if i mind right glid was kind of in favor of brexit? maybe i am wrong. maybe, and running the risk of putting words in his mouth, glid recognizes the terrible way it has all been handled.
I haven't been on here for a while for a few reasons. 1. I believe in climate change (human created and nasty climate change, just to be clear) and it is evident that for some odd reason, the most vocal members of this forum don't. After a while there is nothing more to say. 2. I think Brexit is a really poor idea. Once again, it's a minority viewpoint here and I'm not really likely to change any opinions. 3. I think Donald Trump is a turd of such magnitude that I don't want to waste my time reiterating what should be patently obvious. 4. My own 999 has been off the road for 3 years. But I'll be writing an update on that, for a laugh. So really, I have nothing very new to say and I don't think that anyone much wants to hear the old stuff. As for referendums in Switzerland, we have about 4 votes a year and each one on about 3 or 4 different topics. So we are used to them. People tend to have a level-headed view and most of the time, reason prevails. We do have a very right wing party, the UDC which has gained more traction over the last decade or so, much as this drift to the right has happened in almost every European country. They have had us voting on ludicrous things like banning minaret building (there are only about 3 in Switzerland in any case) and like to employ scare tactics to bolster their normally laughable political views. But nearly all of their stuff has been rejected (with the exception of the minarets...). So people approach referenda differently. They are perhaps more politically savvy, ie they don't fall so easily for blatant lies. They are cautious and tend not to believe in cake-eating scenarios. They even voted against more statutory holiday, reasoning that this could not be cost-free. Still, they did put the government between a rock and a hard place by voting against free movement of people, but this isn't really workable and the government has been dragging its feet to avoid national hara kiri.
So Switzerland is special but the UK is not? The people who voted leave didn't really understand. Unlike the Swiss who are savvy because historically the nation has been neutral. Is that it?
I think Scotchland should remain in the UK, unless they really want to leave. In which case, they should. I just doubt they'd be any happier. Let me state my approach to politics: People tend to think that they will be happier in their daily lives if this or that political decision is enacted. In practice, I don't think that this has much to do with anything. You only have to catch a cold to feel miserable, whatever happens in Edinburgh, London, Brussels or Stormont. People perhaps need to fix themselves before they start finding all sorts of other people to blame. The major exceptions being political extremism, such as death camps, crackdowns on the press - life-threatening government heavy-handedness. etc.
Well.... The press in Switzerland is much more.... neutral. The whole debate is more... neutral. There is no real class-consciousness here. There isn't some sort of constant war between the haves and the have-lesses. The UK is what it is with all its good points and its less good points. And it has always had a conflicted relationship with Europe which is what has brought Brexit about in the first place. Switzerland? Well, it's in Europe, isn't it? It's surrounded by Europe. It speaks 3 European languages. So the idea of a separate Switzerland that participates in nothing European isn't really on the cards.
You need to stick around and follow @Loz 's advice on deleting the threads or entire Forums that annoy you! You are part of the historical fabric of the forum and it is a little duller without you
post 72, just having a laugh. (mostly) Brexiteers seem only able to accept one form of Brexit. That is puzzling, a lack of flexibility that can/will harm the economy...but at as long as its hard WTO Brexit. No room for variation. Mays deal will get voted down. article 50 will get a time extension. The Government, despite the 52% vote (of voters) not the population seem to have realise that they will do huge damage to the economy, desperately trying to navigate around this. Not easy with all the political games being played. Another referendum with the same choices is pointless, so; 1.Hard Brexit wto 2.Norway model 3.Mays deal 4.Stay (and try and influence the future as part of the EU) 5. an alternatie deal after an extension.... 2,3, and 4 (maybe 5) need to keep freedom of movement.
Before the vote, campaigning brexiteers were holding both Norway and Switzerland up as glittering examples of how possible it is to be outside the EU but still be a wealthy country. Now those same campaigning brexiteers are saying that Norway and Switzerland are effectively both in the EU and that’s not good enough. Moreover, it now looks as though we can’t follow these models anyway, even if we want to. Is it any wonder that remainers are remoaners??
I was in favour of Brexit for most of the run-up to the vote. Then on the eve of the vote (which I wasn't invited to participate in in any case, so my viewpoint is entirely academic) I changed my mind after watching this video: Because this bloke knows a lot more than me, and a lot more than anyone else on here. So that's that.
