Likewise, the avoidance of tax is punishable very tangibly: by containment in prison, as the otherwise elusive Al Capone discovered in 1932, or by containment within a geographic radius (e.g. the borders of Switzerland, as for the aptly-named Clinton pardonee Marc Rich). And no bite-sized history would be complete without noting that tax itself has been a catalyst of the tangible as much as its arbiter; c.f. the France of 1791, India of 1930 or Boston of 1773. In all three cases, tax came back—after a suitable revolutionary hiatus—in its myriad forms, and all-importantly different: in the service of a new nation.

In sum, then, on this most tangible of days—as you variously participate in the paying of dues to what may or may not be your country—here’s wishing you what taxpayers have demanded throughout history: many (tangible and) happy returns.

Maryanthe E. Malliaris ’01 is a mathematics concentrator in Lowell House. Her column appears on alternate Mondays.