This month I have been focused on tyranny. While looking for books to read on the subject I came across this title. For a tyrannical government to flourish there must be a strong police presence. I was interested in seeing what the author had to say about the use of technology in policing in China.
Cain uses a series of interviews he conducted along with voluminous research to write this book. Just like Michener did in the Bridge at Andau Cain does not use the real names of some of the characters in this book due to risks to safety.
In one of his trips to China Cain notes that he was told the three steps to creating the perfect police state. “Step one he said is to identify an enemy. Minorities immigrants, Jews, or in this case Muslims and blame them for your problems. Convince your people that these enemies are everywhere that they are a threat to national strength and honor. Step Two is to get control of technology to monitor your enemies.… Step three is a tricky one for any government he said. He went on to explain the idea of exploiting the post truth paranoia you created with tech tools. With cameras artificial intelligence and facial and voice scanners you can turn your country into a panopticon.”
Cain writes about the treatment of the Uighur population in Western China at depth in this book. He outlines how the three steps were used to oppress the Uighur population. He notes “Technology is supposed to serve the benefit of humankind but some countries want to monitor, oppress, and punish people. This is one of the greatest tragedies of our time.”
While recounting the experience of one person as she was fleeing China he noted that “Talking made her tried because it required thinking and thinking was risky.”
The scope and scale of the surveillance program in China left one person to remark “Now I think big brother will control everything. People will forget about love, about God, everyone’s lives will be arranged in advance by the government.”
Overall Cain paints a bleak picture of the dangers autocratic governments can harness through technology. The story is compelling and informative. Overall I give it 3 out of 5 stars
William Wilberforce has been called an agitator for his commitment to ending the slave trade. One of his well known speeches on the subject was given on May 12, 1789.
Cardinal Richelieu has been hailed as a great statesman and as a subversive authoritarian. Depending on who you talk to he was a man needed to strengthen the monarchy in France, or he was a tyrant seeking personal power. Next week I will have a book review that may shed more light on Cardinal Richelieu.
When Lenin was working on his major writing projects he would often pace across the room formulating the ideas that he would write down by saying them out loud. Once he had the idea for what he wanted to write he would often repeat the idea to Nadezhda Krupskaya, who would provide feedback. Once this process was complete he would then write the ideas down.
Here is an AI rendering of what that might have looked like when he was drafting What is to be Done.
This month this community will focus on political subversion. What is subversion? When is it justified? What is the interplay between subversion and agitation? These are some of the topics to be discussed this month.
“You get used to the despot’s shortcomings, when they are not great vices, and the change of an autocratic ruler leads to involuntary fear.”
Sergei Trubetskoi
