Basically you answered your own question. The people voted. The majority won. The minority aren't happy. End of story.

You want to change it further? Become Swiss, raise a new petition, get the signatures, send it to the vote again. Accept the outcome.

Clearly a voted-for motion in a direct democracy is NOT a lost and indecent cause, is it?

Voting tends to make one section of people unhappy but they are consistently in the minority.

Brexit was a stupid idea but it won because the majority voted for it.
Trump is an orange incompetent but he won because the majority voted for him.
There will be a new grammar school built up the road from us in the next 8 years because the majority voted for it.

There's a pattern...

In this case people have exercised their democratic right to be extremely selfish and self-serving.

They also voted in homeopathy as something that will be paid for under health insurance.

I may not get a vote here but I'm still paying for idiocracy through health insurance premiums.

Well I would vote against smoking in public areas and homeopathy coverage but, hey, you win some and you lose some.

Actually they don't. When people criticise the Swiss as being unfriendly or standoffish, I am one of the first to say how friendly they are.
Unlike a lot of people here - I have hardly any ex-pat friends - they're mainly Swiss.

However, just because I think the food is a bit crap and the smoking is also a bit crap is not really a reason to leave - I'm not that shallow.

For reference, my wife is Swiss and she also also believes that whilst direct democracy has its place, it's the wrong conduit to change healthcare laws where issues are quite complex - probably too complex for most people to understand.

As for this thread - it's a bit of mindless banter. Not sure why you are getting your knickers in a twist so much about what I write. You can ignore it is you want.
There's enough Swiss on this forum who can defend their own laws!

Ban smoking in all the covered waiting areas at bus stops,tram stops etc! Go somewhere else to blow your smoke

You're not allowed to say that on this forum. Apparently it's anti-Swiss.

They're extremely proud of their smoking heritage.

well its also applies to non swiss,refugees,those not born in CH etc etc

Well what us foreigners think is neither here nor there.

(According to the forum Stasi* who read every post here to ensure there is no dissent).

*Obviously not the mods who do a wonderful job.

Smokers should be required to return their cigarette ends before being allowed to purchase a new pack. The platforms at Nyon are still covered in them, if anyone needs to top-up.

Filthy habit, inconsiderate bar-stewards. Of course this only applies to the idiots, not you.

Indeed, I am still miffed that the idiots voted to make health insurance obligatory here.

Tom

I have to disagree with you here. I think the system works pretty well compared with other countries.

What don't you like about health insurance being obligatory?

That it's obligatory to have it.

It's only been like that for the past 20 years.

Tom

If you're rich enough not to ever need it, you're rich enough to pay the premiums (and not even notice).

If you're poor enough to think you can't afford the premiums, you definitely can't afford any treatment so making the insurance compulsory is a good safety net.

Letting people die because they can't afford healthcare is a bit third-world, to be honest.

The problem is that the premiums have increased a lot after it became obligatory.

I had it before it was obligatory, though only after a few years.

Medical costs over the years have always been far less than the premiums paid.

Tom

True.
Also had it ever since I'm here. (Even "Zusatzversicherung" until last year )

Well, premiums being higher than costs is the idea of an insurance
Question is how much higher should they really be.

I've never claimed on health insurance either.

I mentioned in another post on another thread that whilst prices for generic drugs are strictly controlled, the same does not hold true for 'complementary' stuff like homeopathy. Companies charge what they like for this water and sugar solution - and they do.

If all the non-proven complementary medicine hadn't got voted in by 'the people' then perhaps the premiums wouldn't be so high.

I bet there's a lot of other unproven stuff offered which is also costly and ineffective.

Then there are people like my SIL who feels she needs to visit the doctor every week for some vague complaint - and she's not the only one.

Basically, the level of service could remain the same but costs could be reduced with some serious thought and action.

Returning to the smoking at train stations question, SBB started a no-smoking trial at 6 stations around Zurich a couple of weeks ago. I saw this at Stadelhofen but don't know which other stations are affected. I guess it will lead to a no-smoking policy at more and more stations going forward.

Hello and welcome sanval,


Well if it was a trial they will have to wait for the results to see if they will decide to spread it further

What are they measuring? What's success? What's failure?