#Convergence

China, the EU, India, the US, the UK — the control grid compared component by component. The gap between the systems is closing; the table shows which pieces each one has already built.

The control grid gets built everywhere, but it meets different resistance — and the variable is constitutional tradition, not culture. American entrenched rights block the speech ratchet and externalize control; British parliamentary sovereignty enables it; French general-will republicanism justifies it. Three shapes of control, not a freedom leaderboard.

Reducing a person to a number that gates access, country by country — China's court blacklist, the EU's SCHUFA and ESG frameworks, India's credit-bureau expansion, the US FICO-and-COMPAS layer. The component the Convergence Index scores.

The off-switch on money, country by country — China's programmable e-CNY, the EU's promised-not-to ECB, India's PMLA freezes, the US sanctions record. The component the Convergence Index scores.

Who can take content down, slow a network, or pull the plug — country by country. China's Great Firewall, the EU's DSA, India's shutdown record, the US platform layer and the UK's Online Safety Act statute. The component the Convergence Index scores.

Health data as a control surface, country by country — China's repurposed health codes, the EU-to-WHO certificate network, India's ABDM health stack, the US HIPAA-with-law-enforcement-carve-outs reality. The component the Convergence Index scores.

How states project influence through diaspora and lobbying channels — and how host states register (or fail to register) it. China's United Front, the EU's emerging foreign-agent regimes, India's inbound/outbound asymmetry, the US dormant-FARA reality and the UK's newly-active FIRS. The component the Convergence Index scores.

Identifying a face in a crowd, country by country — China's SkyNet, the EU's banned-with-exceptions AI Act, India's no-framework rollout, the US Clearview-scraping model and the UK's Met Police live deployment. The component the Convergence Index scores.

Programmable money, country by country — China's e-CNY, the EU digital euro, India's UPI, the US dollar rail. Who can see every transaction, and who can switch one off. The component the Convergence Index scores.

How four polities built the identity layer — China, the EU, India, the US and UK. The component the Convergence Index scores, with the receipts, country by country.

Who decides what speech survives, country by country — China's pre-publication review, the EU's DSA, India's takedown rules, the US private-governance layer and the UK's Online Safety Act duties. The component the Convergence Index scores.

Harvesting the body as a key, country by country — China's Xinjiang DNA program, the EU's ICAO passports, India's Aadhaar fingerprints and iris, the US border-and-forensics layer. The component the Convergence Index scores.

The most important convergence case study. A democracy building China-scale infrastructure — and sometimes constraining it. Speed vs. direction.