We Have Been Harmonized
Life in China's Surveillance State
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Waterson
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Written by:
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Kai Strittmatter
About this listen
Named a Notable Work of Nonfiction of 2020 by the Washington Post
As heard on NPR's Fresh Air, We Have Been Harmonized, by award-winning correspondent Kai Strittmatter, offers a groundbreaking look, based on decades of research, at how China created the most terrifying surveillance state in history.
China’s new drive for repression is being underpinned by unprecedented advances in technology: facial and voice recognition, GPS tracking, supercomputer databases, intercepted cell phone conversations, the monitoring of app use, and millions of high-resolution security cameras make it nearly impossible for a Chinese citizen to hide anything from authorities. Commercial transactions, including food deliveries and online purchases, are fed into vast databases, along with everything from biometric information to social media activities to methods of birth control. Cameras (so advanced that they can locate a single person within a stadium crowd of 60,000) scan for faces and walking patterns to track each individual’s movement. In some schools, children’s facial expressions are monitored to make sure they are paying attention at the right times. In a new Social Credit System, each citizen is given a score for good behavior; for those who rate poorly, punishments include being banned from flying or taking high-speed trains, exclusion from certain jobs, and preventing their children from attending better schools. And it gets worse: Advanced surveillance has led to the imprisonment of more than a million Chinese citizens in western China alone, many held in draconian “reeducation” camps.
This digital totalitarianism has been made possible not only with the help of Chinese private tech companies, but the complicity of Western governments and corporations eager to gain access to China’s huge market. And while governments debate trade wars and tariffs, the Chinese Communist Party and its local partners are aggressively stepping up their efforts to export their surveillance technology abroad - including to the United States.
We Have Been Harmonized is a terrifying portrait of life under unprecedented government surveillance - and a dire warning about what could happen anywhere under the pretense of national security.
“Terrifying.... A warning call." (The Sunday Times, UK, a “Best Book of the Year so Far”)
©2019 Kai Strittmatter (P)2020 HarperCollins PublishersWhat listeners say about We Have Been Harmonized
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- HRPuff&Stuff
- 2021-01-28
The best book on current China under axis
Of the several audiobooks listened to in the past year on the history and politics of modern China, this is the most current accessible insightful and interesting for people wanting to understand our existential threat to the West. The reader is also easy to listen to and understand. A good read all around.
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- Mr, V
- 2020-09-27
Incredible Read! Frightening but hopeful
It is incredible that China has risen so fast, but only to control it's people. That is the business of their country.
But the fact they want to export this control is the scary part. And they are doing it this the narrator tells us.
The Chinese government understands Capitalism and Democracy. They know how to exploit it. Almost everything is made by China, more than simple products. The heavily edit movies, pharmaceuticals, publishing, music, tech - all following their narrative. And we consume it, with great willingness.
One day, we all might fall subject to this kind of government. Their expanding cultural, economic, financial and military control is going to erode our way of life. Seems far fetched perhaps for now. I better buy some cheap socks online before it does
Did the Tiananmen square massacre really happen? Apparently, not in China. (Will this article get censored?)
Or do we have it wrong?
The flip side. I cannot believe the Chinese people themselves will not rise up against this. There will be a breaking point. A new democratic power is a welcomed change.
If a billion+ Chinese have a more open society, I welcome their incredible growth, rich history, ideas, and of course food!
Very interesting perspective here. Take a listen!
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