The Census

As someone who is working for the Census Bureau right now, I can tell you that the most personal information you could possibly give them is your name and your phone number. Plus all the census data is locked away for 72 years and is inaccessible by ANY other government agency (except in the case of a legitimate threat). Having that said the forms have already started coming in and while I can't talk about exactly what I've seen so far in regards to people's personal data, there ARE people out there who find the questions invasive, despite being more or less completely benign.

If nothing else, there are three good reasons to answer the census
- Its your Duty as an American.
- Its required by the Constitution (So, by Law).
- It helps to determine federal funding for states, districts and communities. I've heard different figures but, taking my home state of Arizona as an example, each person's response is worth somewhere in the area of $1,200 (but don't quote me on that, I'm not entirely certain of the precise figure).

Some of the questions do seem a bit moronic but I didn't come up with them so I have zero control over that. Some people DID receive dual english-spanish forms and those are intentionally distributed for neighborhoods which are expected to have a high spanish-speaking population. They had an in-depth census delivered to one out of every six households in 2000, but they discontinued that practice this time around for whatever reason.

Anyway it doesn't particularly matter to me personally if you don't answer the census but I'd encourage doing it for the reasons outlined above. If you have questions about something I'll try and answer them. There are no questions about religion on the actual forms btw.

Off to bed, night folks!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Da Syphillis ELIMINATOR

That's actually one very good reason and two almost meaningless platitudes.

I will have to disagree with you there. The census being required by law is pretty much a fact (There's also a fine if you absolutely refuse to fill it out), AND the federal funding does help out in getting more money for things like public schools, parks, after-school programs & facilities, road construction/repairs, utilities, etc., Of course since you're Canadian I guess the idea of it being your duty as an American would be considered as such ('Meaningless platitude'). I mean I can see where you're coming from but I think its something Americans should do, even if they don't fill out all the info on the forms.

Originally Posted by oturansama

Dark Nation, do you ever have to call people because you "don't understand a response" ?

I thought that was a little strange that they asked for your phone number so they could call you if they didn't understand any of your responses considering just about all the questions were multiple choice.

I guess people could fill in their name wrong, or in Chinese or something, or bubble in the entire form...

To clarify a bit: I'm working specifically for a company contracted by the government to handle all the paper forms for processing, so I don't handle any phone calls that might come in from people who get confused. For the record, I have seen some very strange things in the Exceptions department.

Originally Posted by nuttyturnip

It's amazing how many people can screw up the simplest of tasks.

I like to think of it like this: A person is smart, but people are bloody stupid.

There's nowhere I can't reach.