20070528

So much has happened in the last week, it's hard to remember. I was headed to Gstaad last week (and misspelled it). Chris and I rented bicycles and biked over to a nearby town where we made a picnic of wine, cheese, bread, and some fruit. Then we headed up the trail to Iggli, a climb of 600m, with 30 degree grades for a large part of the climb. On the way up, we found a restaurant where some locals were having a meeting in traditional Alpine dress. After having a Coke, we finished the 2-hour ascent to find an amazing panorama of snow-capped peaks, with the sound of cow bells and birds, and the smell of long cool grass. The photo I've taken could never capture all the beauty of the scene, but such fact only provides better excuse for future vacation. After our long ascent, Chris and I were quite happy to enjoy the 15 minute descent which I would love to try again on a familiar bike with a helmet.
We ended the evening in Gstaad, an upscale tourist town, by ordering drinks in the outdoor seating of a restaurant. It was a refreshing slap in the face to be reminded, by the intentionally poor service at the restaurant, that many people are denied the luxuries I currently enjoy.
On Tuesday our group was shown around the city of Bern, and we met with a member of the Swiss Parliament. Among other things, I learned that Switzerland has a $2M cap on CEO salaries. Also, they have a direct democracy and vote 4 times each year. This regular exercise of democracy, aided by Switzerland's unique history and geography which promote their love of diversity, make for a political world which is open to intelligent discourse, and which suffers from neither the tyranny of the majority nor the political neglect caused by our two-party system, remote federal government, and monocultural majority.
We also toured a brewery and enjoyed some fine beer.
On Wednesday our class covered Swiss federalism. I learned much from Professor Nicolas Schmitt about the complex geographic, historical, and political processes which support Swiss federalism. I have personal fears that the processes underlying globalization are at work in modern Switzerland, eroding the geographic and social borders which for centuries have ensured that people from each municipality within each canton have spoken slightly differently, and eaten different styles of cheese, beer, and wine. It is these differences which have ensured that the cantons jealously guarded their independence, for fear that the development of a majority in any single area would erode their rights as minorities in other areas. The result of this historical diversity has been that no majority in any single area has been willing to value their majoritarian status more than they valued freedom of all to do as they please. But today, the cantons have been willing to give more power to the nation, and there is even talk about teaching English as a universal language in all the schools which have until now taught either French, German, or Italian, depending upon region. Also, Switzerland is now having to face difficult questions of majority power regarding immigrants from Eastern European nations. This Catholic nation will also soon face questions of religious freedom. But they have endured in various forms for the last 800 years, and may endure for many more if they show their usual skill in problem solving which is clear from every piece of ancient architecture standing in this mountainous paradise, and from their watches which are works of high mechanical art.
Speaking of high works of mechanical art, Thursday brought our group to Geneva where I saw a gorgeous sundial which reported both the time of day, and the day of year. Searching the internet for more information about sundials and solar timekeeping, I found information about "the equation of time" which describes the irregular difference between true time and solar time caused by the Earth's tilted and elliptical orbit around the Sun. This reminded me of a Swiss watch, Jaeger-LeCoultre's Gyrotourbillon. The watch features both a 3-d rotating escapement, and a hand which displays the current solar time. Check out this video of the rotating escapement, and these articles for the engineering-minded, which describe how they fit these features into such a small watch as the gryotourbillon and the equation of time. Anyone looking for a gift for my next birthday should keep this watch in mind.
Our tour of Geneva on Thursday was great, as our hosts showed us many hidden parts of the city by foot, and bade us picnic at a park after a trip to the grocery. Unfortunately, my very American companions complained about the amount of walking we did, and that the trip was unstructured. Too bad for them; after they left, Chris and I remained and did more unstructured touring. We found some great graffiti, a punk bar, and a bar situated on the steep grassy river bank populated with students and bicycles. We also discovered that Gerbils in Switzerland cost $30.
On Friday I went to a local park in Switzerland and spoke to a drunk ex-methadone-addict and a current heroin addict about life in Switzerland. I also managed to meet a young didgeridoo player living off his street earnings and social welfare. From my limited experience here, it seems like Switzerland does a much better job than America at keeping these people safe, and that they in turn are much safer for the rest of society. Businessmen walked past us with neither fear nor reproach. People in Switzerland seem to have a fundamental rule, "don't bother those who don't bother you," and it seems to work very well toward establishing social order. But they are aided by their geography which forces rich to live among poor, and keeps cities small enough that people do not expect anonymity if they misbehave.
This weekend I have enjoyed taking my laptop to the BelleVidere cafe which overlooks all of the old lower BasseVille in the canyon below, and working on engineering problems which come like puzzles; gifts to be solved presently.