In a move that surprises absolutely no one who has been paying attention to the steady descent of human dignity, the municipal government of Shanghai has announced it will open ‘free-to-fly’ zones covering a staggering 46 percent of the city. Starting February 1st, the skies above one of the world’s most densely populated urban sprawls will be officially surrendered to the ‘low-altitude economy.’ It is a term that sounds like it was birthed in a boardroom full of people who find the concept of silence offensive and the sight of a clear horizon a missed marketing opportunity.

Let us deconstruct this ‘low-altitude economy’ for a moment. In the sterilized language of bureaucrats, this is ‘streamlined regulation’ designed to foster growth. In reality, it is the final frontier of noise pollution and the ultimate democratization of surveillance. According to the new guidelines for civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), consumer drones—specifically those categorized as micro and light—will be allowed to buzz through ‘suitable airspace’ without the pesky burden of a prior declaration. Of course, there is the minor detail of registration. Because in a world where every breath is tracked, categorized, and monetized, you didn’t actually think they’d let you play with your high-tech toys without knowing exactly who to blame when you inevitably crash one into a high-rise window, did you?

The irony of the term ‘free-to-fly’ is almost too rich to digest. It’s the kind of freedom that comes with a barcode and a tether to a government server. It is the ‘freedom’ to participate in a simulated version of aviation, provided you stay within the 46 percent of the city deemed ‘suitable.’ One wonders what the other 54 percent consists of—likely the neighborhoods where the people who actually write these laws live, far away from the incessant whine of four tiny propellers recording their morning espresso. For the rest of the plebeians, the sky is now an open-air laboratory for the next phase of consumerist obsession.

The ‘low-altitude economy’ is the latest buzzword in a long line of desperate attempts to squeeze blood from the stone of modern existence. Since the ground-level economy is currently a delightful cocktail of stagnant wages and mounting debt, why not look up? If we can’t afford houses, perhaps we can at least buy the right to fly a four-hundred-dollar piece of plastic over someone else’s house. It is the perfect hobby for the modern era: it requires no physical effort, provides a false sense of mastery, and contributes nothing of value to the collective human experience.

Observe the categories of drones involved: ‘micro’ and ‘light.’ These are the playthings of the bored middle class and the aspiring ‘content creator,’ that most parasitic of modern professions. We are now inviting these people to clog the airwaves with their mediocrity. Imagine the sheer volume of shaky, unedited footage of traffic jams and rooftops that will soon be flooding local servers. It is a digital landfill, now featuring a live aerial feed. And the government is more than happy to facilitate this, knowing full well that every consumer drone is, at its heart, a mobile sensor. It’s the ultimate win-win for a surveillance state: the citizens pay for the equipment, maintain it, and fly it themselves, all while believing they are exercising their ‘free-to-fly’ rights.

While the East embraces the drone-swarm future with the cold efficiency of a motherboard, the West watches with a mixture of envy and incompetence. In the United States or Europe, such a plan would be tied up in three decades of litigation, environmental impact studies, and debates over whether drones violate the ‘safe space’ of migratory birds or local Karens. But in the end, the result will be the same. The global elite have realized that the sky is underutilized real estate. Whether it’s for delivery, surveillance, or simply keeping the masses distracted with shiny, buzzing objects, the ‘low-altitude economy’ is coming for us all.

By February, nearly half of Shanghai will sound like a disturbed beehive. It is the sound of progress, or so we are told. In reality, it is the sound of a species that has run out of meaningful things to do on the ground and has decided to take its idiocy into the air. We are building a world where privacy is a myth, silence is a luxury, and the only thing ‘free’ about flying is the permission the state gives you to pretend you’re in control. Enjoy the view, Shanghai. Just make sure your registration is up to date before you look too closely at what’s happening beneath the propellers.