Mentatul

Tag: freedom

  • China’s Social Credit System

    China’s Social Credit System

    Something big was set in motion in China. It’s called the Social Credit System^. It leverages the latest in technology in order to build something akin to a criminal record, except that it’s updated much more frequently (possibly even real-time in certain cases). It doesn’t only cover crime, but pretty much any action that the government can track, online and offline:

    http://nordic.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?r=US&IR=T^

    As we know, China has an extremely well-developed tracking & censorship apparatus. Through the Social Credit System, even minor social offenses such as jaywalking or smoking outside designated areas can be turned into punishments that can seriously affect one’s life. In the article below you can find a rather shocking video (well, not entirely shocking to me since I suspected this was coming^) about the country’s highly developed video surveillance system:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-is-watching-its-citizens-in-a-modern-surveillance-state-2018-4?r=US&IR=T#9-tracking-peoples-social-media-posts-which-can-be-linked-to-the-users-family-and-location-10^

    The punishments that the Chinese have come up with for citizens who stumble into a low social credit are deviously inventive. They can ban people from getting transport tickets, throttle internet speeds or even prevent them from getting certain jobs or education. The question is, how long until similar systems are deployed all over the planet?

    https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/social-credit-system/^

    As usual with such schemes, there are advantages. It’s safe to assume that such a system can improve social accountability and online behavior (for example, cyberbullying can be tackled more effectively). Unfortunately, since it’s China we’re talking about, the rules for having a good social credit are set by a government that suppresses criticism through any available means.

    What’s worse is that most judgements regarding a person’s social credit will be done by software. And since these programs aren’t even remotely intelligent yet^, there will be many mistakes made. I wonder if the Chinese authorities will allocate the appropriate manpower to address appeals by citizens against the decisions made by these algorithms.

    This is a risky path that the Chinese are taking. It is also setting a very dangerous precedent for our civilization. It tempts governments today to increasingly rely on surveillance and punishment rather than educating and supporting a person’s healthy development. Free societies will always have an advantage when it comes to innovation. And in the Information Age^, innovation is what creates winning nations.

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  • How Donald Trump Becoming President Changed My World

    How Donald Trump Becoming President Changed My World

    Months ago, I wrote a short piece rationalizing why Trump will not be president of the USA (unless the Republican party wants to commit political suicide). I was quite sure it will be the last time I’d mention his name on this website. During the following months, I was given a stark reminder that “nothing’s certain”. Not only did Trump get the presidency, but the Republican party is doing quite well.

    I’m not ruling out political suicide just yet, but this doesn’t change the fact I’ve made a serious estimation error regarding Donald’s chances. It has been one of my most disappointing prognoses, so I chastised myself over it more than a few times. However, I spent far more energy into learning from this mistake. There are many teachings indeed.

    First of all, it seems like some countries are failing to adapt democracy to the Internet age. Starting with the spread of lies about candidates through social media and ending with cyber warfare, I think that the democratic process is in serious need of renovation.

    I wouldn’t really call it a teaching – since I was always aware of this – but the fury of the people should never be underestimated. Trump and similar candidates across the world are riding on this wave of anger. I just hope that Americans won’t regret installing Trump as their president like other nations regretted their choice dearly in the past. I can’t help drawing some parallels with a certain leader that got elected in Europe about 85 years ago. We’re still recovering from the emotional scars he left behind.

    But the most important change in my life since Donnie Tea became president is that the event miraculously stopped me from reading the news three times a day (I’ve been trying to cut down for years). I’m now at about twice a week, having gained about 2-3 extra hours per week. As I said in the title of this posting, this is about how my world has changed. It’s one of the more subjective posts I’ve written, which is why I filed it under the new category “Life Fragments”.

    I’m fed up seeing news feeds clogged with “Donald said that” or “Donald did that”. I’m done being coaxed into reading these venomous sensationalist stories. I can’t help sharing a comparison I made recently: “democracy without education is like capitalism without capital”. Unfortunately, many voters lack the education to properly detect fake and/or manipulative press.

    I’m going to pass this season of the “all-you-can-consume information age”. Sure, I’ll keep an eye out on the news, but I’m done letting these companies infect my mind and therefore my life.

    Before, during and after the election, many media cartels made tons of money writing about Trump. Most of the published stories consist of the endless repetition of a single event, or are of little relevance. Even in countries that had nothing to do with the circus of an election that occurred in the USA, his name was mentioned more often than the most important local politicians. For example in Sweden, Donnie’s name was mentioned in the press many more times than the country’s most important political figure, the Prime Minister.

    For a while, I will stop writing much about politics. Even when I will, my approach will be very cautious. I’ll close this short entry with a few of the more relevant links written in the past few days about the beginning of Donnie Tea’s illustrious career as threat to human rights and civilization.

    However, I know that I know nothing. Perhaps some of his and his party’s decisions will turn out quite beneficial for our civilization. So take my comments below as perhaps totally wrong. Let’s see how things look ten years from now.

    Denying human-caused climate change and therefore setting back efforts to clean up our ecosystem:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/us/politics/trump-white-house-website.html^

    Setting back the only recent attempt – however feeble – to improve healthcare in the USA:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-that-could-lift-affordable-care-acts-individual-mandate/2017/01/20/8c99e35e-df70-11e6-b2cf-b67fe3285cbc_story.html?utm_term=.7a657c600a5a^

    Turning government into a discount shop for selling the tax payer’s hard-earned rights to a clean, safe and fair country (and accelerating the destruction of the ecosystem – also setting a bad example for governments across the world):

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/23/trump-to-ceos-ill-wipe-out-75-percent-of-regulations-fast-track-u-s-factories/?utm_term=.89318c36c008^

    Jeopardizing an already fragile geopolitical climate:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-reacts-to-trumps-america-first-inaugural-speech/2017/01/20/5452f9ca-df95-11e6-8902-610fe486791c_story.html?utm_term=.aabf5ad12666^

    Using American influence to restrict women’s rights across the world (I’m not completely pro-choice, but I do believe that pro-life is a severe restriction of a woman’s rights, especially in special circumstances such as rape or very risk family environments):

    http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/abortion/315652-trump-signs-executive-order-reinstating-global-gag-rule-on^

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  • The Uncertain Future of the Internet

    The Uncertain Future of the Internet

    As one of the most, if not the most powerful force for change, the Internet’s future is a cause for concern. In the past decade, governments and corporations have increasingly encroached upon our freedom and privacy. These entities will use every possible excuse to rein-in the transformative power of the Internet.

    As more people get connected, the Internet is becoming a mirror of our society. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the horrible, we can all find it online. Our society isn’t perfect. With such an educational system, who can even expect it to be? But regulatory bodies can now motivate various restrictions as being “for our own good”, this being one of the age-old excuses that our masters have used when trying to deprive us of something:

    https://www.rt.com/op-edge/345063-internet-mousetrap-shut-freedom/^

    But here’s the good news. The Internet is still at its very beginning. The fifty or so years^ that have passed since the first research into packet switching might seem like a lot. But really, compared to other technologies that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, it’s not. Here’s a good article driving this point home:

    http://new.www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-kelly/the-internet-is-still-at-the-beginning_b_10321958.html^

    We’re still in danger of governments depriving us^ of what is becoming our voice as a species (more than 40% of the world population is now online). Keep this in mind next time you read about efforts to protect the freedom and independence of the Internet.

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