A mass-murderer with a funny mustache symbolized fascism in the 1930s and 40s. But our Rulers have moved beyond that. Now “state-of-the-art kiosks called Links[,] … equipped with free [sic] services like high-speed Wi-Fi, phone calls, a tablet for web browsing, and device charging,” represent the corporatist state.
“Links” are not only replacing but “updat[ing]” the pay-phones that still dot New York City’s streets. And while phone-booths weren’t much taller than most adults, Links’ black rectangles loom to a height of almost 10 feet over sidewalks. Devotees of modern design might describe the look as “sleek.” I find it intimidating.
That’s appropriate, because Links are essentially Ma Bell on steroids: should you wish to contact a friend while sauntering down Fifth Avenue, don’t reach for your smart-phone. Just stop at a Link. Email or call, no coin necessary — it’s all “free,” as Links’ PR endlessly proclaims.
But unlike telephones’ infrastructure, Links will simultaneously spy on and irradiate New York City’s serfs. Indeed, thanks to its electromagnetic radiation, Links’ lethality may one day rival Herr Hitler’s.
Meanwhile, like a fascist fairy-godmother, Links spews goodies everywhere: freebies on the sheeple, profits for corporate cronies, and total control to government. “LinkNYC” — yes, that designation should frighten you: Links hopes to infest other areas, perhaps even yours—“is being provided by CityBridge in accordance with the terms of a franchise agreement granted by the City of New York. CityBridge is a group of companies comprising experts in technology, user experience, connectivity and advertising …”
Only Mussolini touted fascism this proudly. But even he couldn’t bribe his victims with as many treats: “LinkNYC generates its own revenue through advertising, sponsorships and partnerships, ensuring that LinkNYC will come at no cost to users or taxpayers… LinkNYC will also generate more than half of a billion dollars in revenue for the City of New York.”
See, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus! Not only do “users or taxpayers” incur no charge, but the greedy socialists running Gotham will reap $500,000,000 “over the next 12 years” for allowing their corporate cronies to dose us with carcinogenic waves.
Actually, many of those socialists are the corporate cronies. One of New York City’s former “deputy mayors” is the CEO of a company entwined with Links; several of its other officers are ex-bureaucrats, too. A revolving door between government and “private” companies shuttles personnel back and forth in the “tech sector,” just as it does in the “national security” one.
No wonder New York City’s devout communist of a mayor prizes Links. “…internet access is … something everybody needs,” Bill de Blasio intoned when he “Announce[d the] Public Launch of LinkNYC Program, Largest and Fastest Free Municipal Wi-Fi Network in the World” a few months ago. And of course, under communism, politicians decide what serfs “need” (and sometimes even supply it, albeit haphazardly) — as well as what they don’t. Bill has accordingly decreed that we no longer require privacy or modesty when answering Nature, but he deems “fairness” on the net indispensable: “…if we’re going to have fairness, we have to make sure that there is equality of access [read: government-controlled access] to the internet.”
Not surprisingly, Links provides such municipal dictators with unlimited opportunities for surveillance.
It warns patrons about some of that control: “Link’s tablet Internet browser uses a conventional content filter to sift out any inappropriate or malicious material for your protection … Link’s tablet browsers use a content filtering solution to prevent access to inappropriate sites.” Hmmm. Would such sites include this one? And connecting to the system requires users to enter their email addresses “so we can contact you about updates or changes to our service.”
But generally, LinkNYC hides the shackles. “CityBridge, the company behind the LinkNYC kiosks, … retains a vast amount of information about users — often indefinitely — building a massive database that carries a risk of security breaches and unwarranted NYPD surveillance,” the New York Civil Liberties Union advises. “…The sheer volume of information gathered by this powerful network will create a massive database of information that will present attractive opportunities for hackers and for law enforcement surveillance, and will carry an undue risk of abuse, misuse and unauthorized access. …CityBridge’s privacy policy only offers to make ‘reasonable efforts’ to clear out this massive amount of personally identifiable user information, and even then, only if there have been 12 months of user inactivity. New Yorkers who use LinkNYC regularly will have their personally identifiable information stored for a lifetime and beyond.”
The system spies on real life, too. “Mapping web traffic patterns and the ebb and flow of devices as they move through the city could inform everything from smart cars to law enforcement.” The only question is whether LinkNYC will feed its data to the NSA and the NYPD or include the Department of Homeland Security, too.
Given these scintillating benefits, you can bet LinkNYC—and LinkLA, LinkCHICAGO, LinkMINNEAPOLIS, etc, ad nauseam — won’t content itself with mere “public space.” Eventually, a governmentally sponsored, governmentally approved ISP may be the sole game in town, not only because the State can then manage the Internet, but because “free” monopolies wipe out competitors. New Yorkers living near the first Links to go online are overjoyed that the signal penetrates beyond the “public space,” right into their apartments.
“I’m being charged by Time Warner,” one lamented. “If [Links is] free, it’s for me.” Another agreed, “…yeah, I’d cancel my Internet” and switch to Links.
It’s hard to sympathize with Time Warner, the quintessential corporate crony. Still, politicians are de facto enriching some companies while bankrupting others — and, coincidentally no doubt, capturing the Internet.
Musing about ancient Rome’s military defeat of Greece, a poet observed, “Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit” (“Greece, [which Rome had] captured, took her fierce conqueror captive”) because Grecian culture and philosophy so enthralled Romans that they abandoned their own. Likewise, the Allies may have won World War II, but Americans have eagerly traded freedom for the Axis’ fascism.
— Becky Akers
