Throughout history, regardless of where on the "right/left" spectrum they fell---from medieval kings and Industrial Revolution robber barons, to the 20th century's Soviet Union and North Korea---the People In Charge relied on information to become strong, establish themselves, and remain in control.
It is no longer necessary for those who seek power to have the support of an ideologically-driven group to collect information for them, however. Today, controlling people with fear and coercion is simply a matter of having access to electronic records.
In 2024, it is entirely possible to know with complete accuracy what a given individual ate for breakfast, how much he spent for it, where it was purchased, the bank where the funds were kept, how much is left in his refrigerator, when it will spoil, how many hours he spent at work, where he stopped on the way there, where he stopped on the way back, how fast he drove, how much he paid for the car, how many accident claims it has been involved in, whether or not traffic laws were broken, the brand of soap he showered with before going to work, who his friends are, who he has communicated with, his political preferences, his political affiliations, his state of physical health, his hobbies, the music he prefers, and on and on and on... The deeper one dives the more connections can be found and inferences that can be made and investigated, effectively without limit, branching endlessly.
And the pool of stockpiled information grows both wider and deeper every day.
Literally every second of every day.
The remarkable part is that most of the information wasn't extracted by force or supplied in response to an overt request. Most of the time, either knowingly or unknowingly (the "terms of service" user agreement), it was given freely by the individual himself. Often eagerly.
Mother Nature made short term benefit a powerful motivator. lol
As the founder of Facebook famously said in 2003:
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SSNs
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks
In short, the masses the aspiring rulers want to control are indirectly demanding to be controlled in an act of simultaneous acquiescence and bestowal. No invading armies needed. There is no longer any need to inspire and recruit followers from the Left/Right well that never runs dry.
In fact, those who are relentlessly driven to achieve large scale power and control over others never did care about a particular vision of society. Their "visions" were just a recruiting tool. A way to gather crowds who would chant their name. All they ever cared about, and all they ever will care about, is being in charge.
Their new weapon? The ability to freeze, confiscate, or otherwise control someone's bank account.
When the social-score/credit model of society is fully implemented, voicing awareness or concern about any of this---never mind criticizing it---will be suppressed by whatever means necessary, until one day the very idea that something's badly wrong will be impossible to conceptualize, never mind articulate.
www.independent.co.uk
