Beta Colony and Switzerland

Lois Bujold has referred to California -- or California before it got "wonky" -- as the inspiration for Beta Colony. "Very politically correct, very liberal, with some hidden illiberalities." Big on sexual freedom and education -- 60s and 70s California, and Pat Brown's California of the nearly free colleges, not the dying school system of Proposition 13 California. And in universe Beta is an America colony, and the only American colony.

Nonetheless, the more I learn about Switzerland and think about Beta, the more the two seem to line up in my head. Coincidence, my selective filters, or the natural result of highly democratic states? You may judge.

( Read more... )