America is starting to resemble China, and not in a positive way. All of those predictions of a Chinese-style social credit system coming to the U.S. are now coming true. Carol Roth, writer, commentator and author of the new book "You Will Own Nothing: Your War with a New Financial Order and How to Fight Back," is sounding the alarm about our own social credit system established through practices like cancel culture and social media censorship. "Our standards may not have had a letter grade or number associated with them (like in China), but they are meant to go after your social standing," she tells KTRH.
The advent of a social credit system in the U.S. has been bubbling up for years, but it really took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the strict implementation of social rules. "You might not have been invited to Thanksgiving or Christmas, or if you didn't take a vaccine you couldn't go into a restaurant, they went after your job, and we certainly saw the shutdown of businesses," says Roth. "If you were not upholding the accepted narrative, you would be impacted financially."
Roth points out the biggest example of this de facto social credit system is the alliance of big tech and big government. "We've seen social media platforms colluding with the government to keep certain people off of certain platforms and deny their access to infrastructure," she says. "These tech companies are, in many cases, acting as de facto governments."
While it's too late for most of us to decouple from all the technology in our lives, Roth believes Americans who value freedom should stand up for our God-given rights, especially in the digital sphere. "We need individuals to be able to participate in modern society, and not have a handful of people saying we don't agree with what you're saying or doing and cut off your participation," she says. "That's very anti-American."