Swiss vote to give themselves a bigger pension

[Voltaire2]

Swiss voters have given themselves an extra month's pension each year - in a nationwide referendum focusing on living standards for the elderly.

The government had warned that the increased payments would be too expensive to afford.
But almost 60% of voters said 'yes' in Sunday's poll. Separately, 75% rejected raising the pension age from 65 to 66.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68463978

Imagine a society where we increase social benefits, where we decide everyone deserves financial security. It seems so far away, so improbable.

[marybourg]

1. Their everyone is just themselves. They have very strict immigration policies;

an American acquaintance who went to a very prestigious grad school there and who would have liked to stay was not allowed to. They are also quite anti-Semitic, according to my mother, who knew about such things. ☹️ Which might, or might not have been related to my first anecdote.

[SarahD]

2. The Swiss can be surprisingly xenophobic

They speak four different languages, but are not warm to the idea of foreigners moving in.

[Voltaire2]

3. Sure. I'm not claiming the Swiss are perfect. Far from it.