Anthem's Fall by S.L. Dunn Read Free Book Online Page A

the tedium of his desk job.
    Ryan was responsible for manning the circulation desk closest to the first-floor bathrooms. His sole job was to assist students or faculty members if they approached with questions, though no one had visited Ryan’s corner desk since his shift had started that morning. He’d spent the stultifying hours observing young men and women as they entered and exited through the library’s side door. He stifled a yawn and swiveled his chair to check the clock above the men’s room. Quarter to one. The end of his shift, but the clock was set ten minutes fast.
    Ten more minutes of mind-numbing torture. Ryan sighed and looked back to his laptop. He opened his homework for a class on globalization. It was a sham of an assignment: Explain the conflicts that arise between capitalism and international human rights in two hundred words or less . Ryan shook his head as he reread the guidelines. The professor wanted him to take a topic that would normally require a hundred-page explanation, and do so in a few sentences. He grabbed his headphones and began constructing the essay, focusing more on the music than the words he typed. Although the particular subject was one he cared about intensely, Ryan was fairly certain this excuse of an exposition would never be read by anyone, his professor included. He would earn the universally recognized and ambiguous red check mark, as always. Turning up the volume, he began writing.
    There is a fundamental conflict that arises between human rights as defined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the everyday practices of modern capitalism. The free-trade model of transnational capitalism leads to an inevitable disregard of the economic civil rights of citizens in third-world countries. Corporations depend upon a cheap global labor force to act as the backbone for inexpensive creation of capital goods. If one cannot charge the consumer more for a given product, one can pay the factory worker less for the creation of said product. Adhering to either approach, profits will increase. Companies in the global economy are dependent upon the exploitation of peripheral populations—
    “Excuse me!”
    An agitated voice rose over the bass and guitar riffs in his ears. Startled, Ryan looked up from his perfunctory typing. He quickly pulled off his headphones, silently cursing himself. Caught listening to music on the job again—luck was not on his side this afternoon. It was Janet McCreedy, the community taskmaster of the library supervising staff. The dowdy older woman glaring at him was short and stolid, her white hair pulled into a tight bun, which stretched her forehead. Janet McCreedy was Ryan’s most critical and overbearing boss. She had threatened to fire Ryan on more than one occasion for what she called “poor work ethic,” despite the fact there was rarely a speck of work to do. None of his other supervisors had issues with him, but the knowledge that others considered Ryan Craig a conscientious worker held no weight with Janet McCreedy. In fact, it seemed to irritate her.
    Ryan wondered how miserable Mr. McCreedy must be.
    “Hi, Mrs. McCreedy.” Ryan forced a genuine-looking smile. If he acted oblivious, maybe she would forgo the tirade and write him off as a lost cause.
    Janet McCreedy glowered down at him, her prickly demeanor masking any trace of warmth. “Ryan. Would you say I’m a reasonable supervisor? Mind you, I ask this question at the very same moment you sit and complete your own homework while simultaneously getting paid to work for me.”
    “I think you’re a great supervisor,” Ryan said. “I’m sorry. I won’t wear my headphones again while I’m working at—”
    “And you are aware at this very moment there are hundreds of books that need to be put back on their respective shelves?” Janet McCreedy regarded Ryan humorlessly. “Hundreds of books that easily could become your responsibility.”
    “I was not aware of