Many of our readers have undoubtedly heard news reports that the Chinese government is establishing a system of "social credit". Please be advised that the country is not applying the Social Credit principles taught by C. H. Douglas and Louis Even! China's social credit system will establish a national "reputation system", evaluating and ranking citizens' activities to encourage good behaviour and sanction bad behaviour. For example, since May 2018, Chinese citizens who have a low social credit score have been prevented from buying railway and airline tickets. The system was launched in 2014 and is planned to be fully operational by the year 2020.
The system requires the mass surveillance of the population, not only through the internet, but also through millions of security cameras placed throughout the country. Every move made by the 1.3 billion citizens is added to a person's individual profile. For example, if someone misses an appointment with a professional or engages in questionable encounters on social media, one's "social credit score" is reduced.
If a pedestrian crosses an intersection on a red light, in less than three seconds a camera has taken his picture and identified him, thanks to facial recognition software that can recognize the face of every Chinese citizen. In the town of Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, the face and name of errant pedestrians are displayed on a giant screen until their fines are paid. May God keep us from such technocratic dictatorship!
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