Book Review: Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks

It would be lovely to think that we, the modern people, know how to structure our societies so that the unlucky can have a decent life, but we still police, punish, and profile the poor. We see their misfortune as their fault. We cut their benefits when they cash them at the liquor store, which is the only place in the city where you can cash your check. We collect a massive amount of data on them, which will haunt them for the rest of their lives so that we can help their situation, but only if they get the correct score, and even then, they can get that one notice that will deny their help.

The book was a terrifying read. We have substituted the poorhouses with digital systems bought from private entities, which don’t have any care for those who they are supposed to help. They are just making a profit with the taxpayers’ money. Not that it isn’t so far from the past. Private entities owned the poorhouses and, maltreated their inhabitants, and used them as their free labor. The thing is that we are not too far from that. You have to look at our politician’s speeches and see that we are ever so close to arriving at that point.

Then there are the deaths because of the failure to cooperate notices. I think it is better for you to read the book to get a full grip on how sick things actually are. The most defenseless and deprived are dying, and it’s not because they deserve it. It’s not because they have failed to cooperate. It is because IBM made mistakes with their systems and had unqualified people deciding whether one should have medical aid.

This is not the world I want to live in. This is not how I want my society to handle the traumatized, the misfortunate, the sick, the elderly, and the children. This is horrendous. Okay, I don’t live in the USA. And I can pretend that our systems here in Finland are better, but they are not. In the same vein, our poor have to divulge their personal history to the fullest extent so that they can be judged if they deserve help or not. Every person is thought to be there to exploit the system, and they have to prove themselves to be good little citizens. Our politicians despise them and call them lazy and drunk. Those are our leaders; they know nothing of the world or life. No wonder we get it so wrong.

This is an excellent book. It makes you think that we have messed things up badly. IBM shouldn’t be there to decide whether to get help or not.

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful day ❤