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Comment by marktucker | Hacker News Reader

In my experience, all you have to do is (passably) speak swiss german to be accepted by the locals. A lot of Germans live here 10+ years without speaking swiss german and I notice some distaste from the Swiss since a Swiss guy will feel like it's rude if he doesn't speak high german with a German, and many really don't like speaking high german.

There's definitely other forms of xenophobia here, though. There are a lot of negative stereotypes about some of the refugees that have come to Switzerland over the years, and many Swiss I talk to dislike the idea of refugees coming to Switzerland and choosing not to work (being unable to work is a different story).

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> and many Swiss I talk to dislike the idea of refugees coming to Switzerland and choosing not to work

I'm sorry, but who actually likes that idea?

I mean, it's kind of weird to feel anything about what others do with their time.

Depends if they do it on your dime and in your country -- the one you're supposed to take care of because you live in it.

It's all one damn earth. People already take advantage of each other. Why worry about the person next door? At least they aren't trying to kill you.

>At least they aren't trying to kill you.

Depends. Most are not, but in some cases, they are (e.g. islamic terrorism in France and Germany).

But the main reason is that some peoples/places have developed their own culture over centuries, and don't particularly appreciate some large rush of newcomers bringing their own stuff and messing the nice thing they have got going.

In Europe, you're more likely to die of lung cancer than terrorist attack. It's a load of crap that you'll meet anyone in your life who will genuinely try to end your life. Sure, you might be unlikely, but you also might win the lottery.

With respect to culture.... I don't know what to say to that. It strikes me as very xenophobic and more than a little naive. The way to get your culture to remain is by showing others what is to celebrate about it, not by forbidding them from living around you. It's not like any culture can exist long unchanged while children have access to the internet anyway.

In a capitalist dystopia, I'd agree with you. But everywhere else, you cannot live without impacting the lives of other people.

For example, let's say you choose to eat unhealthy food, become obese, and land in the hospital. You might say "who cares what other people eat" while you are using a limited, shared resource.

If you're able to not work indefinitely because you're consuming a limited, shared resource like the money of other people that live in a country, why should they think that's fair if it's supposed to be a safety net?

I think many jumps to the conclusion "will not work" from "does not work". Finding a job isn't always easy.

I second that. A Czech child minder told me that she only really connected to the mothers when she switched to Swiss German.

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