Puts me in mind of the Fourteenth Adjustment by Robert Wingfield
A sci-fi satire where a parking junta has taken over the entire world - a quick quote from where the parking executives are discussing how to get more cash in. Some people are refusing to pay...
“Everyone else is paying their parking charges without complaint.”
“Of course they would.” Poordraw rubbed his hands together. “Nobody ever questions parking charges, well, nobody of any consequence, that is.” He looked sideways at his co-director. “An excellent idea of yours, Pietro, identifying everyone over a certain income level, and giving free parking to those people. That way, folks with the money to challenge us will never complain, and they don’t care what happens to the commoners in any case.”
“I take all the credit for that,” said Fairway. “I bought these ‘reality’ glasses from Dearheat Enterprises. They have filters which blank out anyone below a certain income level. I believe they were developed for visitors to the theatres in the Arty District to help them ignore beggars, but they work adequately when worn by our car-park attendants.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
