The proposal, in short, would mandate that the Swiss government provide its citizens with a universal basic income. The amount would be around $2,800 US a month.
How this came to be is equally interesting: the proposal is the product of direct democracy. In Switzerland, any nationwide referendum requires 100,000 signatures (out of a population of 8 million) calling for a ballot to be held. If passed, the result becomes law.
Predictably, the wealthy and powerful are not amused. As pointed out in the article: "Swiss business leaders have reacted with dismay, one calling it a 'happy land' proposal." No different than their counterparts on Wall Street, if there's going to be socialism, it should be allocated upwards. And if there is going to be a "happy land," it should exist for "the proper guardians of the public weal," as James Madison phrased it.
The stark contrast between the United States and the more progressive countries in Europe (mostly located in the north) called to mind a quote a friend of mine recently found by Bill Moyers. Moyers is a voice of journalistic integrity sadly in poor supply:
Why are record numbers of Americans on food stamps? Because record numbers of Americans are in poverty. Why are people falling through the cracks? Because there are cracks to fall through. It is simply astonishing that in this rich nation more than 21 million Americans are still in need of full-time work, many of them running out of jobless benefits, while our financial class pockets record profits, spends lavishly on campaigns to secure a political order that serves its own interests, and demands that our political class push for further austerity. Meanwhile, roughly 46 million Americans live at or below the poverty line and, with the exception of Romania, no developed country has a higher percent of kids in poverty than we do. Yet a study by scholars at Northwestern University and Vanderbilt finds little support among the wealthiest Americans for policy reforms to reduce income inequality. (TomDispatch, Dec. 12, 2013)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25415501
