China's New Social Credit System is a Tool for Population Control

by Coriolanus · February 4, 2016

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in “Brave New World Revisited,” the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us. —Neil Postman

Does the scanner see into me clearly or darkly?

Postman was a prescient man. He questioned the value of a society (ours in particular) that was uninterested in exercising its capacity to consistently exceed its potential. He understood access to information did not correlate directly with knowledge or even education, and that apathy might be more dangerous to a free society then authoritarian-directed motivation. In the intelligence community (IC), a consistent pattern has arisen in the wake of the absence of the Soviet Union, wherein the exclusivity of information is frequently confused with its importance. The IC is beset with the familiar trends many of you see in your Facebook timelines, or Twitter feeds, and which feed off of the availability of exclusive sources of information. In our contemporary society, echo chambers and confirmation bias abound.

Understanding what we see in the mirror of our society is important specifically because we use it to compare ourselves with other societies. The nature of “good vs. evil” in simplistic terms. The necessity of evil as a mean gradient for how we measure good. The quality or quantity of freedom. The nature of self-determination and the exercise of free will. These are not international standards.

About Coriolanus

Coriolanus's background is as an all source fusion intelligence analyst. He currently works as a hybrid intelligence analyst and security engineer. He has worked in the intel industry for over ten years and specializes in DoD joint intelligence analysis, counter terrorism, joint targeting, and cyber information operations, among others. Coriolanus has worked at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war working for special mission units and policy makers; and working in areas such as Central and South America, Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of war, and throughout Southeast Asia. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or that of his current employer.

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Antonio A
Very interesting. Typical of states like the former GDR (DDR) and I'm not suprised by the PRCs versions of Credit beureau/societal engineering scemes. As for our implication, I wonder if our attention span wouldn't cause implementation problems vs. Assisting in its success. I had family in the East German Peoples Paradise and the infiltration of the States security organs was stunning. Everybody informed on everyone else. Bad stuff even within my own extended family and that still leads to distrust and pain even today. Nice glimpse into the present future. Ich bin froh das Du kein HSV Anbeter bist.
shooten
If I think about it long enough though, I could see lots of people on the far left desiring something like this to silence critics of their economic policies or anthropogenic global warming skeptics. Shaming on social media happens on a daily basis. (Has anybody seen what happened to firearms groups on Facebook lately?) I see social credit as formalizing this under rule of law. Is the next logical step "some animals that don't pay their bills are more equal than other animals that don't pay their bills"? I didn't pay for my car but I'm a loyal party affiliate. Interesting article as always Coriolanus.
Coriolanus
Thank you for the compliments. The key is to keep the tech free (open source..not money free). I don't think the US is in too much danger of following suit behind the PRC. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten. The living sap of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday. The hand entrusted with power becomes, either form human depravity or esprit de corps, the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continued oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot; only by unintermitted agitation can a people be sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.” -Wendell Phillips
TexJ3
Thank you, my friend, for the compliment. Just because my curiosity gets the best of me and due to my background, I couldn't put the banking question down. Here's a few updates on that end and some areas where the banks are getting involved. The article is entitled, "Alibaba Firm Riles Government with Promotions for Credit Score Service". It was published on 9/28/15 by Zhang Yuzhe and Wang Ling in "Finance and Economics Caixin". I'm on Kindle today and unable to attach it as the only copy coming up is in Mandarin on in-browser. If anyone wants it, an English version is on Silk. In summary, Alibaba began a campaign utilizing Seasme Credit scores. For those individuals that score above 750, the person was allowed VIP access to the Beijing Capital International Airport from 9/15/15-10/14/15. According to a Senior Financial Expert at the World Bank, "...this is unimaginable and unheard of...credit scores are private and should not be used for marketing purposes." Once the World Bank got involved, the service was cancelled, except for those that had already begun using it. All promotional ads were removed. John Wang, Sr. Vice-president at Wells Fargo, discussed various US regulations and international laws in that article at a high level. Although, he did not touch on audit or SEC regulations. I did find it refreshing that the World Bank was able to stop one of the practices. Credit Reporting Status 2020 World Status (for those interested in a viewpoint on international status on credit reporting and thoughts on where things may be going...note that this is only one opinion.) www.fi2020progressreport.org/credit-reporting-data This is what's scary. Here's a new article on someone that believes this (Sesame Credit) is a very "innovative" system. Why, it even has online dating! This frightens me. https://sleekbanking.wordpress.com More and more, it seems that the ease of technology may be blinding the masses to the harm it can cause. And yes, I do agree with both of you. I truly hope that more articles are forthcoming. This was quite thought provoking and still has me reading. Which I enjoy. I just, as you know, am geared towards the financial and regulatory questions. Off for now. T3
mrspaul
Coriolanus...It is so wonderful to have an article written by you again!!! Although I have to be completely honest...you are so incredibly brilliant and what you write lives high above my ability to comprehend what you have said. But, it is so enjoyable to step up to the challenge to see if I can decipher the meaning, to make heads or tales of the words, and I find that, if I am patient, I get further along into the meaning of your writing, each time I read your work. So, Coriolanus, if you don't mind, I'd like to stake a stab at offering my take on what I think of your article, on what it says to me. I've read the comments, too, and I really like how you engage the SOFREP member in a dialogue. That's really nice of you to do that. I read, with interest especially, the dialogue between yourself and TexJ3, regarding China and global banking. Let me tell you, TexJ3 is one smart cookie when it comes to finance, she isn't just blowing smoke. So, I think her questions were legit. But, I don't see this as a global banking thing. I can liken it to my own thoughts and feelings over the advent of the technological revolution. I'm nearly 60 years old. I hate how fast the world has sped up. I miss the moseying days of slow and easy, simple and quiet. That saying, "Life comes at you fast." Well, fuck!!! I thought that I could drag my feet into the 21st Century by not buying a computer, or a cell phone, or not getting connected technologically. But the world changed and I had to change with it, or I could not participate in some things that are vital. I see China doing the same thing now, only they are taking it a step further into the Social Realm. It's how the control begins. Social credit, influencing behaviour, and pretty soon they put a ring in your nose and the government is leading us around like cattle. And my prognostication is this...No One Is Fucking Happy!!! Just my opinion, Coriolanus!!! I'm probably further out in left field than Brett Gardner for the Yankees, but I hope you got a chuckle!!! Come back and see us soon!!!