She thumped her shoe against the table for emphasis and then stumbled a little. She was a very old woman, quite close to death, it appeared. Alice helped support her for a moment. When she had recovered, the Red Queen looked around. The man next to Alice stepped forward and nodded.
Hats sell for a pretty good price.
About 300 of them a day. He looks at you, the hats you have made, and the money you have earned by the sweat of your brow and then tells you that he 'owns' the tools and material that you make your livelihood with. He then calls over a policeman and takes almost all of the money that you have earned, the money you need to escape poverty and puts it in his pocket. As he walks away, you look at the money that is left and wonder if you will ever be able to escape poverty. Then you laugh bitterly as you answer the question.