> Landowners, I think, I have two options: find ways to fracture/disempower the rent base in the communities where they invest or else find a way to keep the number of non-renters well over 50%.
I would say they already are disempowered. It is unfortunately pretty hard to organize anything when you have to worry about high rent, not losing your job or having to move every few years. What we have seen in the last decades is that it is now hard to do much at all through organizing unless you can somehow affect the economy. Which you can't if you risk getting fired or evicted doing so. Look at Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong etc. for the results.
Because they way Switzerland is structured both in terms of administration and geography I don't think that a village in Switzerland is equivalent to a village in most other countries. Presumably the canton system results in more smaller cities and large villages, and the terrain means they are in a limited number of places. The largest cities are all within 100 km of each other. While a single trip in a large country can be longer than the entire length of Switzerland. It will of course be easier to match a timetable with short predictable distances at lower speeds.
> It's an awesome idea, because it brings the painful past right into our daily lives. You're forced to serendipituously "stumble" across them every now and then.
I very much believe that this is the intention, but does it actually though? Oppressive country frequently brings up the past as a safe way to legitimize the present. Russia seems to have had an increase in this in recent years as it now started a war in Europe. Most of the western world seems to not have learned much at all from the second world war and are yet again running black sites, funneling money to regimes and fighting wars to defend some of them.
Unfortunately I think part of the popularity of these stone today is that they are no longer provocative. Their existence doesn't seem to have the effect of for example highlighting still exiting companies participation in the holocaust, current day trade policies or crimes against humanity. Putting one of these outside a company, judge or commander involved in past or present atrocities would probably result in it quickly being removed and you potentially landing in jail.
But I guess that even if few learns the bigger lesson they might still be a net positive.
I would say they already are disempowered. It is unfortunately pretty hard to organize anything when you have to worry about high rent, not losing your job or having to move every few years. What we have seen in the last decades is that it is now hard to do much at all through organizing unless you can somehow affect the economy. Which you can't if you risk getting fired or evicted doing so. Look at Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong etc. for the results.