BFI fireside
conversations
... in depth discussions with experts from various fields
Markus Somm - Switzerland: The Egalitarian Nation of Entrepreneurs
In this Fireside Conversation, Frank R. Suess is joined by Markus Somm. Markus is a well-known Swiss journalist, historian and entrepreneur. (paragraph) Markus shares how working as a journalist has changed and shaped his political views. His latest endeavour is the Nebelspalter, a Swiss online news portal. Markus and his team offer an alternative, more conservative and free-market oriented perspective, positioning themselves independently of mainstream media and their single-story approach. (paragraph) Of course, Markus and Frank also discuss Swiss history; how Switzerland became so successful quite a bit earlier than many people think and what led to this unique system we have today. Amongst other aspects, Markus explains how the Swiss were initially known as the Taliban of the middle-ages and then grew into civilised, international entrepreneurs. Listening to Markus, it becomes clear that our direct democracy has organically grown into what it is today and is deeply rooted in our firm rejection of nobility, creating an egalitarian republic very early on. (paragraph) Nowadays, history is often looked at and taught from a negative spin, especially in the West. Markus is on a mission to share a more appreciative perspective on Swiss history, reminding the Swiss that our country is indeed a very special case. (paragraph) Check out the Nebelspalter here: https://www.nebelspalter.ch/
In this Fireside Conversation, Frank R. Suess is joined by Markus Somm, a well-known Swiss journalist, historian and entrepreneur. They take a deep dive into Swiss history and examine why this country is such a special case.
Markus shares how working as a journalist has changed and shaped his political views. His latest journalistic endeavour is the Nebelspalter, a Swiss online news portal that offers a more conservative and free-market oriented perspective, positioning itself independently of mainstream media.
Markus and Frank then go on to discuss Swiss history; how Switzerland became successful quite a bit earlier than most people think and what has led to today's unique system. Amongst other aspects, Markus explains how the Swiss were initially known as the Taliban of the middle-ages, how they then grew into civilised, international entrepreneurs and how neutrality originally was a matter of internal peace. Listening to Markus, it becomes clear that our direct democracy has organically grown into what it is today and is deeply rooted in our firm rejection of nobility early on.
Nowadays, history is often looked at and taught from a more negative spin, especially in the West. Markus is on a mission to share a more appreciative perspective on Swiss history, reminding the Swiss that our country is indeed a very special case.
