China style social credit system being implemented in U.S. universities

[DarthOne]

Attention Required!

That said, some schools have taken things further - assigning "risk scores" to students based on factors such as whether they are going to the library enough.

The dream of some administrators is a university where every student is a model student, adhering to disciplined patterns of behavior that are intimately quantified, surveilled and analyzed.
But some educators say this move toward heightened educational vigilance threatens to undermine students’ independence and prevents them from pursuing interests beyond the classroom because they feel they might be watched.
“These administrators have made a justification for surveilling a student population because it serves their interests, in terms of the scholarships that come out of their budget, the reputation of their programs, the statistics for the school,” said Kyle M. L. Jones, an Indiana University assistant professor who researches student privacy.
“What’s to say that the institution doesn’t change their eye of surveillance and start focusing on minority populations, or anyone else?” he added. Students “should have all the rights, responsibilities and privileges that an adult has. So why do we treat them so differently?” -Washington Post

"It embodies a very cynical view of education — that it’s something we need to enforce on students, almost against their will," said UCSD digital scholarship librarian Erin Rose Glass. "We’re reinforcing this sense of powerlessness … when we could be asking harder questions, like: Why are we creating institutions where students don’t want to show up?

Reminds me of Russian Communist Party demonstrations. Especially how the Party in the USSR would come to people's homes and inquire why they didn't show up to these demonstrations.

 

[Lanmandragon]

Colleges that so this is really anything that violates the bill I'd rights should be defuned. It's utterly ridiculous that my tax money goes to payfor communist indoctrination.

 

[Floridaman]

That seems weird, although I have had professors take attendance, but often it was for the hardest classes so students wanted the free points.

 

[Captain X]

If college students want to waste their time and money, it is their right to do so, and the responsibility is on them. What is it with this treating adults like they're still children shit? And all to justify spying on people. These places should be losing any and all funding, and frankly the Fed should be pursuing charges of violating civil rights, you know, if the Fed wasn't too busy doing the same shit.

 

[Deleted member]

Totalitariansm is the endgame of modern culture. It may be “democratic” but it is totalitarian nonetheless.

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

Totalitariansm is the endgame of modern culture. It may be “democratic” but it is totalitarian nonetheless.

So rule/tyranny by majority then?

 

[Cherico]

So in other words your paying for essentially the cost of a small house to be a second class citazin for 4 years.

It would be a better idea to get the damned house.

 

[LordsFire]

So in other words your paying for essentially the cost of a small house to be a second class citazin for 4 years.

It would be a better idea to get the damned house.

Small house?

Move to a smaller city, and 80 grand will get you a nice 3-4 bedroom, 2-3 bath, definitely with a yard, and maybe with a double-wide lot.

Go rural, and the question becomes 'how many acres come with this?'

 

[Terthna]

Totalitariansm is the endgame of modern culture. It may be “democratic” but it is totalitarian nonetheless.

Totalitarianism is the endgame of all cultures throughout history; because more than anything, most people desire control. Of themselves, others, and the world around them.

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

otalitarianism is the endgame of all cultures throughout history; because more than anything, most people desire control. Of themselves, others, and the world around them.

I don't think this is very accurate. The Classical Liberal Order that began after the French Revolution was never really about Totalitarian control. Heck the old Monarchical regimes before the French Revolution espoused the concept of Enlightened Absolutism for precisely the opposite reason. Napoleon himself while an autocrat, was relatively benign towards his subjects and never wished for totalitarian control over the populace like later dictatorships and police states.

The Enlightenment figures and the upper middle class all supported the idea of a strong monarchy as a means of protecting themselves and the peasants from the excesses of a decadent aristocracy. Successful Enlightened absolutists like Frederick II of Prussia ran a modern (for the time he lived in) state that was quite tolerant and open to new ideas. The militarized Prussian society brought social cohesion and order after the anarchy of the 30 Years War which killed a huge chunk of Germany's population and nearly destroyed Brandenburg itself.

The old Spanish model of Society which involved the Clergy, the nobility, and the King in the affairs of state was quite de-centralized and respected local customs and traditions. The Carlist Movement which was a reactionary force that sprung up in opposition to Liberal movement in Spain, experienced lots of support from the Peasantry and all walks of life. Had they won, Spain would have had the old regional divisions respected.

 

[Lanmandragon]

If college students want to waste their time and money, it is their right to do so, and the responsibility is on them. What is it with this treating adults like they're still children shit? And all to justify spying on people. These places should be losing any and all funding, and frankly the Fed should be pursuing charges of violating civil rights, you know, if the Fed wasn't too busy doing the same shit.

I mean it's not thier money though it's mine and yours. If they were 100% self funded your argument would be valid. They're funded by taxes in reality though so we should have a say.

 

[ShadowsOfParadox]

The Classical Liberal Order that began after the French Revolution

...you mean that one that got ended by an Emperor who conquered to cheers because Reign of Terror? that one? or was it the one after that? Admittedly, that one got stomped by Nazi's IIRC... but the latest one isn't all that much better given the, AFAIK, still extent Yellow Vest Protests.

 

[The Name of Love]

What even is "totalitarianism" anyways? Can we ask that question? If our current system was "totalitarian", how would we know?

 

[Doomsought]

What even is "totalitarianism" anyways? Can we ask that question? If our current system was "totalitarian", how would we know?

Totalitarianism is when every aspect of life is considered part of the political system. To quote the Feminists describing thier own totalitarianism: "The personal is political."

 

[The Name of Love]

Totalitarianism is when every aspect of life is considered part of the political system. To quote the Feminists describing thier own totalitarianism: "The personal is political."

Okay, but what does that mean? What does it mean to say “every aspect of life is considered part of the political system?”

 

[Bear Ribs]

Okay, but what does that mean? What does it mean to say “every aspect of life is considered part of the political system?”

In practice?

There is only one political party, the totalitarian's party. All other parties or movements are terrorists, wrongthinkers, or otherwise illegal and, fairly quickly, shot or imprisoned. They share this with authoritarians but the resemblance stops here.

There is only one business, the party's business. All businesses are controlled by the party, the economy is expected to do as they command, and when it doesn't the poor dupes running the factories are typically shot or at least arrested/sacked. Starting up your own business is illegal as you do the job the party assigns you.

There is only one opinion, the party's opinion. Disagreeing with the party in any way gets you shot/imprisoned, but in the extreme case of totalitarianism having an opinion the party hasn't vetted ahead of time also is thoughtcrime. In practice this means that art is only produced if the party agrees with the message of the art and anything else is obscenity, music is only written if the party agrees with it's lyrics (and possibly style, they may decide to outlaw, say, rock and roll simply because a high party member doesn't like the sound of it regardless of lyrics) and anything else is treason, movies are only produced if the themes are approved by the party and anything else is banned.

Totalitarian states normally pay lip service to science but only party-approved science is allowed to have any funding and their ideas on what should be allowed to be researched is based on ideology rather than reality, so their science tends to actually suck rather hard.

In practice there is no truly totalitarian state just as there can be no perfectly communist, anarchist, or democratic state. The primary difference between totalitarianism and authoritarianism is that authoritarianism demands obedience but is generally not concerned with social habits while totalitarians invade as many aspects of daily life as they can manage. An authoritarian state will only have one party and stamp out any other political movement, but will not care who you marry and let you start your own business. Totalitarians want to control all aspects of culture, art, and science.

Put more simply authoritarians want to be the only ones with guns. Totalitarians also don't want any guns in TV, books, or movies and will have parents arrested for their kids playing with an L-shaped stick because it might encourage thoughts of guns.

 

[Doomsought]

Okay, but what does that mean? What does it mean to say “every aspect of life is considered part of the political system?”

Exactly what the words that have been spoken.

 

[The Name of Love]

I mean, my main problem is that words like "totalitarianism" or "authoritarianism" are thrown around by people in modern society way too often. Like, having the same opinion on gay marriage as America's Founding Fathers makes you an "authoritarian" in the eyes of several people on this very website, and I've seen people call religion itself "totalitarian" because it affects every aspect of our lives.

 

[Deleted member]

What even is "totalitarianism" anyways? Can we ask that question? If our current system was "totalitarian", how would we know?

I have a different view of totalitarianism. To me, totalitarianism is when the State and its elites are operating on the assumption that every aspect of life should be regulated at the level of the state, allowing no freedom for lesser governments, for community organisations, for religious bodies, and for the family, to conduct regulation of society according to their own idiosyncratic local customs and interests. Thus a totalitarian system can be a component of any particular form of government.

 

[Hlaalu Agent]

I have a different view of totalitarianism. To me, totalitarianism is when the State and its elites are operating on the assumption that every aspect of life should be regulated at the level of the state, allowing no freedom for lesser governments, for community organisations, for religious bodies, and for the family, to conduct regulation of society according to their own idiosyncratic local customs and interests. Thus a totalitarian system can be a component of any particular form of government.

That sounds like a reasonable definition, but I think it fails to capture the possibility that totalitarianism can be "organic" so to speak. Where the tyranny comes from all directions, rather than the top. I mean just look at the...semi/quasi/somewhat/diet totalitarianism* we have creeping today, where attacks come in from every direction. To me totalitarianism is at its zenith in a 1984-style situation where control is enforced at all levels and not just by pressure from the top (either direct or indirect). And by pressure from the top, I mean that is originates from there, even if it is enacted by other agents.

*If it can rightly be called that, since as has been said around here it is all to often bandied about without care for the actual meaning.