<story><title>China&apos;s social credit system is both unique and part of a global trend</title><url>https://tutanota.com/blog/posts/social-credit-system-china/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>11thEarlOfMar</author><text>Ultimately, what would such a system be optimized for? The goals will be modulated by the persons or groups in power. From what I&amp;#x27;ve seen, the powerful in China seek a stable, well behaved, productive workforce such that the profit from their labor can accrue to the benefit of the ruling class. A data collection system as pervasive as the social credit system that feeds into a self-optimizing control center that can influence the behavior of the ruled, is economically potent.&lt;p&gt;Make the goals to get the most profit from the least investment into the work force, coerce their productivity with increasing restrictions and penalties, and you&amp;#x27;re moving towards virtual enslavement.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bleepblorp</author><text>Nitpick: I don&amp;#x27;t think it&amp;#x27;s completely accurate to imply that Chinese elites are exclusively interested in economic self-enrichment.&lt;p&gt;Societies where the elites are only interested in stealing everything they can take look like Nigeria (or Mississippi): a tiny sliver of people living in luxury while the rest of the population lives in permanent, abject, squalor.&lt;p&gt;In contrast, median living standards in China have improved dramatically in living memory. In many cases, the transformation has literally been from mud huts to skyscrapers. The kind of wealth distribution that supported this transformation would not have been possible if China&amp;#x27;s elites were only interested in self enrichment; if they were, they would have taken the wealth for themselves.&lt;p&gt;Obviously, China&amp;#x27;s human rights policies have no redeeming qualities, but its economic policies have benefited the average Chinese citizen. Credit where it&amp;#x27;s due.</text></comment>
<story><title>China&apos;s social credit system is both unique and part of a global trend</title><url>https://tutanota.com/blog/posts/social-credit-system-china/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>11thEarlOfMar</author><text>Ultimately, what would such a system be optimized for? The goals will be modulated by the persons or groups in power. From what I&amp;#x27;ve seen, the powerful in China seek a stable, well behaved, productive workforce such that the profit from their labor can accrue to the benefit of the ruling class. A data collection system as pervasive as the social credit system that feeds into a self-optimizing control center that can influence the behavior of the ruled, is economically potent.&lt;p&gt;Make the goals to get the most profit from the least investment into the work force, coerce their productivity with increasing restrictions and penalties, and you&amp;#x27;re moving towards virtual enslavement.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>AlexTWithBeard</author><text>At least on paper it&amp;#x27;s optimized for all good things. From the article above:&lt;p&gt;Negative factors:
dishonest and fraudulent financial behavior, 
playing loud music, 
violating traffic rules, 
making reservations at restaurants and not showing up, 
failing to correctly sort your waste, 
fraudulently using other people&amp;#x27;s public transportation ID cards&lt;p&gt;Positive factors, on the other hand, include:&lt;p&gt;donating blood, 
donating to charity, 
volunteering to community services&lt;p&gt;But the lack of transparency means that what&amp;#x27;s promised may be different from what&amp;#x27;s actually done.</text></comment>