contents
The number of state refusers is increasing. They think the state is a company. This is a problem for democracy.
In the middle of the week, several thousand police officers in Germany searched the homes of so-called Reich citizens and state refusers and arrested 23 people, including a former member of parliament for the AfD. In Switzerland, too, state objectors keep making headlines. Reports have increased in recent months.
In the St. Gallen community of Wittenbach, anonymous letters were sent claiming that the community was just a company. A similar pattern emerged in Baselbiet communities. Private schools were approved in Rikon, Zurich, and Uznach, St. Gallen, which, according to media reports, have connections to Reich citizen circles. Corona opponents in Thurgau did not want to recognize the court.
Tedious for debt collection offices
All of these headlines share the same ideology. The idea that the state, the canton or the municipality are just companies. Typically, conscientious objectors pay no taxes or fines and do not recognize the police or a court. The debt collection offices, for example, feel this, says Roger Wiesendanger, head of the Thurgau debt collection and bankruptcy offices.
One is used to people refusing to be prosecuted, but: “Since Corona and now also with the Reich citizens, this has increased significantly,” he says. You don’t have one such person per month, but there are cases every week. “It is significant that this is very, very common among Reich citizens,” said the head of office.
For the authorities, it means more effort and sometimes a rougher tone on the part of the clients. To date, there have been no reports of violent incidents involving people who refuse to comply with the state in Switzerland. This was confirmed on request by the Federal Intelligence Service FIS. But he does not comment further.
If there should be a movement in this direction in the future, then the radicalized masses could also turn into violent leaders.
The Reich citizens, as they appear in Germany, often move in the right-wing extremist, anti-Semitic milieu. There have also been a number of disputes in Germany. A police officer was killed in 2016. In Switzerland, however, those who object to the state are still poorly organized, says sociologist Marko Kovic. The potential for violence is correspondingly smaller.
Legend:
For the sociologist Marko Kovic, there is a latent danger to democracy from movements such as those of those who refuse to accept the state.
key stone
If there are not many people who believe in something, then the potential for radicalization is still low. “But if there should be a movement in this direction in the future, then a violent tip could emerge from the radicalized masses,” says Kovic.
democracy in danger
Kovic also sees a danger to democracy in the movement of state refusers. For a democracy is the will of a society to be a democracy. If a large number of people were to question this principle, it could become dangerous for a state in the long term. However, Switzerland is currently still a long way from such scenarios, concludes Kovic.