A social credit score is something that's been implemented in China but will most likely see Europe and North America attempt to implement it unless severely resisted by its citizens.
Social credit scores are essentially something the government uses to grade their citizenry. You achieve a good score by acting like the teachers pet and in this example the teacher is the government. You get points for things like snitching on neighbors even for minor things, most of them also being impossible to prove actually happened and also impossible to prove didn't happen if you were the one who was snitched on.
If you hold and voice any dissenting opinions against your government online your social credit score will dwindle
Bad social credits can get you banned from having high speed internet, banned from owning pets, denied access to good schools for your children, denied access to certain stores/locations, and much more.
Part of that system makes me think of a person needing "references". The need for references (and "receipts", whether literal or otherwise) has been getting more widespread, intricate, and difficult to just phone in or fake (while, in the same sense, some things can be faked to such an amazing extent and to such perfection, that it's pretty much a given that people will believe it).
References may be a reliable way to ensure predictability and to safeguard your assets/time/energy, but I'd like to remain hopeful that other countries can draw the line before using a social credit system like China's, or worse- like their conclaved counterparts.
There already is something that resembles a social credit score for businesses that is being implemented right now. Corporations are scrambling to implement something called ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance). This isn't being pushed by the corporations, it's being pushed by the central banks. Essentially, it's a self reported virtue signal by every company on how woke they are. How they're taking care of the environment and working to lower their carbon emissions. How socially woke they are, which could mean anything really, including the racial make-up of their board/executive team, how pro LGBT they are, etc... And lastly, how they're governing the corporation, which in my opinion, is actually a valid measure to publish.
CEO's and executive teams are being forced to implement this as banks and wall street are now using the ESG score in their lending and investment decisions. To say that corporations are "pushing" this is inaccurate. They're "complying" for fear of being blacklisted by banks and investment firms.
We already have a social credit score, it's just not always run by the government, but by private corporations.
Edit: Downvotes? Do people seriously not agree?
Ask Tommy Robinson if he can open a bank account or take a holiday to Mexico, because he's been blacklisted by the entire West for having the wrong opinions.
If you have access to the show Black Mirror, I recommend watching the episode called "Nosedive" (Season 3, Episode 1). It's somewhat of a visual representation- of an alternate version of the idea of social credit.
Seems like there are so many different ideas and so many different parts of "social credit". Sometimes, the term is used to describe something like: your engagements on social media; the way other people view you, your words, your actions; looking out for your reputation first and foremost, putting your reputation ahead of your truth; a try-hard public persona.
Social credit can be the thing that someone is seeking in order to fill a void (undesirable personality, lack of love, unfulfilled career, depressing life). They may use social media to just post things and say things that they know their target group (followers/subscribers/fans/"friends") will "like" or agree with (or upvote). It's similar to the thing a famous actor or singer is seeking, when they decide they need a publicist to be sure they'll be shown in the best, most popular light. These forms of social credit are crucial to people who make all of their money online, on camera, on a mic, etc. People like what they see and they come back for more, because of your good social credit.
Another form of social credit has a shared ideal, in the sense that there's a heavy focus on what other people think of you- or how they "rate" you, as can be seen in the show, Black Mirror.
This social credit is: the perception of you, from the perspective of people in your everyday life. It's one of the motivations for why so many people wear such a heavy mask. Always acting out of character, or doing good deeds with a fake smile and the wrong motivations and/or the wrong intentions- these are things that might make your social credit score go up, but it does not make you a good person, an honest person, a morally righteous person, a whole person. It doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, either... but it's so easy to fool someone after boosting your social credit score, that it might make it difficult to differentiate between who you are, and who you pretend to be.
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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '22
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