Hi there, I’m American living in French Switzerland.
Because of my nationality and my family here, we’re trying to fit-in to our local area and being a family there is a lot of adjustment for what we have to do and it’s a process. I’ve noticed that Swiss-Germany, the Nordics, Germany and the Netherlands people are a lot more serious when you meet them and just kind of live a normal, steady and stable life without a lot of flexibility. And they hope that us foreigners that will kind of ‘fit-in’ to this lifestyle…which I think is more or less fair as I’m a guest in their country and trying to fit-in. But…at the end of the day…are they happier in this normal, steady and stable life? No criticism, genuine question.
I mean I get it, with a crazy, chaotic life we left in America, which has its fair share of problems…which is not the point I’m trying to make…we all know them. But there is more flexibility, more openness and acceptance of other social norms but it leads to these problems if unchecked…in my opinion…what do you think?
Thoughts? Experiences? What do you think?
OP, if you’re confused, I suggest you look into the economic and political history of Switzerland.
If you pause and think objectively about what Switzerland is, you might find yourself with an interesting question. That is, how is it that a tiny alpine landlocked country, whose population has never been above about 9 million people, and has never been at the centre of a great empire as an Imperial power, ended up becoming the diplomatic and economic powerhouse it is today?
I mean, the US has a GDP per capita of 70kish - whereas in Switzerland, its 90kish. Not to mention Switzerland has topped the Global Economic Innovation index every year since 2015.
…so perhaps a ‘winner takes it all’/‘we’re all the main character’ culture is actually a little bit less profitable in big picture terms than a culture that values stability and cohesion?