By Author
April 1, 2014
New legislation, nicknamed "the Joy Tax," was
leaked, this morning, by a congressional aide who calls himself, simply,
"Winston."
What is the problem to which the Joy Tax
legislation – due to be passed later today – is the solution?
The new legislation, subtitled "A Brighter Day for
U.S.A., Inc.," states the problem:
"Spontaneous
expressions of joy are unwelcome interferences in the orderly performance of
workers' daily duties. The Monday-through-Saturday 12-hour workday is a sacrosanct
tradition in United States of America, Inc., formerly the United States, and
any incursion into those time-blocks must be viewed as an abuse of worker
privilege."
If productivity is the problem, then the logical solution, states
the bill, is to "create more time" for U.S.A., Inc. workers:
"Disincentivization is the solution to the problem of productivity-disenhancing spontaneous
expressions of joy. Using taxation measures to disincentivize joy will create
more time and necessarily bring new prosperity to United States of America,
Inc., which has recently and most unfortunately lost its corporate leadership
position in world markets due, in part, to time-wasting frivolity on the part
of its workers."
How specifically will the proposed legislation
disincentivize joy?
"By
forcing workers to pay a 2% tax on their wages every time they break out into
laughter or otherwise allow joy to manifest, this bill creates a strong
psychological barrier to the manifestation of joy. Workers' disinclination to
joy expression will result in an immediate increase in productivity and spur a
return to a position of dominance of U.S.A., Inc. in world markets."
Will hugs be banned?
"All spontaneous expressions of joy – hugs, laughter,
prolonged smiling, tooth-smiling, "booyahs," high-fives, etc. – will
continue to be allowed by law. But while no criminal charges will be filed for
spontaneous expressions of joy during workday hours, U.S.A., Inc. will make its
disapproval of such expressions known through the firm hand of wage
correction."
How will taxes be administered?
"Biometrics
software, coupling face-scanning and heat-signature technologies, will make
autonomous, real-time judgments, bypassing workers' microchips for faster,
virtually instantaneous, taxation, or wage-correction. Laughter, smiling, and
other expressions of joy, because they release significant amounts of body
heat, can easily and accurately be detected by present-day, in-place biometrics
technology."
Will state-sponsored laughter be allowed?
"United States of America, Inc. will allow
non-taxed state-sponsored laughter, smiling, and other expressions of joy on a
tri-monthly basis. On the 1st, 11th, and 21st day of each month, joy will be scheduled for workers for a minimum, and a maximum, of five minutes, directly
after the 8:00 p.m. work stoppage time. State-sponsored expressions of joy from
8:00 p.m. to 8:05 p.m. must seem to be spontaneous (or "real"), or
additional taxes will by levied as per Section 3A."
In accordance with the Code of Journalistic Ethics, this
author fully and wholeheartedly agrees with and endorses the Corporation's
position that a tax on joy is a fair and equitable solution to the problem of
time stolen by U.S.A., Inc. workers in the form of spontaneous expressions of
joy during workday hours.
This author fully and wholeheartedly agrees with and
endorses the Corporation's position, further, that state-sponsored post-workday
laughter is a reasonable method of managing workers' "joy release."
This author fully and wholeheartedly agrees with and
endorses the Corporation's position, finally, that tri-monthly allotted periods
of post-workday joy is a reasonable method of cutting time lost from
spontaneous joy expression and will necessarily result in substantial
productivity increase and create a brighter future in world markets for United
States of America, Inc.
Congressional aide "Winston," who leaked this document
hours before its assured passage later today on Capitol Hill, has not taken a
public stance for or against the new legislation and he cannot be contacted by
any standard protocol.
The author lives in Zone 7 of United States of America,
Inc. His hobbies include surfing state-sponsored pornography and raising his
children through Virtual Dad. His enforced privacy rating is Level 2, and he is
therefore not contactable by other employees of U.S.A., Inc., except through
Supervisor Mediation Query Protocol 1.