Are Americans as Cynical as the Census Bureau Thinks?
By James L. Payne • Thursday March 11, 2010 8:27 AM PDT • 9 Comments
The form letter in the mail today from the Census Bureau—which I suppose everyone in the United States has received—urged me to participate in the upcoming census. “Your response is important,” it said, because “Results from the 2010 Census will be used to. . . .”
Can the reader guess how the sentence ends? In an earlier day, officials would have appealed to overarching principles. They would have pointed out that census figures are used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives, so by participating in the census, the citizen is helping to carry out the Constitution. Or they might have stressed the value of knowledge: the census gathers data useful in understanding social and economic processes.
Well, today government officials no longer focus on higher ideals. To their way of thinking, Americans aren’t interested in the Constitution or the search for truth. What motivates us is. . . greed! Here is how they explain why our help with the census is important: “Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your community may not receive its fair share.” The appeal, you see, is to the entitlement mentality, to the idea that the federal government is a cash cow, a source of funds for everything our hearts desire.
Census officials may have miscalculated the mindset of citizens, however. Many Americans have not been conned by the “cash cow” picture of government benefits. They know that funds for “programs you and your neighbor need” come from taxes “you and your neighbors” pay, so that government benefits are a wasteful and rather corrupt system of robbing Peter to pay Paul—or (absurd as it may be) robbing Peter to pay Peter. To announce that the Census is the key to this grasping, irrational system of mutual plunder might prompt thoughtful, moral individuals to have nothing to do with it.
Tags: Budget and Tax Policy, Civil Liberties, Economics, Liberty, Personal Liberty, Politics, Surveillance, Taxation, Welfare 
People might logically decline to partcipate in the census, then, on the grounds that they refuse to act as accessories to the distribution of stolen property.
Robert Higgs | Mar 11, 2010 | Reply
Maybe they aren’t cynical enough. Take a look at this.
“You’re looked at by many, many, many people as being powerful when it comes to money that they can line their pockets with,” actress Rosario Dawson, a Voto Latino co-founder, told teenagers gathered Wednesday in the library of a predominantly Latino high school. “When it’s money that can line your pockets, no one ever says anything. But we’re saying something.”
GaryM | Mar 11, 2010 | Reply
Have we been lining up at the Federal trough too long? I thought each state was responsible for its own road system. Yet, each state is looking to Uncle Sam for a handout! Will it ever stop? Not until more and more people figure out a way to put Uncle Sam on a strict diet! :-)
John Anderson | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
A modest proposal:
A constitutional amendment to base congressional representation on the number of voters in the last congressional election.
No more census and it’s free!
barry milliken | Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
barry, that is simply briliant! I’ll be passing your idea along to everyone that I talk to. It won’t go anywhere of course, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless.
joe4liberty | Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
Modesty is a great virtue. I concur — simply brilliant!
Anton T | Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
My question is what is the minimal amount I have to answer to not go to jail. I don’t have money for a lawyer.
Lewis Tillis | Mar 17, 2010 | Reply
According to several reports the 2010 Census forms are on their way. According to the Census Bureau, there will only be 10 questions this year. But of course a census taker who comes to your door might have many more than 10. A number of people wonder what they are required to provide in answer to the questions.
Well, some court will no doubt have to provide that information but looking at the form, it would appear that the first two questions are the only ones which flow directly from the Constitutional authority given to Congress to conduct a census. Those two ask how many people live in your home.
There are fines and penalties for not answering all of the questions. But whether they are enforceable or not, legal or not, constitutional or not are questions which will only be answered by the highest court to which the case is ever appealed.
Until then, for further instruction on how to answer the census you might want to take a look at this link.
Chuck LoBue | Mar 18, 2010 | Reply
Thanks Chuck—
Your video told me all I really need to know about filling out my questionnaire.
cam | Mar 19, 2010 | Reply