My son was upset when he returned home from his minimum wage job at a local grocery store. Seems he was confronted with, “The assistant manager is hopping mad about something you did,” as soon as he entered the door. His mind raced. What had he done? He took a breath, composed himself, and headed toward her office.
And she was mad. Turns out my son — who is new to the job — had taken only a 15-minute break instead of the state-mandated 30-minute break on three separate occasions — an offense the assistant manager said could cost the store $10,000 per occurrence, $30,000 in all.
He said he wasn’t aware of the break rule. Regardless, the manager added three minor violations to his personnel file.
At home, my son couldn’t understand what happened. He hadn’t cheated anyone or stolen anything. He had simply punched back in after only 15 minutes in the break room.
“Son,” I said, “Welcome to the surreal world of fascialism.”
In his book, Vampire Economy: Doing Business Under Fascism, Günter Reimann details life under the German version of fascism. We live under the Progressive version, aptly named fascialism — a little softer, but just as evil and nonsensical.
You know, you can tell a teenager about the ills of government interventions and think you are hitting home. But a real example — in the face of an angry assistant manager — is much more effective.
Liberty won one more this evening.