Russia is testing social points system | EUROtoday

Dhe novel “We” by the Russian Yevgeny Zamyatin is a pioneering work of dystopian literature that, written in 1920, in some ways anticipated Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Zamyatin, who was on the facet of the Bolsheviks in the course of the October revolution, processed his disappointment with their oppressive regime by describing a totalitarian state of the longer term that may strictly monitor its residents and scale back them to numbers. The e book was the primary to be banned by the Soviet authorities as a result of they rightly seen it as an evil caricature. It was solely capable of seem in Russia within the perestroika 12 months of 1988.

But since Russia’s rulers have emulated China, complete management has grow to be the perfect. “We” is the identify of the brand new social points system that the State Social University in Moscow, as soon as the get together college of the CPSU, developed and has been testing on its college students for a 12 months. Questions embrace marital standing, revenue, residing circumstances, training, overseas language expertise, prison information, power diseases and likewise sporting actions.

Low reputation amongst college students

This ends in the measured values ​​“social status” – which corresponds to the acquired place in society – and “social level”, which suggests future useful improvement alternatives from the state’s perspective. The builders of the system wish to correlate these values ​​with residents’ passport knowledge in addition to phone, tax and insurance coverage numbers.

Commentators level out {that a} social points system is already in pressure in China, which implies that folks with low scores should not allowed to get good jobs or get a overseas visa or to purchase aircraft tickets. Participation within the knowledge assortment – which was beforehand supposedly voluntary – was mentioned to be much less in style amongst college students on the social college.

The journalist Maxim Shevchenko notes that the social points system ought to solely have an effect on the decrease courses; the elite produce other requirements of worth, similar to proximity or loyalty to an individual in energy. Duma deputy from the New People get together Alexei Nechayev mentioned that there is quite a bit to be taught from China, from modernizing manufacturing to preventing corruption, however that China’s system of complete management of the inhabitants is questionable.

In addition, the identify “We” is paying homage to Zamyatin’s dystopia, which is a warning and never an instruction for motion. Russia’s state ideologists apparently see issues otherwise. Back in May of this 12 months, the pop star of Putin’s conflict of aggression in opposition to Ukraine, Shaman, launched a track referred to as “We” that managed to reinterpret Zamyatin’s horror imaginative and prescient in a optimistic manner. The pronoun “We” (in Russian: My) is chanted martially by youngsters who prepare to carry out at their greatest within the service of Russia and kind a soldierly collective. Some social community customers have been very enthusiastic concerning the optimistic reinterpretation of Zamyatin’s traditional.