65% of the people who voted, were not in favour of limiting the salary of the top executives. The capitalist media had done its work. With fear and classic capitalist propaganda the capitalists claimed that a limit on salaries would ''destroy'' the economy. ''Salaries are not to be regulated by the government'' the capitalist media and their allies yelled. Most voters agreed with this and we revolutionary socialists understand why. Because Switzerland is a very capitalistic nation. Capitalism has been brainwashed into the Swiss since the confederation was founded. To limit capitalism means ''evil socialism'' and a ''inefficient economy''. This is what the right-wing told to the Swiss people!
The Swiss are known for their direct democracy. This time direct democracy was in favor of the capitalists who used the Swiss Federal Council and the whole media to intimidate the voters. Limiting the salaries of the business elite is anti-freedom the right-wing cried. The left-wing opposition was not able to spread enough propaganda, this is understandable since most media outlets in Switzerland and in private hands. They are paid by the Swiss ruling class to spread pro-capitalist propaganda!
This is why the media is not to be controlled by capitalist interest. The rich use their media very well and it is a powerful tool. Thanks to mass media, the ruling class can spread their ideals among the population. Opposition to the capitalist media is very difficult, because creating a media networks costs money. Since the revolutionary left-wing is not rich, it lacks the money to create newspapers. In all of Europe there are not socialist television networks, no major socialist newspapers who have more then 1 million subscribers. Meanwhile the pro-capitalist newspapers are mighty, thanks to the money of the ruling class!
Switzerland is a direct-democracy, but the capitalist class have shown that they can be dictatorial. Because the Communist Party of Switzerland was banned in 1940. Hailed as a free nation by the bourgeois democrats, the banning of the communist party has escape the eye of historians. Like many communist parties the CPS was founded after the Russian revolution by revolutionary socialists who opposed the reformist line of the social democratic workers parties. Led by Fritz Platten, the Swiss revolutionary socialists founded the Communist Party of Switzerland. Platten was also responsible for bringing Vladimir Lenin back to Russia in 1917 and it was Fritz Platten who saved his life on 1 January 1918!
Lenin and Platten were both attacked by anticommunists early 1918. While driving in a car, Platten saw the attackers and shielded Lenin by pushing his head down. The bullets hit his hands, but Lenin himself was not harmed. Fritz Platten remained close to Lenin until he was arrested by the Stalinist police in 1930. Like many old communists, he would not survive Stalin's reign of terror. On 22 April 1944, the NKVD executed the man who saved the life of Vladimir Lenin!
The Swiss ruling class feared the communist party. So the Swiss Federal Council, the highest body of Swiss direct-democracy banned the communist party, because they wanted good trade relations with the Nazi Germans. Four years later ( when Nazi Germany was losing the war ) a new party was founded called the Swiss Party of Labour. 20.000 Swiss workers joined up, but thanks to Stalinist dogmatism and anticommunism in Swiss society, the party became isolated and never became a mass party of the working class. In 2007, the Swiss Party of Labour lost its only seat in the Swiss Federal Council. Although the party is known as Swiss Party of Labour in the German and French speaking parts of Switzerland, the Italian Swiss call the party; Communist Party. This is because anticommunism was never strong in Italy and so the name Communist Party was kept for Italian speaking Swiss!
Today the Swiss Party of Labour still stands in opposition to capitalism. But their Stalinist ideology has not changed. The party is still positive about the ''socialist'' experiments in the USSR. Also Cuba is fully supported by this communist party. Because they keep calling the USSR ''socialist'' and their uncritical support of Cuba, the Swiss Party of Labour remains weak and small. But this is not only their own fault. Most workers in Switzerland have a good income and have not yet felt the hardness of capitalism. Also capitalist propaganda has been very successful in keeping class struggle to a minimum. Revolutionary socialists say that although Switzerland has a direct democracy, this democracy is limited to politics only. The economy is owned and controlled by mighty Swiss corporations, who's greed is internationally known!
Today the Swiss Party of Labour still stands in opposition to capitalism. But their Stalinist ideology has not changed. The party is still positive about the ''socialist'' experiments in the USSR. Also Cuba is fully supported by this communist party. Because they keep calling the USSR ''socialist'' and their uncritical support of Cuba, the Swiss Party of Labour remains weak and small. But this is not only their own fault. Most workers in Switzerland have a good income and have not yet felt the hardness of capitalism. Also capitalist propaganda has been very successful in keeping class struggle to a minimum. Revolutionary socialists say that although Switzerland has a direct democracy, this democracy is limited to politics only. The economy is owned and controlled by mighty Swiss corporations, who's greed is internationally known!
The Young Socialists ( social democrats )
tried to limit the salaries of top executives!
Unfortunate the Swiss voted against it!
