this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2026
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Nearly 55% of voters in Switzerland on Sunday rejected an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the rich Alpine country’s population at 10 million, early results showed.

The populist Swiss People’s Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring European Union.

Some have dubbed the proposal a “Swiss Brexit” because it could jeopardize Switzerland’s deep ties to the European Union anchored by deals that foster economic growth, cultural ties and cross-border travel, among other things. Switzerland is not one of the EU’s 27 member states, but it is all but surrounded by four of them

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 37 points 1 day ago (5 children)

What is it with the right wing populists and their obsession with immigration? All they ever do is state the immigration is bad, and that it's the root of all evil, provide no evidence for the claim, and then just keep parroting the claim and infinitum until either elected or arrested/shot.

I get that they're racist but they're bordered by the likes of France, who exactly is it that's coming over that they have a problem with?

[–] sunbytes@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

Basically it's a way to distract from actual political issues, and shift blame to people that have a hard time defending themselves.

It's a very old technique but ususally works very well. The Romans used to execute Christians, and in mediaeval times European leaders would do pogroms (of Jews), burning of Catholics etc. Then 20th century examples like segregation, Nazism and fascists like Oswald Mosely.

Nowadays we have the modern versions in MAGA and Reform and "stop the boats" and whatever this Swiss movement calls itself.

Always condeming "the other" and making sure only to pick on those who can't stand up or really speak for themselves, because that persecution is cheaper and easier than acually solving problems.

Especially if those problems could be solved by worker reforms and progressive tax systems.

[–] BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

We had a foreign exchange student from Switzerland living with us recently, and I can confirm that the German side of Switzerland thinks the French side as lesser.

[–] jaxxed@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I doubt it was an honest goal. It was most likely a post-truth political device for aligbment.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Talentlesssculptor@lemmy.world -4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I mean, to a certain extent that is certainly true. If the taxable population stays the same, but the general population grows(through immigration or child births), then the taxable population will have to pay more to support the general population. This is often referred to as employment-unemployment ratio.

Now if the claim that one side is making "immigrants are employed to a higher degree than the native population" is true, then the other side is right about their claim that "immigrants are taking our jobs".

If, on the other hand, the inverse is true, then the immigrants not gaining employment would contribute to the drain on government resources.

It is complicated, to say the least.

[–] content_educator_94@thelemmy.club 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

It's actually not very complicated at all you're just painfully misinformed

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's not how immigration works. That's how the right want you to think it works.

I have literally never met anybody who has had their job taken by immigrants. Companies aren't allowed to pay immigrants less money than the current citizens so there's no reason to hire an immigrant over a citizen, in fact the opposite, a citizen is much more likely to understand the language and culture (although you do meet some people) and therefore much more able to integrate, and effectively operate in the business, whatever that business is.

If you want to emigrate into a country you have to usually prove that you're not going to cost that country any money. You have to prove that either you have the means to support yourself, or that you already have an offer of employment. The only exceptions that are made are for people who are fleeing persecution or conflict. But the vast majority of potential immigrants do not meet that criteria.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"Illegal" immigrates pay in sales taxes and use less public resources. They're generally a net gain for tax revenue.

[–] Talentlesssculptor@lemmy.world -3 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

Please show that this is true.

Edit - Or just stick your heads in the sand and down-vote I guess.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 0 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Talentlesssculptor@lemmy.world -1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Ahh. TPC "A joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution,"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Policy_Center#Funding

Urban institute: "According to a study by U.S. News & World Report most political campaign donations by Urban Institute employees go to Democratic politicians. Between 2003 and 2010, Urban Institute employees' made $79,529 in political contributions, none of which went to the Republican Party."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Institute#History_and_funding

So hardly unbiased, but the bigger issue is the partner Brookings Institution:

"A 2014 investigation by The New York Times found Brookings to be among more than a dozen Washington, D.C.–based research groups and think tanks to have received payments from foreign governments while encouraging American government officials to support policies aligned with those foreign governments' agendas.[112] The Times published documents showing that Brookings accepted grants from Norway with specific policy requests and helped it gain access to U.S. government officials, as well as other "deliverables".[113][114] In June 2014, Norway agreed to make an additional $4 million donation to Brookings.[112] Several legal specialists who examined the documents told the paper that the language of the transactions "appeared to necessitate Brookings filing as a foreign agent" under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.[114]

The government of Qatar was named by The New York Times as "the single biggest foreign donor to Brookings", reportedly contributing $14.8 million over a four-year period. A former visiting fellow at a Brookings affiliate in Qatar reportedly said that "he had been told during his job interview that he could not take positions critical of the Qatar government in papers".[112] Brookings officials denied any connection between the views of their funders and their scholars' work, citing reports that questioned the Qatari government's education reform efforts and criticized its support of militants in Syria. But Brookings officials reportedly acknowledged that they meet with Qatari government officials regularly.[112]

In 2018, The Washington Post reported that Brookings accepted funding from Huawei from 2012 to 2018.[115] A report by the Center for International Policy's Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative of the top 50 think tanks on the University of Pennsylvania's Global Go-To Think Tanks rating index found that between 2014 and 2018, Brookings received the third-highest amount of funding from outside the United States compared to other think tanks, with a total of more than $27 million.[116] In 2022, Brookings president John R. Allen resigned amid an FBI probe into lobbying on behalf of Qatar."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookings_Institution#Funding_controversies

It should also be noted that the Cato model that the claim in the article is based upon is developed by an organization that is pro immigration and has connections to the Ayn Rand institute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_Institute#Ideological_relationships

[–] dreamkeeper@literature.cafe 0 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Lol none of these smear attempts prove the studies are flawed. You can dig up political donations and controversies for any organization in the country. It says everything that you couldn't engage with the actual data and resorted to ad hominems instead.

What a cowardly little racist weasel you are.

[–] Talentlesssculptor@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

I am a coward because I don't have the time to break down an economic model? Or am I a cowardly racist weasel because I don't swallow that immigration of individuals from less stable and progressive countries make the country to which they migrate, less stable and progressive?

If you want a relevant quote on why Cato arrived at their findings, maybe this will help "In another recent paper, this one looking at all costs and tax payments using a different survey, Cato again assigns the welfare costs of immigrants’ U.S.-born children to the U.S.-born. That study even excluded the roughly $200 billion spent educating these children. Of course we should educate the U.S.-born children of immigrants. But as is true of welfare, the impact on the education system must be considered when setting immigration policy. Any analysis that fails to do so does profound disservice to the public discourse.

Another important issue with Cato’s welfare approach is the decision to report the average dollar value of benefits rather than use rates. Because the SIPP does a better job capturing use of welfare than the amount recipients receive, Cato has to make various adjustments to the values in the SIPP. None of this means that reporting dollar amounts is a terrible idea. But it does mean that their results are dependent on all the assumptions they make."

https://cis.org/Oped/CIS-vs-Cato-Immigrant-Welfare-Whos-Right