SWISS ABANDON ALOOFNESS, JOIN UNITED NATIONS

GENEVA, September 10, 2002 (LSN.ca) – One of the last genuinely democratic hold-outs against liberal internationalist ideology has given up. Switzerland, where 75% of an earlier generation of voters rejected UN membership in a 1986 plebiscite, today became the 190th member of the United Nations. Unlike most people, however, the Swiss were able to approve the capitulation in another plebiscite in March, by a vote of 55 percent to 45.  Switzerland’s membership changes little in practice, but is of major symbolic importance since it marks the abandonment of the traditional robust sense of independence uniquely cherished by the Swiss for centuries. In fact, the Swiss have been active in the World Health Organization, International Labor Organization and UN High Commission for Refugees for many decades. Notably, more than half of Swiss taxpayers seem to have accepted that membership will cost an extra $42 million a year, over and above the $330 million already handed over to international bodies.  To read a news account that quotes only UN enthusiasts see:  https://apnews.excite.com/article/20020909/D7LUEFNG1.html