Brave New World

Big Brother

Information is money ... and lots of information means lots of money. The Masters of the Universe have learned this lesson well ... and so, dear reader, we are well on our way into the Brave New World ... ruled by Silicon Valley.

Social Credits

China has instituted a “social credit” score for virtually all its adult citizens ... in essence a computer weighing based upon many social parameters as to how good a “citizen” its residents are. This score is then used by China to allow or restrict social rewards: freedom to travel, welfare benefits, medical services ... anything that the government can control ... and the government of China controls almost everything. This is all very restrictive and frightening ... the ultimate in Big Brother tyranny.

Now the barons of Silicone Valley are thinking to emulate this Brave New World ... see: Fast Company Story. Will these tech tyrants follow China’s lead in using the same parameters that measure us? (They already have quite a bit of raw data with which to work ... our buying patterns, our credit scores, our browsing histories, our friends, our travel preferences, our DNA, etc. ... and now are vying to corner our medical records and banking transactions too ... but, interestingly, not if we are a US citizen). So this development, unless it is nipped in the bud by Trump, might collect some other personal data on us Americans. May I suppose:

- have we ever typed or spoken the word “transgender”?

- do we vape or do any drugs?

- do we listen to gospel music?

- have we ever made a political donation ... and to which party?

- do we own an all-electric vehicle?

- what level of melanin do we have in our skin?

- do we believe in God, Allah, or climate change caused by CO2?

- do we own a weapon more powerful than a BB gun?

- do we own a BB gun?

- have we memorized any Bob Dylan lyrics?


Will  Mark Zukerburg soon effectively own us everyone ... cast our votes ...  make all other choices for us? ... or else!

Brave New World

II is upon us ... the brave new world. Now, employees of Three Square Market in Wisconsin are voluntarily getting RFI microchips implanted between their thumbs and forefingers that identifies them as employees and allows them to swipe their hands to open doors and get soft drinks ... see: ABC Wbay Story.

This developmention is eerie. There is something very Ray Bradbury about this story ... the use of technology to strip people of their autonomy ... almost like making them part of the corporate machinery ... and, in a way, frightenly reminiscent of the tattoos placed by the Nazis to indelibly identify Jews during the holocaust. One could also liken it to branding cattle.

Three Square Market downplays the implications of this development ... saying that there is no GPS capability to this chip, it's voluntary, and it can be removed like a splinter. However, what is the next step? Such removal of our inalienable rights will surely not obey stop signs. This insideous trend seems to point to the eventual loss of our humanity. Elon Musk may be a bipolar Chicken Little ... but he does have a point -- we must be ever vigilant about giving over even the smallest part of our lives to the cyber world.

They likely will not give it back ...