary.
As I said, Switzerland is a gem country because quality of life seems to be way better there, compared to other countries. People have clean streets, free and reliable healthcare, good services, safety is at the highest level if you know where to go and so on. These are necessary things for a normal and enjoyable life desired by everyone, yet law enforcement is needed to make it happen, which leads to people being frustrated for getting fined for not helping creating and maintaining it.
Contrary to other countries, in Switzerland, the most important decisions are passed by referendum.
Back to the topic of the post, what was shocking was most of them admitted doing it, they said they didn't know there's a fine to pay for these offenses. Damn! You don't drop your cigarette but on the ground at home, you don't spit on the floor because you want your home clean, right? Then why are you doing it on the street? Who's going to pick it up or clean it? Someone has to be paid to clean after you and the more money is spent on cleaning, the less is left of important things like health care and education for example.
One guy even said don't they have anything better to do, like focus on real crime? They do, they have to focus on real crimes too, but they are doing a damn good job as Switzerland's safety index is 73.5, while the highest ranking country (Andorra) scores 84.7.
A small, but extremely important detail you most likely don't know about Switzerland is this:
Firearms regulation in Switzerland allows the acquisition of semi-automatic, and – with a may-issue permit – fully automatic firearms, by Swiss citizens and foreigners with or without permanent residence. The laws pertaining to the acquisition of firearms in Switzerland are amongst the most liberal in the world, as well as being the most permissive in Europe. Swiss gun laws are primarily about the acquisition of arms, and not ownership. As such a license is not required to own a gun by itself, but a shall-issue permit is required to purchase most types of firearms. source
Yet, you don't see people slaughtering each other as it happens in the US and not only, no school shootings and so on.
So many are in pursuit of finding the best place to live and work. Most likely there's no place that checks all the boxes, but there are plenty that come close, no matter what you are looking for.
So many are complaining about corruption, incompetency, which is present in most countries, and accusing the government of everything literally possible, but how is working against what you would like to achieve help you or the society in any way?
Education starts at home, you are supposed to learn at the very young age, that making a mess is not allowed, littering costs money and don't do things to others you don't like yourself. It all comes down to education and mentality and if everyone would do their part, such strict rules would not be needed. Those times when nobles did their thing on the corridors of Versailles, because they were lazy to use the toilet, when all the dirt and household rubbish was thrown out the window to the streets of London are long gone and we should be heading towards a better and implicitly cleaner society in every aspect of the word, but are we on the right path?
What do you think? Are you spitting on the street? Are you throwing your cigarette on the ground? Have you ever been fined for such transgressions?
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
