...like the societies of Nordic countries?

No. Although many think this is Sweden.

While on holiday in SA recently someone asked me if Switzerland is in America. I said Yes, near California.

well they do seem to say "egal" an awful lot...

No, given the social impediments to women in the work place. I would also not call it a meritocracy.

How can then a "non-meritocratic" country like Switzerland be so successful in technology and business?
Or is the success of Switzerland only based on dirty money stashed in their banks?
When will the Swiss end this dirty practice of hosting dirty money from all over the world, that brings shame on them, and shadows the good things of the country (the Red Cross, the U.N., etc...)?

Finally...why doesn't Switzerland try to get some maritime area outside its borders, a 27th canton directly on the sea? In this way it would have mountains, fields, lakes...and sea! Maybe they can buy some cheap Greek island soon for sale...or even better the entire Republic of Ireland.

You might be more successful at making your point if you actually had one that connected, in some vague way, to your original question.

Naive is an inadequate term to associate with these thoughts.

Is there some kind of actual motivation behind these questions?

It isn't...

I believe the word you are seeking is "Metrononic"? ... As in the back and forth pendulum movement of a metronome to synchronise the beat of music, when practicing piano scales, as related to the periodic murmurings of such as oneself who repeatedly harp on something they know nothing about.

And please do not refer to money in Swiss banks as "dirty" money. My reputation would be ruined if the money in banks here was called dirty. It is all cleanly laundered ... @ 60 degrees Fahrenheit, dried and ironed and neatly stacked.

The only "dirty" money "stashed" in banks here is the dirty money (prior to my vigorous laundering efforts) brought here by people other than the local inhabitants, who have not time for occupations other than seeking perfection in their respective fields of employment, ie the superior technologies you mention.

Seeking a maritime canton is not high on the Swiss agenda - maybe it has something to do with flotsam, the Swiss folk being not keen on handling stuff that has no immediate bearing on the well-being of their own folk. They leave the coveting of other`s lands to those who enjoy warfare and extending greed. I do believe they rather use their riches to enrich themselves.

Tis a very tiny country, ya know.

I just didn't want to open a different thread for all those unrelated questions...I preferred to "consolidate" everything here. More efficient...more Swiss.

(Metronomic....ssshhh....we mustn't let the rest of the world think that the English spell badly).

Is metronomic something to do with the planned Zürich underground railway?

I think it is pronounced Metro-Gnome-ic in Zurich.

I'd like to know what is exactly an Egalitarian Society and how it could really work, when by definition we are all different human beings.

The English spell badly? A Metronome is that thing that looks like the ding-dongs hanging off a grandfather clock and it tick-tocks back and forth to the rythm you set it to. So, I get the impression that there is always someone griping about all the lolly in the Swiss banks. This is the Banking Capital of the world. Or is that Nigeria?

What definition is that exactly?

I don't think there is an egalitarian society that has proven to work, the closest I can think of might by Christiania in Denmark.

It can mean any number of things. It can mean, say, equality of opportunity, rather than opportunity only for particular subsets of a population. This does not presume that people are 'equal' merely that there are no social, cultural, or structural impediments to opportunity (e.g. you can't be denied a job because you're a man and 'it's always been that way').

here the scientific answer to the question:

http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofste...tzerland.shtml

the power distance index is very low, so yes Switzerland is egalitarian