| I don't necessarily disagree with you that wealth is an important tool but that might have been better as a response to the top level comment rather than that comment chain. That comment chain went as follows (I am quoting only part of the comments): 1) "Switzerland, most democratic country in the world, reminding people that it isn't just the authoritarians who know how to keep organised." 2) "Well, as a Swiss I can only state for the record that the government is not the enemy.
Essentially: The government is us. " 3) "It requires a multi-generational cultural conditioning to develop the civic mind that the Swiss have nurtured. It is also not clear how scalable it is ultimately." 4) your comment which was quoted the line above and discussed the role of Swiss wealth in being able to respond effective to a pandemic. To me, your comment would have made more sense in reply to the first comment. The "It" from comment 3 that you responded to is the Swiss attitude towards the power of their government(s) and the placement of your comment might therefore lead people to think you meant that their wealth lead to that attitude rather than what you intended which was that their wealth would aid their ability to respond to an outbreak of disease. On another note. While I do not think Swiss-style direct democracy gives a particular advantage in fighting pandemics (and has led to some not-great outcomes such as women in one canton not being able to vote until 1991), I do think that systems of government in which citizens have a high degree of trust are at an advantage. The Swiss do have a high regard for their system and they will do what they are told without resenting they system because they feel invested in it. |