Instigator / Pro
0
1337
rating
26
debates
9.62%
won
Topic
#1585

Switzerland is the best place to be born

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Winner
0
0

After not so many votes...

It's a tie!
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
10,000
Voting period
One week
Point system
Winner selection
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
0
1687
rating
555
debates
68.11%
won
Description

The where-to-be-born index is published by the Economist Intelligence Unit of the Economist Group, (most well-known for The Economist magazine). The index analyzes which countries around the world have the potential to provide the highest quality of life to its citizens. This includes health, safety, and prosperity for the future of the country. For example, the 2013 index measures the quality of life for the year 2030, when the individuals born in 2013 will be adults. It is my contention that this index is the definitive source to decide which nation is the best place to be born it is your job to prove Switzerland isn't the preferable place to be born, and prove empirically someplace else is better, any place https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-where-to-be-born-index-the-highest-and-lowest-scoring-countries.html

Round 1
Pro
#1
Where-to-be-born Index. The Economist Intelligence Unit's where-to-be-born index (previously called the quality-of-life index, abbreviated QLI) attempts to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead. the fact that Switzerland came out on top is my only proof its the best place to be from , but I think thats enough , so its up to you to 1) prove this is an invalid source  2) prove that using the same measures there is a better place to be born  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where-to-be-born_Index
Con
#2
Switzerland forces you into compulsory two years military service as well as many other drawbacks, like the fact that it's a haven almost as great as Panama, for organised criminals to both business in and run away to. Ao, go ahead and calrofy how you have this one supreme metric of "best place to live" while I come in harsher in Round 2.
Round 2
Pro
#3
the two years of compulsory service considering the Swiss never fight wars would be good for young men I'd argue that might be a plus .
As far as crime goes, I think you read to many tabloids seriously where do you even get that, care to document that silliness? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Switzerland#Money_laundering 10 Reasons Why Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in the world http://www.10zap.com/switzerland-country-with-the-lowest-crime-rate-world/ what rubbish, switzerland is one of the safest nations on earth their is no crime 
Con
#4
Switzerland, which has a reputation for jealously guarding banking customers' identities with a numbered system, no longer shields criminal assets and generally cooperates with foreign investigators, United States officials said. It is a member of the group that drew up the list.
Governments decided to pressure laundering centers in part because the sheer volume of transactions by drug cartels, mafias and corrupt officials has expanded dramatically, to at least $600 billion a year, United States officials said.


The greater impetus was from a succession of market-shaking crises made possible, the thinking goes, by the ease of moving giant sums of money around the globe without oversight. Speculators used financial havens to shield themselves from scrutiny as they focused on Asian and Latin American currencies, government officials said.
Destabilizing capital flight from Russia, most notably the $7 billion handled by the Bank of New York and investigated by United States officials last year, was impossible to stop, because some nations, including Russia, did not have laws against laundering.
Closer to home, leading banks and regulators knew little about transactions that Long-Term Capital Management, a giant Connecticut hedge fund, had worked on because the fund did much of its business through offshore centers. Long-Term Capital melted down in late 1998, rattling markets and prompting a $3.6 billion Wall Street bailout.
Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, who made combating laundering and tax evasion a high priority for the Clinton administration, hailed the list. Washington ''welcomes this landmark step to limit the capacity of drug dealers, terrorists, organized criminals and corrupt foreign officials to launder their ill-gotten gains through safe havens,'' Mr. Summers said.

In Switzerland, a life sentence can be given for murder, but under Swiss criminal law “life” doesn’t mean that the perpetrator remains in prison for the rest of their days.

What does “life” mean in Swiss criminal law?

After 15 years, sometimes after just ten years, a conditional release is possible. It is generally the norm in Switzerland that a criminal is conditionally released after serving two-thirds of their sentence.

Lenient judges

Hans-Georg Koch, a criminal law expert at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany, downplays these international comparisons. First, he says criminal law comparisons are generally very difficult to make because of differing legal systems. Second, he says it is important to compare the actual penalties, rather than the sentences stipulated in the law, as these can reveal little.

Unfortunately, there are no statistics comparing sentences across countries. But it is clear that Swiss judges tend to deliver lenient sentences: their length tends towards the lower end of the range. “Switzerland has a very unusual penalty law, above all in the day-to-day application of penalties by the courts,” says Martin Killias, a renowned Swiss criminologist and criminal lawyer.

Gabriella Matefi, the president of the Court of Appeal in Basel City, explains further: “The higher end of the sentencing range is intended for the very serious cases that a normal person can perhaps not even imagine. In judging real crimes, sentencing is on average in the lower half or lower third of the possible range, whether it is a matter of fraud, bodily harm or even manslaughter.”


Switzerland has terrible weather

Dry air, hot summers and freezing winters mean it has no good weather at all, really.

“In Switzerland, heatwaves usually occur in conjunction with high-pressure conditions and a south to south-westerly flow of air, so that warm, dry air is pushed toward the Alpine region,” notes the federal Natural Hazards Portalexternal link, which defines a heatwave as “a period of extreme heat stress, which can endanger human health”.
MeteoSwissexternal link, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, bases its heat warnings on a heat index that takes air temperature and humidity into account. The warnings are issued via media release and teletext, with regular updates online.

From two different forum users:
A little late night rant.

I have been here for three days now (long story - this is my second attempt to drive my new car back to Malta, having been delayed due to the weather conditions).

However, since being here I have felt the same general sense of malaise and lethargy that I felt when I lived here full-time. The physical manifestations are dry skin (yes, I know it's cold but I use a very good moisturiser), limp, lacklustre hair and serious fluid retention. I am very intrigued as to why this should be in a country that I had always considered to be a very healthy place to live. Spending a lot of my time in a sunnier climate I know that this has nothing to do with SAD or lack of vitamin D since I have been here for such a short time.

I can only surmise that it is the water that is affecting my skin and hair and possibly the liberal use of Aromat that is causing my fluid retention ... can anyone else shed any light on this?

I wish I could! My skin has been dry and the psoriasis on my scalp has gone mad ever since I moved here

My former flatmate (from Brazil) also had similar problems and we put it down to the water (in our non-expert, non-medical opinions).

It's amazing how quickly the body reacts really!

Round 3
Pro
#5
Your objection are so silly and minor i find them amusing, is that all you got? TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT LIVING CONDITIONS IN SWITZERLAND

 the net financial wealth of the average household in Switzerland is $128,415, compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments average of $90,570. The net adjusted disposable income for the average household sits at $36,378 compared to the OECD average of $30,563. Switzerland ranks third on the scale of the highest amount of disposable income in Europe.

Overall poverty is low. Just 6.6 percent of the population lives in poverty and only 4.6 percent live in extreme poverty. The rate of poverty has been decreasing steadily since 2007.

Health care in Switzerland has gained a reputation of its own. A combination of private, subsidized private and public health care systems have no wait-lists, boast highly qualified doctors, hospitals and medicals facilities with the best equipment seen around Europe. However, the universal health care system is not free, nor is it tax-based. The out of pocket payments and mandatory swiss health insurance premiums are pricey for the individual. Swiss health insurance is reported to cost around 10 percent of the average Swiss salary.

Switzerland has a high-quality education system as well. The country comes in ninth place out of 65 countries in a survey of educational standards among 15-year-olds. Unlike most countries, Switzerland has a decentralized education system where the 26 cantons are primarily responsible for the system as opposed to the federal government. Education has a multilingual focus, which encourages international students and the option for public, private, bilingual, and international schools.

The country has a life expectancy of 83 years old from birth, which is three years higher than the OECD average of 80 years. The life expectancy is high despite the slightly higher than average level of atmospheric pollutants that are damaging to the lungs. Reports measure the rate of pollutants at 14.5 micrograms per cubic meter, whereas the average is 13.9 micrograms per cubic meter.

Crime continues to be on the decline. In fact, in 2017 crime fell by more than 6 percent. Burglaries are the most offenses in Switzerland, making up two-thirds of the reported criminal offenses. While burglary also decreased by 6 percent, police threats and cybercrime were reported to rise last year.

Overall, the Swiss are much more satisfied with their living conditions. The country scored a 7.5 out of 10 on the scale for satisfaction compared to the OECD average of 6.5.


These top 10 facts about the living conditions in Switzerland show how addressing poverty and encouraging economic growth has a positive domino effect on other aspects of life. Not only do people live better, but they feel happier and enjoy a closer sense of community. Addressing global poverty does much more than just save lives, it betters the individual, the country, the economy and their impact on the rest of the world.

Con
#6
That doesn't prove it's the best place to live. Just because your superficial scaling and source say that they like their 'standard' of living doesn't mean it's explored other nations and how much more or less they like it in comparison.