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So China thought that the plot of a Black Mirror episode[1] was a great idea to enact in reality? Spectacular.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive




No, they saw that and thought it'd be a great idea to introduce a broken system with a centrally managed algorithm they'll never be able to get to work.


Too bad Hayek wasn't still around to offer some great critique of yet another instance of central planning hubris.


No, they thought that the credit score system where every institution that I freely and voluntarily transact with gives me a score between 1 to 5, and is used to determine my employment, whether or not I am allowed to live in an apartment, how much I have to pay for bail, how long I am sentenced for if I commit a crime, whether or not I can buy a house... Is a good idea.


Whattaboutism doesn’t argue against the fact that the Chinese plan includes social measures, like your expressed political thought. They are both alarming- this one more so.


Why is having your social score be based on money less alarming than having it be based on your political activity?


There are many reasons, but for one, it’s because free speech is how people who are harmed by something can peacefully argue to change the system, and without it, the power structure ossifies and becomes inflexible to the needs of political minorities.


Have you ever been denied a flight boarding in the states because your social credit score was too low?


No, but you can be denied a place to live or a means to make a living. [1]

Not to mention the life-long mark of Cain that you get if you, heaven forbid, are convicted of a crime. Sorry, but we don't hire/lend to/do business with ex-cons.

[1] You can also be arbitrarily denied boarding an airplane in the United States because your name ended up on a no-fly list. You have practically no legal recourse for getting yourself removed from it.


True. And if you get convicted of a political crime in china, it is also difficult to get a job (they run background checks also).


Or you just straight-up disappear.




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