In the business world, it is common for participants to check the seriousness of their partners before concluding a deal. For this purpose, bankers have a well-developed questionnaire that every client must fill out, otherwise there is no loan. When hiring for the civil service and elsewhere, a certificate is required that shows whether the future employee has had any dealings with the court or has had any in the past. In the 2020s, the Chinese authorities decided to take a big step forward by trying to consolidate all socially negative data from various institutions. In this way, they determined the low social rating of individuals and legal entities, right up to government organizations.
The Chinese did not stop at just determining the negative, but also included positive social ratings in the unified assessment.[1] This second component of the assessment fits well into the whole project. In this way, a large space is opened for directing socially positive behaviors. Chinese had a similar practice before the Communists took power in 1949, but it was only the digital revolution that made such a project much easier. Without it, the Chinese authorities would have been tempted to form a large army of bureaucrats and everything would be reminiscent of the Bolshevik practice of forming an excessively large and expensive bureaucratic police apparatus, all in the interests of the workers. In order for such a project to be feasible, a strong sovereign state is needed that knows what national interests are and what are not. It is a historical irony and paradox that the Chinese communists had enough intelligence and strength to deal with radical egalitarians within their own ranks and at the same time remain the leading political force that, for the first time in recent history, brought together the entire nation. At the height of the communist terror, the progressive youth (Red Guards) organized the public shaming and humiliation of political opponents.
The current social rating system in China dates back to 2014 and is supposed to cover all citizens. Some of them can be found on the “black list” and some on the “red list”. In the first case, it is about scoring socially unacceptable behavior, and in the second case, commendable and acceptable behavior. It is important to note that the aforementioned rating is public. Western liberal decadents will immediately accuse the Chinese of violating the confidentiality of personal data and totalitarianism. Of course, the Chinese can only laugh when they hear such remarks. They can also respond with a counter-question: “Who should determine what is acceptable and what is not? Is it better for the legal state to shape public opinion or for the so-called deep state to do so from the shadows, which is accountable to no one?”
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According to the Chinese project, negative points are accumulated, among other things, in the case of non-payment of bills, non-compliance with the law and inaccurate presentation of financial data. Digitalization and good organization can be very flexible when it comes to what should be added to the “black list” of points.
For example, authorities in many Chinese cities take photos of irresponsible pedestrians crossing the street. These photos are then posted on a government website, exposing them to ridicule.[2]
Business people can easily end up on the “black list”, but it takes several years for an employer to be removed from this list. This list is preceded by a step that only warns of certain irregularities. This means that employers can be on the “black list” or on the way to it. Furthermore, employers are given points for their attitude towards employees, compliance with rules, fulfillment of business obligations, payment of taxes and environmental protection. For individuals, negative points are also awarded for poor treatment of family, violence and neglect of elderly parents, as well as traffic violations. To this should be added cheating on the Internet, smoking where it is prohibited, and walking a dog without a leash. In addition to publicly exposing socially negative behavior, those who collect negative points face many restrictions. These include, for example: denial of train or plane tickets, travel abroad, slowing down the internet, public ridicule, denial of credit and work, as well as fewer business opportunities and more paperwork. Then, parents cannot enroll their children in every school, and hotels will not accept guests with a negative social rating. It seems that in practice there is an inexhaustible source of small and large restrictions and sanctions for negative behavior. All that is needed is a little imagination, political will, and the smart use of the possibilities of Internet technology. Furthermore, there is the denial of access to some social services, difficult access to credit, denial of employment in government services, denial of access to private schools, public shaming: the publication of pictures, names, and OIB numbers of people on the “black list.” When someone calls “blacks,” a tone imposed by the government appears that informs the caller that they are calling a “dishonest debtor.” A negative rating can be obtained if someone spreads rumors online, drives under the influence of alcohol, or organizes an illegal protest.
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In addition to the “black list”, the public is also offered a list of citizens and legal entities that have benefits. Citizens who are blood donors and those who are involved in charitable activities have fewer surprise state controls, expedited customs procedures, expedited tax refunds, less bureaucracy, priority in the order of allocation of apartments controlled by the state or city, tax breaks, etc. There is also free access to exercise facilities, shortened waiting times in hospitals, use of the fast lane in traffic, cheaper public transport, bicycle and car rental without a deposit. For example, a higher score is given if a person’s behavior has a positive effect on the neighborhood.
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When it comes to Croatia, there are many areas where social evaluation would be useful.
RESIDENCE, RECEIVING OFFICIAL MAIL
In Croatia, the courts are overwhelmed with unresolved cases. The digital revolution has not helped either. This is particularly evident in misdemeanor proceedings. The irregular payment of fines and failure to receive official notices at the registered address are a major problem.
SOURCE OF INCOME
For adults, all sources of income from the country and abroad should be submitted to a single database. Any person who cannot provide the above is either a parasite in one way or another or is involved in crime.
MILITARY SERVICE
Refusing to serve in the military should carry significant negative points. The law in Croatia already regulates that such persons have restrictions on employment in the civil service. This is not enough because military service is treated as a matter of choice here. It is completely psychologically and politically unacceptable that a young man has to go to war in the field, while his neighbor of the same age stays home, preoccupied with his cell phone and online games. In World War I, the British publicly shamed soldiers who refused to pick up a rifle by stripping them naked and then forcing them to run in the open in front of other soldiers.
DRUG ADDICTION
It is interesting how the permissive decadents in our society treat this social cancer. In principle, drug addiction is evil, but let’s let young people take cannabis because it can also be beneficial. Unannounced and limited drug testing of people of all ages and occupations would be useful. Those registered for the first time are registered for future unannounced tests and are warned that after that, if they are positive, they will be published on the Internet. When it comes to big dealers, President Trump has begun to communicate with them in the right language, which is the language of direct force. He has, de facto, introduced an extraordinary court for them that quickly imposes death sentences. Since large material interests are at stake, this is the only way to make the large-scale drug trade unprofitable. As expected, the Croatian media view everything with reserve and hidden discontent. Oh my God, some rights have been violated here. Wouldn’t it be better to announce two major drug seizures a year to calm the public and continue the fight against smoking in public places?
GRAFFITI
In Zagreb, we are witnessing unprecedented aesthetic destruction of street facades. This is not a problem for politicians who have their mouths full of “citizens of the city of Zagreb”. State television even shows documentaries in which the night vandals are portrayed as some kind of alternative urban art guerrilla.
CIGARETTE BUTTS AND OTHER THINGS
No city services can clean up everything that people leave behind on the sidewalk before getting on the tram. Technically, it would be no problem to officially organize a photo shoot of smokers at tram stops and forward it to the Internet as an example of irresponsible behavior. In addition, plainclothes officers/police officers would be welcome, provided they can impose a high fine. If such interventions were still recorded and published, then they shouldn’t be carried out often – fama volat.
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Given that peoples and races are different, as are the cultures that emerged from them, the Chinese practice can only serve as a useful example, not a model that should be copied literally. When it comes to Croatia, it is difficult to expect that sufficient political will will be gathered for a social rating project. The biological and ethnic composition of the Croatian people is very diverse. This manifests itself in all areas of social life, from writing recent history to the fact that it is impossible to determine what kind of clothing students and teachers should wear in high school. Regardless of the above problem, the average citizen would think carefully about whether it is wise to refuse military service or throw cigarette butts on the sidewalk if he were greeted at a counter by a polite but decisive voice of an employee that one must first fulfill one’s obligations to society and only then demand one’s rights. Ridiculing other people’s stupidity is at the heart of humor, and people genuinely enjoy it because in this way they are freed from the burden of their own stupidity. It is only important that the object of ridicule or shame does not bear our name, because then we feel extremely uncomfortable. This psychological fact can be politically abused, as in the case of Mao’s Red Guards. But ridicule and public shame can be a very useful tool if it is used wisely in the general social interest. We can imagine how pleasantly entertained Croatian Television viewers would be if, before the main news, instead of wild advertising, dominated by abdominal issues and utter bad taste, they were greeted by a female voice imitating passengers in public transport and who cheers up the entire bus by talking loudly on a cell phone about laboratory findings from the Hospital or significantly announcing to the entire bus and the world: “I’m on the bus, your sandwich is in the fridge”… These are just some areas of life where determining social ratings could be effective. There are many other examples from social life where a lot can be done in the media at low cost.
[1] The term “Social Credit” can also be written as “Social Reputation”.
[2] Jaywalking, an AI company in Chine is working on instant facial recognition and sending a fine notification to the violator.
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