As an American, it's interesting to think about the difference between how our countries got their start. When it comes to our national birthdays, Americans celebrate a "breaking away" while the Swiss celebrate a "coming together."
Nearly 500 years before the British colonists challenged their faraway king's taxation policies, on August 1, 1291, three "cantons," or fully sovereign states, in the Alps swore an "oath of confederation" -- a bond of brotherhood, a promise to work together if they were ever threatened by outside forces.
By the 1500s, there were 13 canton members of this confederation. Switzerland was officially formed as a country in the 19th century, but it wasn't until 1993 that National Day became a federal holiday.
As an American, it's interesting to see how the different foundings of our two countries have shaped our cultures.
Rebellion, freedom and independent-thinking are part of America's national psyche, traceable all the way back to the seeds planted during our revolution. Our cultural personality has only been reinforced over the years by the millions of immigrants who, fleeing hardship or oppression, grafted themselves into our culture. The very act of leaving behind language, tradition and family was, for many, a rebellion against poverty, caste systems or authority in one form or another.
The first seeds that grew into what is now Switzerland were planted in an act of peace, an agreement of interdependence. While the country is also fiercely independent -- not joining the United Nations until 2002 and still not a member of the European Union -- its philosophy of neutrality is quite different from the United States' tendency toward active intervention.
This is all quite oversimplified and generalized. But my main point is that it's interesting to observe Switzerland's unusual history in a world in which nations are more likely to be born of violence and blood and conquest than in an amicable spirit of brotherhood and peace.
Cheers, Switzerland.
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