Why China’s “Social Credit” Scheme Will Create More Corruption, Not a Better Citizenry
News of China’s social credit system has been making waves across media outlets for months. Some publications are going soft on the massive surveillance state, saying it is not as bad as it seems (it is), while others are referring to it as something straight out of Nineteen Eighty-Four (again, it is). With pilot programs operating in certain municipalities, the system is already affecting citizens’ lives by limiting their ability to travel or send their children to universities.
“Four million people have been blocked from buying high-speed train tickets over low social credit,” VICE News reported earlier this year, “and more than 11 million from buying flights.”
Government documents detailing the social credit system say the program will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”
The final version of the social credit system is expected to be fully implemented by 2020, but Beijing is being vague regarding the confirmed list of offenses and how the program will work. Here are some of the actions the Chinese government deems “bad behaviors” that warrant punishment:
- Bad driving or traffic offenses
- Jaywalking
- Smoking on trains
- Not cleaning up after your dog
- Not having your dog on a leash
- Not paying debts
- Not paying taxes
- Playing too many video games
- Watching pornography
- Making frivolous purchases
- Consuming too much alcohol or junk food
- Criticizing the government
- Criticizing the social credit system
- Visiting unauthorized websites
- Being friends with or messaging others with low scores or those who commit the above offenses
Some transgressions may be worthy of punishment, like not paying debts, taxes, or traffic citations. However, one can already identify some issues with alleged wrongdoings, such as what defines fake news or a “frivolous” purchase or “too much” gaming.
Even on the surface, not cleaning up after your dog seems well-intentioned. But for those unaware, it is still common for people to urinate and defecate in public in certain areas of China. (As someone who has lived in China for nearly the last year and a half, I’m all too aware of this fact.)
Perhaps Beijing should get the people to stop pooping outside before they worry about the dogs.
Culture Of Corruption
One reason to doubt the efficiency of the behavioral ranking system is the rampant corruption and use of bribes in China. After collecting and analyzing corporate data, Charney Research published a paper in 2015 that found 35 percent of companies in China pay bribes or give gifts in order to operate. One CFO went so far as to describe the practice as “an unspoken rule.” Bribes are particularly common in public hospitals, where doctors and nurses are severely underpaid. Patients try to persuade staff with a hongbao (red envelope filled with cash) for special or preferential treatment, which even the bribe can’t guarantee.
https://www.activistpost.com/2018/12/why-chinas-social-credit-scheme-will-create-more-corruption-not-a-better-citizenry.html
委內瑞拉加入了社會信用俱樂部
Venezuela Joins the Social Credit Club
So you're familiar with China's social credit system by now, right? You know, the one that I've been talking about for years? The one we had a sneak preview of 8 years ago in "You Are Being Gamed?" The one that's being trial-ballooned at home via Carrot Rewards and other "motivational" point systems?
Yes, I dare say you do, because even if (for some unfathomable reason) you haven't read, watched or listened to everything I've ever done relating to the Chinese social credit scheme (tsk tsk), then you're probably a TV-addled fluoride head who's learned all about it from the MSM repeaters.
But for those two or three people who have been living under a rock for the past few years and somehow managed to avoid the story entirely, here it is in a nutshell: The Chinese government is planning to assign a "social credit" score to every single citizen by the year 2020. The score is a measure of your behaviour. When you follow the rules, obey Communist Party dictates, spread government-approved propaganda on social media and generally behave like a "good citizen," your score will go up. Conversely, if you break the rules or otherwise act like a "bad citizen," your score will go down.
So what constitutes a "bad citizen?" Well, if I was doing my work in Chinese you could bet your bottom yuan that "visiting corbettreport.com" would be on the list of no-no's that would get your score docked. Jaywalking, buying too many video games, posting links to sites that promote political wrongthink, even associating with people whose credit score is too low; all of these activities and basically anything else that goes against the Communist Party's wishes—even (gasp!) walking your dog off leash—will send your social credit score plummeting.
Then what's the consequence if your score sinks too low? Oh, you'll be barred from public transit. Your children will be denied access to private schools. You'll be prevented from obtaining a variety of jobs. You won't be able to stay at certain hotels. And that's just for starters. Once the system gets rolling, it's quite obvious that those who are ranked below a certain social credit score will be a literal underclass, forced to eke out whatever meager existence they can cobble together on the margins of society.
As you can imagine, China's new system for keeping citizens in line is being lusted after by would-be tyrants all over the globe. This month's case in point: Venezuela! That's right, citizens of everyone's favorite socialist paradise are about to be treated to a new ID card that will track and database a wide range of information about each of them, from their medical records to their political affiliation to their social media presence. And all of this information will be sent straight back to the government.
https://steemit.com/venezuela/@corbettreport/venezuela-joins-the-social-credit-club
沒有留言:
發佈留言