I looked & I got an 8 question one. Answered them all.
I never could figure out where it says,‘How many poeple are living here on April 1st,2000?’
How would I know? Its not APril yet, duh.
Is that whats in that envelope? Hey I am here what else do they need to know? Count me in!
Geez, Max, why don’t you go muck about www.census.gov and see what they have to say about this year’s census?
And haven’t you been watching the recent television commercials about the census?
The census helps the govenment determine funding for everything from highways and school districts to federally funded day-care and congressional seats.
Will spending a half hour answering a bunch of questions really kill you?
But wait - you’re one of the types that doesn’t vote either, right?
I feel the same way you do, max. We got the long form in 1980 and I objected to answering what I considered intrusive questions - especially because I didn’t believe the government could guarantee the security of the information. My husband is one of those law-abiding types, though, and he filled it out.
I was hoping to get the short form this year, but it arrived today and it’s the long one. Maybe they liked the way Mr. Mayo answered last time. I still object, but my husband pointed out we’d be helping future genealogists. (He’s been looking up ancestors and sometimes finds census records for them). I feel a bit better about it, putting it in an historical perspective.
Um, 1990, not 80. I think. What year is this again?
Eschew Obfuscation
{{{Race: Human
Yes that’s what I’ve written.}}}—Melin
Thanks for dropping that out there Melin. That’s one of my favorite responses that official types have problems with. You can see their lips stop moving when they read that field.
“Oh. You mean you wanted me to tell you my ethnicity? Then you should have asked me that …you already have your answer.”
When the forms are phrased just so, you can write in something like “10Km run” or “100-yard dash” without committing perjury. That’s usually good for a phone call or two.
BTW: Human is on my form too–filled it out yesterday after posting and dropped it in the mail.
–Kalél
Common ¢ for all ages…
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”
Well, we got the long form yesterday, and filled it all out. Race & ethnicity: Human.
We answered all the questions about age, sex, place of birth, citizenship, etc.
But on all the questions about income, education, and home ownership, we put N.O.Y.B. I let my husband be Person #1, wallflower that I am. I’ll let y’all know if he gets arrested.
Yeah, and Hitler protected information by law too. I’m not sending it in. I don’t think they’ll jail me for refusing to pay the 100 bucks either. The ONLY reason to ask about race, religion or income is to discriminate against one group or another.
“Everybody smokes in hell”
About 10 years ago, I went to observe a demonstration that would be considered extremely radical. Some suit was going around copying down license plate numbers from all the cars in the parking area. So, jokes about black helicopters aside; I’m sure someone has a file on me somewhere.
It’s scary to think about just how interested the government is in what should be private and personal areas. I think that uneasiness is what is behind much of the census form protests.
::test post::
Just ignore little ol’ me.
And if you see a bunch of multiposts above, please ignore them, too. I’ll clean them up.
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OK… for the record, sandyr, I DO vote. And believe it or not, I’m not some guy living in the Montana countryside. And I’ve seen the commercials. That DOESN’T mean I can’t be perturbed about this (IMHO) invasion of privacy.
I am amazed at how many people I know have refused to fill this thing out. Many feel the same way I do. And everyone comes up with a different way of dealing with it. “human” for race, “NOYB” for financial questions, leaving “name” blank.
Maybe I’ll do the same thing. Fill out the information that I am comfortable with, but not fill out those things that I’m not comfortable with…
Or better yet! I’ll get a job with Census 2000… open up the long forms, take down the names and addresses of the very wealthy respondants… check to see what time they usually leave for work, (and where everyone else in the house will be during the day), and rob them blind!
This thread has moved far enough afield from the original factual question contained in the OP that I’m going to move it to Great Debates. Besides, someone else asked the question in this forum, and I’m sure someone can answer it factually.
Hey Gaudere! Multi-posts pre-removed by manhattan
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Let me see if I can just link to a couple other threads where I’ve answered some of these questions: one in the Pitand another in GQ. I recommend the GQ thread in particular.
I don’t know if this will change your mind about anything, Max, but I think I’ve already done the best I can.
Oh yeah - bizerta asked: “Now that I have a daughter in college in another state, why is she counted at her college and not at her home?” The answer is that that’s where she probably will be in April, when an enumerator will come to her college, and the Census goes by actual location, rather than legal residence.
It’s enough of a challenge to try to count everyone where they actually are, let alone try to deal with the complexities of what a host of state laws have to say about where someone technically lives.
Enough of voting for the lesser of evils - vote Cthulhu 2000!
OK I understand that they use the information to determine what communities get what funding. But how does my relationship with the other adult in the house effect this? OK they have a high number of married couples give them new roads but that area has just a bunch of couples shacking up forget them. I would think that 2 adults is all that really matters. Then for the children does it make a difference if they are my natural-born , stepchild, or adopted child? Don’t we need the same number of schools, parks and so forth no matter how they got here. I know I know about the names helping genealogy records down the road when they make it public but at this point my record is on the Family Tree Maker disc so I dont think that it matters to put it down here. So I am filling it out as name : Number 1 Female Number 1 Male and so forth. Relationship: Soulmate still thinking on the children. Race: We are still debating this one. Will I have to pay a fine? I don’t know I am filling it out and returning it and it is accurate, just not as detailed as they would like.
They want to count us? Fine. But it’s none of their damn business what kind of car I drive, who I work for, what my income is, and when I leave for work. Frankly, I’m surprised so many people are obediently going to answer questions that are no one else’s business. Hell, my own family doesn’t know my income, I’m sure as hell not revealing it to some temporary government worker. Besides, the IRS will get that info on April 17. Screw it, I’ll pay the $100.
MAX says:
I can tell this, because is you were some guy living in the Montana countryside, you’d fill out your census form to try to help us get back the congressional seat we (like Kentucky) lost in 1980 due to people refusing to participate in the census.
Jodi
Fiat Justitia
So what you’re saying is that since Max doesn’t share your views, he must be ignorant? Such a mature attitude!
As far as the fine goes, just how does it work? If no one from a household answers, does everyone get charged $100? It seems to me that if I send in an incomplete census, that would be more likely to cause a problem than just ignoring it, and that seems ridiculous to me.
I understand that the government has a legitimate need for this information, but it’s one thing for them to ask for it, and another to coerce the information out of people. I think that if they dropped this fine stuff, pretty much the same number of people would answer it, and people wouln’t be so annoyed about it.
Great get the neighbors to keep tabs on us got to love it.