What are some areas that are of genuine concern – areas being exploited by people in power to bring about great and sweeping changes to society?
Some refer to the coming social credit system akin to what's
being seen in China. The truth is this, it's already in existence and yes, it's
set to expand. Is Covid one of the vehicles for this – with the Covid passport,
vaccine proof and the like? There's no doubt that may be part of it (or not, as
it almost seems like these economically restrictive measures are on the cusp of
being abandoned) and yet regardless it's much bigger than this. To focus on
Covid (which is a real disease that's killed over a million people in the United
States) is to miss the point. Banking, point of sale transactions, basic
access, collated and filtered data connected to financial credit scores which
are already a type of social credit score – these things are already happening.
A bad credit score means second class citizenship and social penalty in the
form of higher rates and restricted access. This has nothing to do with Covid.
The Covid measures (right or wrong) are just an added layer to an already
extant and rapidly expanding social credit/access system. The tool for this
reality is not a Covid passport but the Smartphone. Every day as a
non-Smartphone user I feel the increasing pressure and I would feel it more
acutely were I to live in the city. And yet even in the hinterland we're
starting to pay a price. The most poignant example is bank branch closures.
It's becoming common to have to drive twenty or thirty miles to get to a bank.
And given banking hours it's getting harder to get there without simply taking
time off work – which is not something everyone can do. That is but one example
and its going to get worse. Eventually, I wouldn't be surprised if we have to
pay a fee to interact with a teller.
The rejection of the Smartphone (and its larger dehumanising tech-ethos)
is becoming a badge of non-conformity and its leading people like me down a
road that in the future will mean underground life and poverty – a road I
willingly embrace.
Others posit a more narrow argument than a social credit
score and assert that mandatory vaccinations are going to be one of the tools
used by the Establishment to control lives. The process will keep people on
manageable lists and we'll see sinister uses of medical technology – if not now
with Covid, then in the near future.
As said, it's a real problem that Covid (which is real) will
be manipulated and used for future evils. In fact we can count on it. But even
as I write this, I wonder. Anti-Covid measures are collapsing and the
government is already shifting to the phony unscientific and medically
unethical 'herd immunity' strategy. Basically this just an acceptance of
ongoing waves of large-scale death. It's a price Washington is willing to pay
and Wall Street demands. Regardless of vaccines or mitigation efforts, the
economy is going to march on.
What's the answer? It's probably going to vary with time and
circumstance. Wisdom is required of which there is precious little at present.
For now I would advise getting vaccinated against the disease. It's the least
someone can do for themselves, their family, and the larger community. Will I
say the same tomorrow or a year from now? Who can say? Again, such nuance
defies the emotionally driven response of the masses caught in the Left-Right political
binary.
There are legitimate fears of totalitarianism (though they
didn't seem to notice what Bush was doing after 9/11), but there's also a
legitimate fear of having to sacrifice safety to work alongside some self-absorbed
sociopathic Trumpite moron that is a walking virus factory and putting himself
and everyone else at risk. For manners to exist and society to function
individuals must think about others – even before themselves. Contemporary
American society militates against this and as such there's no longer even a
matrix for something like manners to function. Rank individualism leads to
chaos and social breakdown and again here's the irony – the people who make the
most noise about authoritarianism are the ones whose behaviour is driving the
state to the end. They decry the nanny state and yet as destructive brats they
invite the state to take a strong hand in order maintain a semblance of social
stability.
This is all the more the case when they put others lives at
risk. The state doesn't care per se but when the cost is lost revenue and
profits, then a capitalist order like the United States is sure to intervene.
What about fears that Covid is opening the 'Reset' door to
digital currency? This is a real fear to many, but less so for Christians as whether
paper or data bytes, whether backed by precious metals or by fiat –its Caesar's
coin in the end. The problem arises when the digital aspect is tied to
everything else – like a social credit score, vaccination status, or a ubiquitous
pocket computer. Once again, such a social polity is almost unimaginable apart
from the Smartphone. Digital transactions mean that everything is tracked and
while the Smartphone can take this to a new level in terms of what information
it can record and assimilate with other data, the truth is digital currency has
through debit and credit cards already been normalised for more than a
generation. Where's the protest? There was some concern expressed back in the
1980's and 1990's along with fears of UPC barcodes which began in the 1970's.
However, most people liked the convenience of not having to carry cash and thus
for the sake of convenience many happily bow to these realities – and now
paying in cash is becoming increasingly difficult and socially awkward. And while
I don't find carrying a Smartphone to be convenient, I must admit that many do –
all the more in the developing world.
And yet there is a cost. There was a recent story of some
Australians returning home after a trip abroad and they were dismayed to
discover the custom officials wanted their phones and access to all of their
data. Customs officials have always asked questions but considering how most
people utilise their phones, the data these officials are now able to access
ranges far beyond anything in the past. They now have access to some of the
most private information – all the more when there are people who keep not only
their contacts and communications on their phone but mountains of personal data
regarding finances, health, medicine, ideology, and the like.
I wonder at this point (or in the near future) what will
happen if you try to cross a border and literally don't have a phone. How will
the officials respond? Of course there have already been stories of those who
have had trouble doing so as in some cases the customs forms are only
accessible via a phone app. I read of one woman who refused to have a
Smartphone, that had trouble crossing a border and had to get another person in
line to help her with the app via their phone.
Once again if more people refused to use them, the
authorities would have to change their ways and all that data wouldn't be
available. It's strange how in these technological times many of these changes
are being brought about on a largely voluntary basis. The government doesn't
have to use coercion. People are seemingly happy enough to live and operate
under this new paradigm.
And what about fears concerning a Universal Basic Income? For some the danger here is socialism but that's not the motivation of those who advocate this concept. Far from socialism or some kind of working class empowerment, it's really patronism meant to pacify an increasingly unstable mob, or as another era expressed this concept – it's a case of bread and circuses. Wall Street is against this and yet it's pure numbers not ethics that is the concern of the finance sector. But there are some political interests that see utility in this idea as it softens the threat of social upheaval which is starting to loom very large in the minds of some. People living in shanty towns become radical and reckless because they have nothing to lose. People who are down and out and yet living with a roof over their head and food on their table are less likely to engage in protest. Some even retain 'the dream' of success even if it's completely out of reach. Under that scenario, nonconformity would then have a price – you give up access to the basic benefits. The widespread breakdown of social consensus and the dangerous tensions it has unleashed has led some to think in these terms as seen with the failed presidential bid of Andrew Yang in 2020.