U.S. Ranks #1 In Repression By Three Measures

The U.S. is the world's most repressive nation by at least three measures.

First, the U.S. has the world's highest rate of incarceration. One in 100 adults is imprisoned in the U.S. (Currently 2.3 million souls.) With 4% of the world population, the U.S. holds 25% of all the prisoners on earth.

Secondly, in terms of surveillance of the populace, no other nation on earth collects every single electronic and voice communication of every person who uses a phone or Internet communication method, as the U.S. does. (The NSA has a gigantic new computer center in Colorado to store all the data and paw through it with supercomputers and thousands of military personnel.)

Thirdly, the U.S. does the most thorough and sophisticated cross-linking of computerized databases, with search and surveillance software. State motor vehicle records, credit bureau databases, bank records, safe deposit box owners, utility and rental records, court records, arrest records, and on and on are all open to the police and secret police to search at will without any warrant requirements. And of course numerous other government records on all levels of government are tied in to this massive spy system. The FBI, NYPD, and others employ facial recognition technology to search photos in driver's license and passport records, among others. Video of faces from thousands of surveillance cameras is part of this massive surveillance blanket.

The U.S. is also one of the worst in terms of how draconian its punishments are. Coincidentally the NY Times ran an article on a few victims of mandatory life sentences for minor drug “crimes” after I wrote most of this essay.

As a follow up, I will discuss some of the viciousness of the U.S.'s punitive policies towards those unlucky enough to be labeled “criminals.” (Mainly racial minorities with darker than white skins, and the poor. And political prisoners, of course.)