Imagine receiving the following letter from the Internal Revenue Service:
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To: The _________________ Family
From: The United States Internal Revenue Service
Date: November 18, 2060
This letter serves as official notice of your family’s obligation under the 2060 Federal Reclamation of Earnings Act (FREACT). This Act was recently passed unanimously by the United States House and Senate, approved by the President on November 1, 2060, and formally validated by the Associated Western Financial Union League governing body. As such, this Act is officially binding.
Section 8 of the FREACT reads as follows:
“(A) All families that were documented citizens of the United States or otherwise received benefits commensurate with such citizenship as of January 1, 2010, shall hereby be held liable for their portion of the Federal Debt as of October 31, 2010. This liability shall consist of three factors:
1. Your individual proportionate share of the Federal Debt principal value as of October 31, 2010.
2. Interest on the proportional share of Debt compounded at 8% per year. Interest takes into account estimated interest costs as well as the estimated impact of inflation.
3. An average currency depreciation factor of .5 to account for the continued weakening dollar due in part to the Federal Debt for which your family is responsible.
4. The size of your family. FREACT deems adults responsible for the liabilities of the children living in their household as of January 1, 2010.”
(see: FREACT, 11.18.60, Section 8.A)
To assist you in understanding your family’s specific obligation, the IRS has provided the following example:
Individual Share of Federal Debt - $13.7 Trillion / 301 million individuals = $43,854
Interest Accrued at 8% per year for 50 years = $2,056,815 (gold bullion)
0.50 factor applied for all payments made in $US Dollars = $4,113,630 (current $US)
All adults and children living in your household (e.g. f=5) = $20,568,149
FREACT was crafted and passed to address the highly destructive use of debt that only became more ingrained in the functioning of American society in subsequent years. While the Federal government of 2060 considered collecting by going back to the citizenry of 1945 when an expansive Federal government became most notable, it was decided that receiving letters from the future would be truly disconcerting and may even cause permanent psychological damage. As well, that generation had already endured World War I, The Great Depression, and World War II. By 2010, our records indicate that most Americans were sufficiently sophisticated and jaded that such a letter would be bothersome but cause no cruel or unusual punishment.
For those of you who may wonder at the ability of IRS to forward this letter to your attention, let us assure you that our actions are fully authorized by the Comprehensive Federal Jurisdiction Act of 2056, which empowered the IRS and other government agencies to seek a redress of grievances from citizens, past present and future. As you can imagine, given that most citizens’ personal data is available in a variety of media and forums, it is well within future technological competence to ensure that you have reached this letter. Also, be assured that we know you have opened and read the contents of this letter. Protestations to the contrary will not be permitted.
Per Section 9 of the FREACT, you may forward your payments via two methods.
1. If paying in currency (2010) $US Dollars, you may pay by credit card to the future US Treasury via the Web Portal on the back of this letter. As you may have guessed, by 2060 it is possible to make currency transactions across time periods and currency regimes. FREACT mandates that payments may NOT be made to the current US Treasury due to concerns that such funds will not be reserved for future use as intended. Recall that payments in $US Dollars require a .50 depreciation factor, effectively doubling your payment.
2. If paying in gold bullion, please indicate as such via the same Web Portal. A courier will be sent from 2060 to collect all bullion payments during the last week of December. Bear in mind that payments in gold bullion do NOT require the .50 discount. Payments by shares of gold related exchange traded funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, or other securitized vehicles will not be accepted, nor will shares in gold producing companies.
If you have any questions, please call your congressional representatives as they represent the current and future. Bear in mind that your current representatives also are just receiving this information and may have similar questions. Also, remember that in some instances, your future representatives may not yet be born and certainly are not aware that FREACT will be passed in 2060. Their lack of ability to respond to your questions at this time does not in any way absolve you of your obligation, financial or otherwise, to your future fellow citizens.
You may not contact the future to lodge complaints. The citizens of 2060 had no say on the debt you issued on our behalf; you have no say on how those citizens elect to pay for it. As you may have guessed, nonpayment is not an option. We can assure you that the means for securing payment in 2060 are far more advanced than they were in 2010. While FREACT authorizes the use of iBrain technology (version 3.0) in managing your behavior, voluntary cooperation is desired.
We here at the Internal Revenue Service appreciate your prompt compliance with FREACT and know that you recognize its critical role in reestablishing America as a solvent, even vibrant economic power in the future. We are sure that you have at times wished that your predecessors could have adopted different policies and practices; thus, we are confident that you will respect our desire to do so now that the technological capabilities have made doing so possible.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
The Internal Revenue Service
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Science fiction? Perhaps, though, it might be interesting if the US Treasury was required to forward a simple annual report every year to each citizen outlining in plain English the size and nature of our Federal debt. Of course, a similar overview of the spending would be nice as well. In the meantime, we’ll just get busy growing the economy and keeping an eye out for letters from the future.
