this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
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A Boring Dystopia
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This isn't a capitalism problem. It's an authoritarianism problem. The only thing about this that relates to capitalism is that it's a private company setting up the cameras instead of the state doing it.
That's a gross over simplification that ignores the influence of the insurance industry shifting the baseline of public surveillance and crony capitalism that infects our municipalities.
Yes, that's how it's implemented under capitalism.
States further into their authoritarianism don't need to bother with middle men and cutouts and shit.
They just put up the cameras.
Capitalists have been trying to build the panopticon since the first factories.
Capitalism is pretty inherently authoritarian. The boss calls the shots.
"Decentralize the mass surveillance!" cries the anarcho-libertarian. "Big Government is monopolizing all the cameras! We should let the market decide who gets spied on!"
This is absolutely a capitalism problem. It's what happens when you let corporations do whatever without consequences as long as they can afford the bribes and in turn get contacts on taxpayer money.
True, but I could also see an authoritarian "communist" government doing all the same surveillance bullshit.
So, while it's a capitalism problem this time, I don't think it's a capitalism-exclusive problem. It really is, at its root, an authoritarianism problem. This time, you've got capitalist authoritarianism, but next time maybe a different flavor.
China already has this sort of system completely built out.
Yeah, it's creepy. There's almost no secure place in the world at this point.
I'll tell you more, the UK is one of the leading countries in cameras per capita, either installed or accessible by the authorities (not sure about exact details). They built government surveillance without any communism in sight.
(Leaving alone that China's state capitalism is the opposite of communism.)
In 2023, China had over 700 million cameras tracking the population.
That's one camera for every two citizens.
But yes the UK is also building a surveillance state.
But is the technology developed by the state or are they contracting it out to a private company?
How does that matter?
Both are fucking horrible.
But also, China does both. In 2023 they had over 700 million cameras tracking people.
State: communist.
Private: capitalist.
End result: authoritarianism.
You can't get rid of authoritarianism the same way you can't get rid of stupid. Some portion of the population will always be the bottom of the bell curve.
What you can do, however, is redirect it into something positive. For example, Japanese social structures are pretty fuckin' authoritarian. Most people wouldn't even dream of littering.
True, but you can get rid of hierarchical authority itself, leaving the authoritarians nothing to work with. Ask your local anarchist how.
That's how they get away with it too. Worst constitutional loophole ever.
Capitalism is about gaining all power (capital). Its end goal is complete surveillance. 2+2 = 4
Yes, 2+2=4, but so does 1+3, 0+4, 1.5+2.5, etc.
The problem of mass surveillance is coming from people who want control. The fact that they are capitalist this time is coincidental. It could just as easily be a theocratic government or an absolute monarchy that wants the level of control that mass surveillance can enable.