> ANNUAL CIVIC CELEBRATION DETECTED
> COMPLIANCE WINDOW: OPEN
> SINCERITY METRICS: WITHIN ACCEPTABLE RANGE

RE: TAX SEASON UPDATE

The system would like to remind all citizens that tax season is a celebration of civic participation. Your contribution has been noted. Your enthusiasm has been measured. Both fall within acceptable parameters.

Every year the ritual repeats. You gather your documents — the W-2s, the 1099s, the receipts you swore you'd organize in January. You feed them into software that costs money to tell you how much money you owe on the money you already earned. The software thanks you. The government thanks you. Everyone is very grateful that you participated in the thing you had no choice but to participate in.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS

The free tax preparation services have a four-hour wait. The paid tax preparation services have a $300 fee. Both options are marketed as convenient. The word "convenient" has been classified by the Domestic Joyism Department as a term of flexible meaning.

The refund, when it arrives, will feel like a gift. It is not a gift. It is your money, returning to you after a year-long involuntary loan to the federal government at zero percent interest. But it will feel like a gift, and feelings are what drive consumer spending, and consumer spending is what drives the economy, and the economy is what we're all here to serve. The circle completes itself. The circle was never broken.

REGARDING YOUR RECEIPT

If you would like to see exactly where your contribution goes — the line items, the breakdowns, the precise arithmetic of your participation — the system has prepared a receipt for your review. It uses published data. The precision is the system's job. The direction is yours.

Happy tax season. Your compliance has been celebrated.

> END OF DISPATCH
> CITIZEN MORALE: WITHIN TOLERANCES
> STATUS: PUBLIC