This referendum does not appear likely to succeed on this turn, but again we see the handwriting on the wall. The influence of Cultural Marxism*, the fear that the EU has of a traditionally fiercely independent people, and the concern that a whole bunch of "assault weapons" in the hands of well-trained private citizens could put up a very good fight to maintain their freedom have come together to threaten a hallowed and fully necessary intuition:
"On Sunday, the Swiss are voting on a proposal to abolish military conscription in favor of a voluntary army. The country with no clear foes and a long tradition of neutrality could find better ways of spending money than playing at war, proponents say.
Switzerland, once a proud supplier of mercenaries for numerous wars in Europe, has maintained a policy of armed neutrality for the last five centuries. It isn’t a member of any defense pacts and wasn’t even member of the United Nations until 2002. But it has an army of 150,000, the size of Austria’s, Belgium’s, Norway’s, Finland’s and Sweden’s armies combined.
Under Swiss law, all able-bodied males must take part in compulsory military service between the ages of 18 and 34. This comprises 18 to 21 weeks of basic training and further yearly refresher courses lasting 19 days. Senior officers may have to serve up to the age of 50 and spend more than twice as much time on army duty than ordinary recruits........
The military is also the cornerstone of the Swiss militia, which has a role similar to the National Guard in the US. Those in the army help civilian authorities and respond to natural disasters and other major events. Many continue helping society as volunteers after retiring from the service by joining the fire service, participating in local politics. or serving other public duties.
However, there are plenty who see [Read maliciously label] military traditions as an expensive anachronism, which is no longer necessary. The pacifist Group for Switzerland without an Army (GSoA) has gathered the 100,000 signatures necessary to put their abolition proposal to a national referendum..........."
Here we see what decades of Leftist propaganda will do to a people - get them to think poorly of a key institution and render their nation weaker, convince them to shirk national service, and have them prefer the thought of being controlled rather than checking the power of the state to control the People:
"GSoA, which has been campaigning against obligatory army service since 1982, argues that the country located in the heart of Europe doesn’t need big military firepower to protect itself and that a purely voluntary force would suffice. It criticizes conscription, which excludes Swiss women and disrupts study and work for men, costing an estimated $4.3 billion to the economy annually.
"Not everyone has time to play war," declares the GSoA campaign poster.........."
"GSoA, which has been campaigning against obligatory army service since 1982, argues that the country located in the heart of Europe doesn’t need big military firepower to protect itself and that a purely voluntary force would suffice. It criticizes conscription, which excludes Swiss women and disrupts study and work for men, costing an estimated $4.3 billion to the economy annually.
"Not everyone has time to play war," declares the GSoA campaign poster.........."
As the nation loses her older citizens, the vote tallies will change in subsequent referendums.
Sunday’s vote is not expected to go in favor of the GSoA. A survey by Swiss television in August revealed that 40 per cent of respondents would reject the initiative, with another 17 per cent leaning that way. The support for the military is particularly strong in the older generations, with 68 per cent of those over 65 opposing the initiative. Less than a third of Swiss people support the proposal.
“Switzerland needs an army,” says Jakob Büchler of the Christian Democrat Party (CVP), a member of the National Council, which rejected the initiative as cited by The Local. “We are a small country, we are a neutral country, and we are a country that isn’t in any defense alliances. We have to therefore organize our own defense and security ourselves, and that’s why we need an army.”
Opponents of the initiative fear that there won’t be enough volunteers for military service and Switzerland would then have to start a costly change to a professional army......"
Sunday’s vote is not expected to go in favor of the GSoA. A survey by Swiss television in August revealed that 40 per cent of respondents would reject the initiative, with another 17 per cent leaning that way. The support for the military is particularly strong in the older generations, with 68 per cent of those over 65 opposing the initiative. Less than a third of Swiss people support the proposal.
“Switzerland needs an army,” says Jakob Büchler of the Christian Democrat Party (CVP), a member of the National Council, which rejected the initiative as cited by The Local. “We are a small country, we are a neutral country, and we are a country that isn’t in any defense alliances. We have to therefore organize our own defense and security ourselves, and that’s why we need an army.”
Opponents of the initiative fear that there won’t be enough volunteers for military service and Switzerland would then have to start a costly change to a professional army......"
The Socialist behemoth that is the EU would certainly want the Swiss Army turned into an instrument of a state that can be influenced rather than a force made up of the People that can withstand an eventual sovereignty-destroying absorption into the EU . The claims in the article that the current system it too expensive do not hold water - Switzerland is not a poor nation by any means, and professional armies always wind up being very expensive in the end. Training the entire People to function as an effective reserve force is a very cheap means of providing a solid defense.
The People who banded together to push out the Hapsburgs and somehow maintain a small but independent nation in the middle of a Europe that was in the business of consolidation - and later deterred Hitler from invading, must be rolling over in their graves.
-From a previous post:
"The Swiss are not taking for granted that the rest of Europe, particularly the southern nations, will be able to make it through the financial crisis without some sort of a collapse.
The Left is strong on the assertion that "anyone has a right to live anywhere he or she chooses". Websites with names such as *"Abolish Foreignness" join in with the same people who seek to ** abolish grades in an attempt to slowly erode the abilities and prosperity of the people of Western Nations. Not that this is their stated intent, indeed they claim that everyone will benefit equally from the reduction of learning and the packing of developed nations with enough people to completely change the electorate. Let's not forget the necessary task of drastically reducing the wealth of a nation and its people that can only be accomplished by mass and unchecked immigration.
*http://www.abolishforeignness.org/
http://www.joebower.org/p/abolishing-grading.html
The Swiss army is no joke. They place a tremendous emphasis on individual marksmanship, and the soldiers can respond to predetermined or makeshift locations from their homes as their issued weapons/individual equipment are kept at their homes.
An anecdote from the late 19th century will serve to illustrate the Swiss mindset. A German general from the unified Germany created by Bismark was in Switzerland to review their military training. At one point, the German asks how many soldiers the Swiss General could deploy in the event of a war.
The Swiss general says he can field a million men.
The German says, “What if we invade with 5 million men?”
The Swiss general laconically responds, “All my men will fire five shots and then go home.”
The Swiss are rightly concerned that, in the event of an economic collapse and the ensuing flight of people out of the bankrupt and chaos-ridden nations, the prosperity of Switzerland will make them a target for refugees and criminal elements.
In our era in which defending national sovereignty is verboten, I commend the Swiss not only for being prepared, but by making it clear that others know that they recognize the threat and will not be caught with their pants down"
The Left is strong on the assertion that "anyone has a right to live anywhere he or she chooses". Websites with names such as *"Abolish Foreignness" join in with the same people who seek to ** abolish grades in an attempt to slowly erode the abilities and prosperity of the people of Western Nations. Not that this is their stated intent, indeed they claim that everyone will benefit equally from the reduction of learning and the packing of developed nations with enough people to completely change the electorate. Let's not forget the necessary task of drastically reducing the wealth of a nation and its people that can only be accomplished by mass and unchecked immigration.
*http://www.abolishforeignness.org/
http://www.joebower.org/p/abolishing-grading.html
The Swiss army is no joke. They place a tremendous emphasis on individual marksmanship, and the soldiers can respond to predetermined or makeshift locations from their homes as their issued weapons/individual equipment are kept at their homes.
An anecdote from the late 19th century will serve to illustrate the Swiss mindset. A German general from the unified Germany created by Bismark was in Switzerland to review their military training. At one point, the German asks how many soldiers the Swiss General could deploy in the event of a war.
The Swiss general says he can field a million men.
The German says, “What if we invade with 5 million men?”
The Swiss general laconically responds, “All my men will fire five shots and then go home.”
In our era in which defending national sovereignty is verboten, I commend the Swiss not only for being prepared, but by making it clear that others know that they recognize the threat and will not be caught with their pants down"
*Cultural Marxism is a key component of Western Socialists. To prepare the People of the West for Marxism, the culture, sense of ethnic/national identity, love of country, role of the family, and importance of Christianity and Judaism had to be undermined by relentless propaganda, mostly in the in the schools and the media.
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