The political elite is looting with official approval.

A miracle is happening in Bern. A financial miracle. A transformation that would make any street magician green with envy. A deficit vanishes, and suddenly a profit appears. 300 million francs. Just like that. Without reform. Without any miracles—except for the political miracle of manipulating numbers until they behave. Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter announces it with that quiet satisfaction usually only seen in people who know that no one will scrutinize the accounts in detail.

But this miracle has an interesting characteristic. It only exists as long as no one asks where the billions otherwise disappear to. For as soon as the profit is announced, the familiar ritual begins. The state pension system is a problem. Retirement provisions are at risk. The future is uncertain. Savings must be made. Perhaps taxes must be raised. Perhaps citizens must contribute a little more. Ultimately, it's about responsibility.

Responsibility is a fascinating word. It almost always means that someone else will pay. Especially the citizen.

The 13th AHV pension payment costs 4,2 billion Swiss francs. A sum that is being discussed in Bern with the seriousness of a national emergency. Too expensive. Too risky. Too difficult. You can't simply spend money you don't have. A convincing argument. Until you see how easily this money suddenly appears when it comes to other things.

Ten to twelve billion Swiss francs flow abroad every year. Aid. Cooperation. Commitment. Big words for big sums. Billions move across borders with remarkable ease, while at home every franc is scrutinized. There's no money for retirement savings. Suddenly, it's available for geopolitical moral projects. A striking contradiction.

The government tells its citizens that financial discipline is necessary. That one must remain realistic. That one cannot live beyond one's means. And at the same time, the state lives beyond the means of its citizens. But the real magic lies not in the spending. It lies in the explanation. Because every expenditure is imbued with moral authority. It is necessary. It is important. There is no alternative. "No alternative" is a particularly useful phrase. It ends discussions before they can even begin.

"No alternative" means: You will pay, and you will be grateful. The political class has developed a remarkable ability to find money when it comes to its own priorities. Programs are funded. Projects are supported. Cooperations are expanded. Budgets grow. But as soon as it comes to the individual citizen, reality suddenly becomes complicated.

Then there are deficiencies.
Then there are risks.
Then there is responsibility.

It's a perfectly balanced system. Money is always flowing. Just not in the same direction. And while billions are moved by political decisions, the citizen is left behind, hearing the same old message: It's not enough. It's never enough. We have to cut back. Of course, these cuts are rarely applied where they affect the political class itself. Administration grows. Structures expand. Programs multiply. Every sector is important. Every sector is necessary. Especially those that are politically administered.

Because power requires resources. And resources require justification. Justification comes in the form of complexity. The budget is complicated. The interrelationships are complex. Reality is difficult. The citizen is supposed to understand that simple solutions don't exist. That experts are necessary. That decisions must be made that they cannot fully comprehend. Complexity is the perfect shield against responsibility. Because what is complicated cannot be questioned.

And so a system is created in which money is simultaneously present and absent. It exists when it is needed. And it disappears when the citizen asks for it. The political class smiles with remarkable composure. A smile that signals stability. Control. Competence. It is the smile of people who know that the system works. Not for everyone. But for them.

The population accepts this spectacle with remarkable patience. Tax increases are discussed. Austerity measures are announced. Warnings are issued. And the citizen pays. He pays taxes. He pays fees. He pays contributions. He pays for a system that simultaneously tells him it cannot afford him. It is a remarkable relationship.

Citizens finance a state that tells them they are too expensive. And as long as this system is accepted, nothing will change. Because power doesn't relinquish resources willingly. It manages them. It protects them. And it tells citizens why they don't deserve them…