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It took me about two minutes to fill out our census
form; the main issue was determining my race.
Being
of polyglot ancestry, I prefer to answer American
when asked that question, but unfortunately, the Census
Bureau did not provide that category.
A friend got stuck with the long form, the one that Senate majority leader Trent Lott (who's usually such a fan of enforcing the law) says that people don't need to fill out, even if the law requires it.
The friend was complaining mostly about the time.
Damn it, it's tax season, and I've got enough [expletive
deleted] government paperwork on my table, and now this
[more expletives deleted] form. You wouldn't believe the
stuff they want to know, like how long it takes to get to
work.
He's not a redneck anarchist, like other people I know and often sympathize with. Their complaint with the census runs like this:
1) The constitutional basis for the federal census is in
Article I, Section 2, which establishes the House of
Representatives. The actual Enumeration
is to
determine how many representatives a state gets, and a mere
nose count will determine that. Thus any question beyond
How many people reside in a given dwelling
is not
constitutionally sanctioned.
2) The questions on the long form are invasive. The Census Bureau promises that the answers will be used only to accumulate statistics.
There is no record of that privacy being violated. But on the other hand, the federal government does not have a good record in the trustworthiness department. It has lied about nerve-gas tests and the dangers of radioactive fall-out. In total violation of the Bill of Rights, the federal government has rounded up American citizens and placed them in concentration camps. Where I sit would still be Ute territory if solemn federal treaties meant anything.
In fact, the only people who have been consistently able to trust the federal government are the holders of federal treasury securities. The government has never defaulted on bond payments.
Every other promise is suspect, although there's no good reason to believe that census data will be misused and turned over to the INS, FBI, DEA, IRS or similar enforcement agency.
It's a matter of trust, and like many people, I find it difficult to trust a government that doesn't trust me in such a private matter as he composition of my blood.
That said, there's another problem with the census. It's based on an outdated concept: geographic identity.
When the Constitution was adopted in 1787, and for many decades thereafter, geography was destiny. In the 1790 census, there were 3.9 million Americans, and 3.7 million of them lived on farms.
The climate and soil determined what crops they could grow, and that in turn determined their political outlook. Cotton and tobacco planters necessarily had different views than corn and wheat farmers, and those occupations were a result of geography. Arranging political representation on that basis made sense.
Now look at modern America. In 1994, less than 2.5 percent of the population lived on farms, and thus possessed the intimate geographic connection which formed the basis for American representation.
Most of the rest of us do things that could be done pretty much anywhere, whether we're mechanics or writers or cooks or software developers. Our political outlook, and thus the representation we want, is informed by factors other than geography.
This shows in politics. During her tenure in the House, Pat Schroeder represented women across America as much as she represented Colorado Congressional District No. 1, just as Ben Campbell is now a Senate advocate for Native Americans, even if they don't reside in Colorado.
This may explain why the census asks so many questions beyond your location. The idea, as it was in 1790, is to gather enough information to give Americans a representative government. Location mattered plenty then, and other things -- gender, ethnicity, commuting distance, income -- apparently matter more now.
The 2000 census reflects that, and getting mad at the Census Bureau won't change anything.
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