The questions about equality and ethics have been a part of society as long as there has been a society. We collectively decide what are basic human rights and who is eligible to claim them. From culture to culture and from one historical era to another these rights differ dramatically. Some praise diversity and uniqueness, others look down on any diversion from the established norm, but all societies organize their members in one way or another. A functional community needs at least some sort of structure and participants must fulfill different roles. Some lead, some follow, some grow crops and others make tools. A hierarchy at least to some degree is necessary, but is inequality a must?
The Cast System that provided a structure to Indian society for thousands of years was finally abolished in 1949. It divided all persons into 4 groups according to one's birth (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras) and established lifelong and unchangeable differences in status, which dictated what work one could do, who one can marry and so on. Bramins carried out religious rituals and passed down hymns from generation to generation; Kshatriyas were rulers and warriors; Vaishyas were merchants and farmers and Shudras, the lowest cast, were servants and unskilled labourors. Below the four casts were Dalits, also called untouchables who carried out burial duties and were ostracized from the rest of Indian society.
This system of division ended with adoption of Indian constitution. Mahatma Gandhi among others opposed cast system as a sinful act of assuming superiority over other human beings. However the argument that got this system abolished was looking at it not only from a stance of equality and ethics, but also from economic perspective. It was argued that the "cast system was deterrent to social mobility that prevented technological and scientific advancement". Inequality is not only intuitively wrong (unless you are in the top few percent at the top of the social ladder), it is economically inefficient. Lack of opportunity for all citizens stunts advancements in technology, innovation and progress of society as a whole.
India's close neighbor China has an outline to have a basic Social Credit System by 2020, which is less then a 100 years after abolition of Cast System in India. This system will asign "social integrity" rating to every citizen and organization. Government started testing the system in 2014 on 6 large companies including Alibaba group and Tencent gaming giant. These companies already had "trust" ranking built into their systems for service and goods providers (companies) and customers (individuals). This system helps consumers decide how trustworthy an online store is, it also gives more weight to comments and rankings given to businesses by individuals with high consumption rate, yes, - the more purchases you've made the move valuable your vote is. Starting from 2014 these 6 companies were obliged to share this information with government agencies to start up nationwide social score system.
Individual's score can be anywhere between 300 and 850 and calculated by an algorithm combining five sub-categories:
- social connections,
- consumption behavior,
- security,
- wealth,
- and compliance.
Does this mean the more high social ranking individuals are in your circle the higher your social credit score is? Does it mean the goods you buy define your value as a human being? The more wealth you possess the more virtuous you are? Comments you leave on social media are evaluated according to acceptable behavior prescribed by your government and exercising your free speach adds/or subtracts from your "trustworthiness" score. Government's agenda is to encourage, not enforce, nobody said enforce, "good" behavior. And yes there is only one agenda.
If you let your flock roam freely, it is a lot of work to keep an eye on every member scattered between hills and valleys. Much easier to have them all tightly packed, yes they are not free to come and go as they wish (truly for their own safety), yes there is no fresh grass (you kindly provide them with free feed), yes they can not develop healthy muscles stacked one next to the other (no need to worry, you've added growth hormones in their water). It is efficient, more economical and more organised. In this environment you'll be able to spot any sheep going astray before it goes astray. You will be able to group the individuals in your care (or under your rule) and move the trouble makers away from the rest of the flock before they spread ideas of how things ought to be.
The credit system isn't a new concept and individual's financial information is translated into credit score in first world countries. Past financial information is used to predict whether individuals will pay off their mortgages or credit card bills in the future. The Digital Age simply made information about every aspect of our lives easily accessible. Being able to record and classify our economic and social behavior makes it easy to keep tabs on lives of the citizens and help gently guide them back to the herd if they start thinking thoughts, asking questions and challenging the authority. With ever increasing number of cameras watching us at every street corner and advances in face recognition software social behavior can now be engineered by combining social credit ranking and technology.
Restrict economic and social mobility of the individuals with low ranking, add a little bit of encouraging when it comes to online shaming for inappropriate behavior and stir well. Your perfect state controlled society cocktail is ready to be served.
How valuable do you think you are as a human being to your particular society? How high would you rank in trustworthiness (read supportive of your government)? How much freedom is there when every aspect of your life is known by your government, when everything you do or say publicly is recorded as evidence in a criminal case against you? Would you be more compliant, would you cheer when everybody else is cheering, would you bite your tongue and stay silent when you disagree with the authorities? What number would you have next to your name? How would society be restructured when one's place on the social ladder is determined by how compliant you are, by how popular you are, by how close to the established norm you are, by how unthreateningly average you are? Social profiling haven't ended well in the past. Will it do any good today?