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Footage from Shanghai’s Pudong district offers an unfiltered look at how algorithmic governance operates when efficiency becomes a pretext for control. Inside the city’s “Urban Brain”—a sprawling AI system that integrates cameras, databases, and behavioral scoring—daily life is rendered into data points for state management. Occupancy of apartments, movement of the elderly, waste disposal habits, even parking irregularities—everything feeds into a real-time ledger of “acceptable” and “unacceptable” behaviour. Enforcement no longer waits for human judgment. Automated alerts dispatch teams, algorithms flag residents, and facial-recognition systems reportedly identify individuals in seconds.
Some observers frame this as the promise of the “smart city”—a way to streamline services, detect hazards faster, or help vulnerable citizens. But Pudong’s model shows how quickly that promise can harden into something else entirely. Once a government can observe everything, the line between assistance and discipline becomes impossally thin. Citizens begin policing one another through app-based reporting; infractions become entries on an invisible scorecard; social pressure becomes a tool of the state. The technology doesn’t force authoritarianism—but it supercharges its reach.
This isn’t science fiction, and it isn’t uniquely Chinese. Western policymakers watch these experiments closely, often through the lens of innovation rather than power. International organizations—from the World Economic Forum to UN smart-city initiatives—regularly showcase such systems as examples of “urban optimization.” Meanwhile, closer to home, governments have tested their own versions in more modest forms:
• traffic-camera systems calibrated for behavioural nudging,
• digital IDs tied to expanding databases,
• lingering post-pandemic contact-tracing infrastructure,
• carbon-tracking tools that incentivize or shame consumption.
These tools may not be malicious in design, but intent matters less than trajectory. Once data feeds administrative decision-making, and administrative decisions condition everyday freedoms, the architecture of a “soft” social-credit system begins to emerge—quietly, gradually, and often without the public debate such power deserves.
The core issue isn’t technology itself. It’s governance. Liberal democracies depend on thick boundaries between the individual and the state, including the right to act without constant monitoring or algorithmic interpretation. When those boundaries erode, even incrementally, the cost is not abstract: it is the loss of private space, unobserved choices, and the freedom to make mistakes without consequence.
If Pudong shows us anything, it is that systems designed for convenience can be repurposed—rapidly—into systems of compliance. The lesson for the West is not paranoia but prudence. We can adopt data-driven tools, but only if we embed them in strict legal guardrails, transparent governance, and a presumption of personal liberty.
The measure of a free society is not how efficient its systems become, but how widely it preserves the right to live beyond the gaze of the state—and increasingly, beyond the reach of its algorithms.
References
- Cui, Q., Chen, R., Wei, R., Hu, X., & Wang, G. (2023). Smart Mega-City Development in Practice: A Case of Shanghai, China. Sustainability, 15, 1591. (MDPI)
- Marvin, S., While, A., Chen, B., & Kovacic, M. (2022). Urban AI in China: Social control or hyper-capitalist development in the post-smart city? Sustainable Cities and Society. (Frontiers)
- ChinaDaily. (2019, August 31). Shanghai using tech for city management. China Daily. (China Daily)
- U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission. China’s Smart Cities Development. (PDF) (USCC)
- CES.tech. (2020, November 30). Three Projects from the World’s Smartest City of the Year. (CES)
Tweet Link
https://x.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1989983450636435560
Canada’s tariff wars reveal a glaring double standard: confrontation with Communist China draws muted shrugs, while disputes with the United States ignite fiery “elbow up” rhetoric and national outrage. When China slapped a 75.8% tariff on Canadian canola in August 2025—retaliation for Ottawa’s 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and 25% on steel and aluminum announced earlier that spring—Manitoba farmers were left reeling. Nearly half of their canola exports go to China, and industry estimates project multi-billion-dollar losses. Yet Canada’s political class and major media outlets framed Beijing’s move as a mere “tit-for-tat” trade dispute, urging patience and diplomacy. Outside the mainstream, social media filled with posts lamenting the devastation in farm country.
Contrast this with the uproar over U.S. tariffs. In March 2025, President Donald Trump imposed 25% duties on Canadian goods (excluding energy), escalating them to 35% by August. Ottawa erupted. Prime Minister Mark Carney thundered about the need for a unified “North American market,” while pundits and media outlets blasted “unjustified” American aggression. Canadians were rallied with slogans of defiance and “elbow up” resolve. Yet under CUSMA, more than 85% of Canada–U.S. trade remains tariff-free, meaning the outrage over Washington’s measures dwarfed the reaction to China’s far heavier blow to canola.
The contrast betrays selective indignation. China, an authoritarian regime, cripples a vital Canadian industry yet escapes national fury. The United States, a democratic ally, delivers a lesser economic hit and is vilified. Such narrative hypocrisy undermines both unity and credibility, sacrificing farmers’ livelihoods for geopolitical posturing. If Canada roars at Washington but bows to Beijing, it sends a dangerous message: principle is negotiable, and farmers are expendable.
Sources:
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Statistics Canada, 2023 Trade Data
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CBC News, “China’s Tariffs on Canadian Canola,” Aug. 13, 2025
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Fraser Institute, “Trump’s Trade War Update,” Aug. 12, 2025
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Globe and Mail, “Over 85% of Canada–U.S. Trade Remains Tariff-Free under CUSMA,” Aug. 2025
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Aggregated X posts, Aug. 2025
China’s interference in Canada and its politics involves a mix of economic leverage, influence operations, and clandestine activities aimed at shaping outcomes to favor Beijing’s interests. Based on what’s been uncovered so far, here’s how it’s playing out.
Economically, China has sunk deep roots into Canada. They’ve snapped up significant chunks of Vancouver’s real estate and farmland in British Columbia’s interior, giving them a tangible stake in the country’s resources and infrastructure. This isn’t just investment—it’s leverage. When you control housing markets or food production, you’ve got a say in local pressures and politics without firing a shot. Add to that the 2014 FIPA deal—a 31-year agreement giving Chinese businesses in Canada special protections, including the right to secretly sue the government if laws hurt their profits. It’s a quiet foothold, locking in influence for decades.
Politically, the interference gets murkier. Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, has tracked China’s hand in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. A February 2023 briefing straight to the Prime Minister’s Office laid it out: China “clandestinely and deceptively” meddled, pushing for candidates who’d either back Beijing or at least not rock the boat. Tactics included funneling cash—possibly $250,000 in one case—through proxies like community groups tied to the Chinese consulate in Toronto. They’ve also used disinformation, like WeChat campaigns smearing Conservative candidates as “anti-China” to scare Chinese-Canadian voters away from them. Think Kenny Chiu in 2021—his riding flipped after a barrage of messaging tied to Beijing’s playbook. The goal? Keep the Liberals in power, preferably with a minority government reliant on softer voices like the NDP.
Then there’s the personal angle. Take Michael Chong, a Conservative MP who got on China’s bad side by calling out their Uyghur policies. In 2021, Beijing allegedly targeted his family in Hong Kong, using a diplomat in Toronto to dig up dirt. Canada booted that guy, Zhao Wei, in 2023, but only after a stink was raised—showing how slow the response can be. And it’s not just MPs. CSIS says China’s Ministry of State Security and United Front Work Department have been cozying up to officials at all levels, sometimes with “honey pots” or trips to China funded by groups like the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs. Between 2006 and 2017, parliamentarians took 36 of those sponsored jaunts.
Beyond elections, China’s reach extends to intimidation and control. Reports of “overseas police stations” in cities like Toronto and Vancouver—denied by China’s embassy—suggest they’re keeping tabs on the diaspora, pressuring Chinese nationals to toe the line or face family back home paying the price. CSIS calls this a “sophisticated tool kit”—cyberattacks, economic coercion, even military flexing—all to bend Canada’s democracy without leaving fingerprints.
The kicker? Despite all this, the interference often skates by legally. The Commissioner of Canada Elections found China’s 2021 voter influence didn’t break election laws—free speech, even if it’s foreign-orchestrated, gets a pass. And while CSIS says it’s the “greatest strategic threat” to Canada’s security, the government’s been criticized for dragging its feet. Trudeau’s team got warnings as early as 2017 about PRC agents infiltrating “all levels of government,” yet responses—like expelling Zhao—only came under pressure.
So, China’s playing a long game: buy influence, sway votes, intimidate dissenters, and exploit Canada’s openness. It’s not about flipping the whole system—just nudging it enough to keep Beijing’s interests safe. How much it’s changed actual outcomes is debated, but the stain on trust is real. What’s Canada doing about it? Not enough, if you ask the folks who’ve been targeted.
Well, here we have 3 movie posters as they were displayed in mainland China. What do you see missing?
Are the anti-racism activists losing their minds about this? Can the vaunted arbiters of social justice be bothered with actual racism?
Naaaah. The REAL work is to keep looking for the systemically racism Unicorn that permeates EVERY facet of western society and must be rooted out – but only the experts can see it and you’ll have to hire them to get these dire systemic Unicorns out of your organization…
Should we actively oppose racism and racists sentiments, absolutely. Do we need a class of self appointed experts to root out the systemic racism that only they have the insight to see and root out? – Probably not.
In reference to an interesting coincidence, that through civil rights activism and a incremental changes to our society overt and institutionalized racism is largely over. But with most of racism in society gone, what then (thanks grok) – When cults face falsification of their beliefs, they often employ several strategies to retreat from reality:
Denial and Reinterpretation:
Denial: Cults might outright deny any evidence that contradicts their beliefs, claiming it to be false, misleading, or part of a conspiracy against them.
Reinterpretation: They might reinterpret the evidence in a way that fits their narrative. For example, if a prophecy doesn’t come true, they might claim it was a “spiritual” fulfillment or that the prophecy was misinterpreted by outsiders.
Isolation: Cults often increase their isolation from the outside world. This can involve moving to remote locations, restricting access to external information (like news or internet), or discouraging interactions with non-members. Isolation helps prevent members from being exposed to contradicting information or viewpoints
.
Shifting Blame or Goalposts:
Shifting Blame: If something goes wrong, rather than questioning the belief system, the leadership might blame members for not being faithful enough or external forces for interference.
Moving the Goalposts: They might change their doctrines or predictions subtly or significantly to account for the falsification without admitting error. This can mean setting new dates for prophecies or redefining what the prophecy meant.
Cognitive Dissonance Management:
When faced with evidence against their beliefs, members might experience cognitive dissonance. Cult leaders often provide explanations or new interpretations to reduce this discomfort, reinforcing loyalty and belief.
Increased Control and Manipulation:
There might be an increase in psychological manipulation techniques, like love bombing, where members are showered with affection to quell doubts, or fear tactics where leaving the group is associated with dire consequences.
Creation of Parallel Realities:
Cults might develop their own news sources, vocabulary, or interpretations of events to create a reality that aligns with their beliefs. This parallel reality can make external critique seem irrelevant or part of an antagonistic narrative.
Rituals and Practices:
Increasing the frequency or intensity of rituals can reinforce group identity and belief. These practices can act as a distraction from reality or as a mechanism to reaffirm faith in the face of contradictory evidence.
Charismatic Leadership:
The leader might become more central, perhaps through claiming new revelations or visions that explain away the falsification. This can also involve the leader becoming more authoritarian, ensuring that followers remain under tight control.
By using these methods, cults not only protect their belief systems from external critique but also maintain internal cohesion and loyalty among members, even when faced with undeniable evidence against their doctrines.
The very last thing we need in the world is a military conflict with China, David Vine writes in Counterpunch about the folly of taking the Cold War path again.
“The Biden administration and the United States must do better than resuscitate the strategies of the nineteenth century and the Cold War era. Rather than further fueling a regional arms race with yet more bases and weapons development in Australia, U.S. officials could help lower tensions between Taiwan and mainland China, while working to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea. In the wake of the Afghan War, President Biden could commit the United States to a foreign policy of diplomacy, peace-building, and opposition to war rather than one of endless conflict and preparations for more of the same. AUKUS’s initial 18-month consultation period offers a chance to reverse course.
Recent polling suggests such moves would be popular. More than three times as many in the U.S. would like to see an increase, rather than a decrease, in diplomatic engagement in the world, according to the nonprofit Eurasia Group Foundation. Most surveyed would also like to see fewer troop deployments overseas. Twice as many want to decrease the military budget as want to increase it.
The world barely survived the original Cold War, which was anything but cold for the millions of people who lived through or died in the era’s proxy wars in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Can we really risk another version of the same, this time possibly with Russia as well as China? Do we want an arms race and competing military buildups that would divert trillions of dollars more from pressing human needs while filling the coffers of arms manufacturers? Do we really want to risk triggering a military clash between the United States and China, accidental or otherwise, that could easily spin out of control and become a hot, possibly nuclear, war in which the death and destruction of the last 20 years of “forever wars” would look small by comparison.
That thought alone should be chilling. That thought alone should be enough to stop another Cold War before it’s too late.”
writes in Counterpunch on the US Trade War:
“Those who have lived in Montana will well remember the hot controversy over the miles and miles of sidelined rail cars that appeared during the Great Recession a decade ago. They were stored by the thousands along unused rural tracks. It was so bad they drew a harsh rebuke from the public and elected officials when the ugly yellow cars adorned with urban gang graffiti were moved to the banks of the blue-ribbon section of Montana’s world famous Missouri River downstream from Wolf Creek. To say they were incongruous with Montana’s natural beauty would be a huge understatement and, once enough pressure was applied, they were moved to other areas.
Well, the flatbed cars used to transport the enormous number of containers that come in from China are once again appearing on miles and miles of Montana’s railroad sidetracks. If this canary could talk, it would tell you it’s because the imports from China have fallen so significantly that the railroads now have an oversupply of flatbed cars and have once again taken to storing them in the hinterlands of Montana.
Unfortunately, the news from the canary gets worse. As reported in the Washington Post last week, Montana’s family farm bankruptcies were 50% or higher in 2018 than in 2017. Montana is joined in the flood of family farm bankruptcies by Idaho, North Dakota, Utah, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Illinois, Alabama, South Caroline, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Given that agriculture has long been touted as the leading industry in Montana, that statistic should shiver the timbers of citizens and politicians alike.
In response to Trump’s move to slap on even more tariffs, the Chinese government announced it will now cease to buy American agricultural products. Mind you, that’s not “cut back” on purchases from U.S. farmers and ranchers, it’s “cease.”
The sidelined rail cars and family farm bankruptcies are impossible to see from penthouses atop Manhattan’s skyscrapers or down on the Wall Street where the traders play high-stakes poker with other peoples’ money — but they are certainly visible here in the hinterlands where the canaries are tipping over.
Trump told Americans “trade wars are easy to win.” But that’s coming from a guy who thinks a “trade war” means stiffing the contractors at his failed casinos — not fighting with the most populous nation on the planet and its enormous economy. The signals from the hinterland clearly show we are not winning. It’s past time to get rid of the “fool on the hill” and put our nation back on a sustainable path to a more sane future.”
Is the trade war hurting China? Maybe? But I think more damage is being done on this site of the pond.
The CBC’s reporting on Hong Kong:
“The anti-government protests present one of the biggest challenges facing Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. And with the ruling Communist Party preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Oct 1, the crisis in Hong Kong has come at a sensitive time.
Beijing has struck an increasingly strident tone over the protests, accusing foreign countries including the United States of fomenting unrest.
Scenes of Chinese paramilitary troops training at a stadium in the city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, gave a clear warning that mainland intervention by force is possible.”
These protests are not going to end well.
China is a world power and has the political and economic clout to do whatever the hell it pleases in Hong Kong.
I foresee an abrupt media black out coinciding with the military going into Hong Kong and reestablishing the correct type of order for the area. It will be bloody and ruthless, but necessary from the government of China’s point of view. Real democracy is a threat to the status quo and is intolerable state of being for the elite classes.
The protesters must be prepared for this eventuality and decide whether they are willing to pay the price in blood for their freedom. There is no other way to purchase liberty.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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