Switzerland Deals A Big Blow to Socialism And Free
Lunches
This weekend the Swiss population was
called upon to make a historic decision, when Switzerland became the first
country worldwide to put the idea of free money for everyone, technically known
as Unconditional Basic Income (of CHF2,500 per month for every adult man and
woman, and CHF625 for every child, for doing absolutely nothing) to a vote.
Socialism’s popularity has been sweeping
the globe lately and Switzerland held a historic vote to further the ‘free
lunch’ agenda, that would have granted everyone a minimum wage regardless of
whether they did anything to earn it or not.
Well, in a powerful message to
socialists everywhere, the referendum failed miserably according to ZeroHedge:
As reported previously, the outcome of
this referendum would set a strong precedent and establish a landmark in the
evolution of the debate of handing out free money in a centrally-planned world.
And as predicted, based on early vote projections it has been a landslide
decision against the “free lunch.”
According to BBC, some 78% of voters
opposed the plan, a GFS projection for Swiss TV suggested. AFP adds that most
Swiss vote in advance by post, so a large majority of ballots had already been
counted, and gfs.bern put the margin of error at just plus/minus three percent.
Supporters said since work was
increasingly automated, fewer jobs were available for workers. Switzerland is
the first country to hold such a vote. No figure for the basic income had been
set, but those behind the proposal suggested a monthly income of 2,500 Swiss
francs (£1,755; $2,555) for adults and SFr625 for each child, reflecting the
high cost of living in Switzerland. It is not clear how it would affect people
on higher salaries.
“We are very happy,” Ralph Kundig, one
of the lead campaigners, told the ATS news agency. Supporters threw a party in
Lausanne to celebrate the 22 percent of votes they had garnered. “One out of
five people voted for the unconditional basic income, so that is a success in
itself,” Sergio Rossi, an economics professor and backer of the initiative,
told ATS.
However, there was little support among
Swiss politicians for the idea and not a single parliamentary party has come
out in favor, but the proposal gathered more than 100,000 signatures and was
therefore put to the vote under the Swiss popular initiative system.
Critics of the measure say that
disconnecting the link between work done and money earned would be bad for
society. But Che Wagner from the campaign group Basic Income Switzerland, says
it wouldn’t be money for nothing. “In Switzerland over 50% of total work that
is done is unpaid. It’s care work, it’s at home, it’s in different communities,
so that work would be more valued with a basic income.”
Luzi Stamm, who’s a member of parliament
for the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, opposes the idea. “Theoretically, if
Switzerland were an island, the answer is yes. But with open borders, it’s a
total impossibility, especially for Switzerland, with a high living standard,”
he says.
“If you would offer every individual a
Swiss amount of money, you would have billions of people who would try to move
into Switzerland.” Because, one you start handing out free lunches, everyone
wants a piece of the pie…
Andreas Ladner, a political scientist at
Lausanne University, told RTS the Swiss were “realistic” in their assessment of
the UBI plan. Accepting that people can “be paid without having to work would
have been a very big step” for the industrious Swiss, he said.
Critics have slammed the initiative as
“a Marxist dream”, warning of sky-high costs and people quitting their jobs in
droves, causing economic chaos.
The wording on the initiative was vague,
asking for a constitutional change to “guarantee the introduction of an
unconditional basic income” but with no mention of amounts.
Switzerland may be the first but it
won’t be the last. The idea is also under consideration elsewhere. In Finland,
the government is considering a trial to give basic income to about 8,000
people from low-income groups. And in the Dutch city of Utrecht is also
developing a pilot project which will begin in January 2017.
It’s interesting that socialism and its
various ‘free lunch’ permutations are even on ballots. In just a couple hundred
years, there have been dozens of failed attempts or downright implementations
of socialism. All have ended poorly. Why it continues to cull favor and get on
ballots is astounding.
Comments
‘You can
have open borders or a welfare state, but you can’t have both’ Milton Friedman
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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