Letter to the Editor

It was almost a miracle how Switzerland managed to stay out of both world wars. Now it is getting serious again to defend the democratic rights that the Swiss people have achieved. A power clique, often called the “elite”, has been consistently striving for world power. In 1913, in a fraudulent vote, they wrested the right to print money from the US state. Since then, the state has to borrow money, created out of nothing, from the private Federal Reserve Bank at a high interest rate. The state becomes dependent, the lenders become wealthy and boisterous, aiming for domination. Democracy becomes irksome for them. To wage wars, they need free reign. No wonder: Swiss democracy, to them, is an obstacle.
  In Germany, it is above all the “Grundgesetz” (Basic Law). Karl Jaspers wrote in the sixties in his book “Wohin treibt die Bundesrepublik” (The Future of Germany): “The Basic Law is the solid rock on which our freedom resides.” There were clear signs that the Basic Law was not being taken seriously enough. Thus, Federal Minister of the Interior Höcherl felt it was an imposition “to carry the Basic Law under one’s arm all the time”. Jaspers rightly stated that the Basic Law was too little known among the general population. At that time, there were still substantial admonishers like Heinrich Böll. The former Federal President Gustav Heinemann admonished: “The rulers must be guarded, not the ruled.” Surveillance technology is becoming ever more perfect and invites abuse of power. Orwell sends his regards. Do we not see how democracy, international law and human rights are abused?
  “When right becomes wrong, resistance becomes duty!” was the slogan in Wyhl in 1975, which, combined with solidarity, led to success. The resistance that the Swiss are now leading with a hard “grind” (Swiss expression for “head”, trsl. note) is also helping us in Germany. Thank you!

Ernst Udo Kaufmann, Müllheim (DE)