As daylight-saving time plunges us into the future or the past depending, I was thinking of a short story by the French author Marcel Aymé (1902-1967), read a long time ago and whose title I can’t remember. The story is based on the logic that since they can make time go forward or back, the government has the power do pretty much anything they want.
During wartime a decree is passed stipulating that the citizens of France will only be allowed to live half of the days of the month in order to save resources. They all receive a coupon for each day they are permitted to live and if I remember right, some get more than others depending on their social rank. A black market develops for these coupons and the economy grinds to a halt as most of the working class decides they are better off selling them to the rich and simply not living….
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