Switzerland is voting for a new capital!
Today's highlight on answers.com struck me. Switzerland, that is S W I T Z E R L A N D (not Sweden.. We are S W I S S, not Swedish (this just as a random note.. ;)) is "voting" for a new capital city*.
What is Switzerland's capital anyway, some of you are wondering? See, that's the vivid proof that Switzerland really needs a new one since who - outside Switzerland that is - really knows our beautiful, but somewhat museum-esque capital, Bern?
So what are the options? BASEL! .... well there may be other options. :)
Geneva is stunningly beautiful and, because of the presence of a considerable number of MNCs and even bigger number of international organisations, an exciting melting pot. Personnally I love this city and consider it my second home, not at least because I spent 4 years of my life studying (among other..) in this city. However, it may be a bit too "international" of an entity to be a good, representative captial of Switzerland.
Well then, that is saying that the choice of potential new capitals boils down (at least in my eyes) to two: BASEL and Zürich (you see already, I'm veeery objective..).
So which one to choose?
Basel OR Zürich
- Quality OR Quantity (well, put into an international context, 450'000 inhabitants may not actually be considered real quantity yet.. ;)
- Cultivated "Fasnacht"/Carnaval OR "Böög verbräännä" (Litteral translation: burning a booger..)
- Zybele OR Bölle
- Tinguely fountain and Fondation Beyeler OR Bahnhof Letten (ok, this one may be border case.. ;))
- Roger Federer OR hmm, who is there..?
- THE (unpretentious...) town in Switzerland OR "Downtown Switzerland"
- Open minded and in direct contact / interaction with 2 neighbouring countries OR SVP
So, for everyone among you with a Swiss cellphone: VOTE (until today, Jan 14th midnight (GMT +1h) by sending a text message saying "BASEL" to 977. Everyone else: support us by keeping your fingers crossed, or however you wish others luck! ;)
Currently (07/01/14 5.40pm (GMT +8)) Zürich takes the lead with 41.7%. Basel is only lacking 0.4% (absolute numbers not indicated..)! Hence, Bebbi's, it's time for a final spurt!!
Check the results of this pretty cool campaign here. I'll keep you posted. ^^
___
* This vote is not one of the numerous official votes we Swiss have. It's a pretty efficient (and cool) campaign by a (still) unknown campaigner.
posted by Dom @ 5:55 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I agree with you, Dom, that Geneva is too international.
Basel - well, from the strategic and security point, it's too close to the borders... and half of it is anyways German
(ops, and now I made an enemy... sorry, Dom, nothing personal!)
Zurich - well, it's tough to find the right arguments... it's just too fast for the state administrative apparatus.
Berne:
Bernese speed is the biggest argument to keep the federal administration over there... ;)
So after this deep analysis, Berne still work out as the best option approved by a couple of centuries...
I vote for Berne staying the capital!!!
hehe, I got too Swiss when it comes to welcoming change ;)
hugs,
z;)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Haha, your speed analysis is fantastic ;-)
OMG, this is one of the stupidest things I've heard in a while :-D The guy who created this campaign must be out of his mind....and he surely isn't "e Lozärner" ;-) First of all: Why change the capital in the first place? Second, if we vote over changing it, WHY CAN'T I VOTE FOR MY CITY? THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN SWITZERLAND? Aka LUCERNE? Hahaha :-D
For all you foreigners out there reading this: Basel might have "Logel Fedelel" and I do love him, and they have art, okay. But: Their version of Fasnacht (Carneval) can't keep up with Lucerne's Fasnacht ;-) I'll stop the Basel vs. Lucerne debate right here cuz I know that Dom and I will never ever agree on this one. But on another note: The fact of having to choose between Basel and Zurich over Berne is ridiculous. Nobody outside Switzerland knows Basel either! So you might as well let Berne be the capital (and ask people in Canada, South Africa, Australia...if people abroad know THEIR capitals), or just go with Zurich, even though I almost have to puke at the mere thought of that, LOL, because at least Zurich is known.
Oh, and can we vote here: Who of the non-Swiss out there knows a) Basel, and b) Lucerne? ;-)
http://www.luzern.org/en/welcome.cfm?
p.s. Dömeli, I am aware of the fact that you might delete this comment of mine, hehehehe
@ zuzka: I'll try to pretend not to have heard your comment about the "German side of Basel" and blame it on your youth.. :)
Choose the lamest and most easy going city to create the right environment for a country's administration? Sure :))
Best of luck for your exams zuzie!!!
@ Carissa:
First of all: No censorship on this blog (only spam and hatespeech is banned.. even posts seriously suggesting that a village such as Lucerne should become a big, influential country's captial, pass..:))
Secondly: "Why change the capital in the first place": let me quote Zuzie on this: "[..] I got too Swiss when it comes to welcoming change", right, Swiss..? :)
Can an "auslandschwiizer" vote as well: if so: a) b) (hence, since both are known, let's focus on the REAL one)
For all those non-Swiss out there: don't worry this small small thinking and arguing (Kantoenligeist) does not spread easily.. :)
Mariposita, are you done with exams and finally "free"?
dom! i didnt know about this...personally I found it slightly odd that bern was the capital of switzerland considering its more unassuming nature, but I would certainly vote for Zurich over Basel anyday.
reasons?
uhmmmm hmmmmmm...you mentioned something about a lake?
hahahah take care man and hope you're doing well.
I can't believe this discussion comes back again and again and again...
There are historical as well as common sense reasons for Berne to be the perfect capital of our beautiful country, which I am not going to elaborate on here.
But just for conversations sake:
the guy who promotes this campaign is most probably a very frustrated and diversly challenged individual, most probably from somewhere in between Zurich and Basel (--> Aargau), which explains how this is a topic every year again.
Furthermore, if you look at the options (GE, ZH, BS) and why all of them are not very good ideas, then just geographically check out where Berne is: right in the middle of these 3.
So, no worries, Berne will take care of Switzerland, while other cities focus on their cookies, international environment overly developed self-esteem. :)
Awaiting any further comments,
yours sincerely,
Patricius Bernensis
@chitgo: blasphemia, on my Blog!! ;) I can totally hear you on the lake. Was actually my first resolution in Geneva: never to live in a city without a lake- or oceanfront.. Well, I moved to Beijing. Well done Dom.. ;)
@CK: yes right, that is Bern's selling point (mind the singular): It's geographic location. Congratulations! ;) Guess I would fall under your category: "overly developed self-esteem".. ;)
Ah, Switzerland is a great country and Bern is alright as a capital (even though Basel actually won the campaign.. ;) 42.4%. check it out: http://www.neue-hauptstadt.ch/
Moi je vote Bruxelles...=)
Post a Comment
<< Home