Parable of Morality: China’s New Government Policy

Sharing means caring. The Chinese government has, since 2015, introduced a slew of measures to teach this. Under these measures, the citizens will be under scrutiny by the government to ensure they are actively participating in the overall public well-being.

One of the prominent figures of this government program called ‘Social Credit System’ is Zhou Aini, a retired government official. Her job is to stockpile information about her 3000 neighbours to feed into China’s Social Score System. So, she fills a journal with stories about people helping those have-nots. As a result, they are given social credit by the government employees. The results go public thereafter.

There are many like Zhou, working on the same project in different locations. The system goes this way – you start with a base of 1000 points. You get additional points for community service, donations, and for serving well towards the community. However, points are deducted for doing anything detrimental towards the society. If your points are below the optimal 1000, you are not eligible for perks such as buying flight tickets or applying for loans. Conversely, a high score would result in you getting subsidies. Essentially, the government looks to consider every personal deed as a transaction.

What do you think of this system by the Chinese government? Do let us know!

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