We received a letter at our house yesterday indicating that we would be receiving our Census questionnaire packet within the next week or so. It was addressed to “The Residents of… [insert address]“, so that does not really bother me.
What does bother me is that our federal government, in the midst of spending my grandchildren into life-long debt, actually sent out a letter letting me know I would receive another letter in the future.
What?
There are somewhere around 105,000,000 households in America, and while I am sure the government can get a discount on its postage rates (what with owning the postal service), that is still millions upon millions of extraneous letters that were sent out, in addition to the actual, important letter.
Why not save the $20,000,000 or so (assuming half-rate postage costs), and just send out the Census packet? Nah. I guess that would be too… intelligent.
I have obviously implied how I intend on filling out my Census forms when the time comes, but I have to admit, the idea passed on by Midwest Chick (and seconded by MInstrel) has definitive merit:
Instead, we should answer Question 9 by checking the last option — “Some other race” — and writing in “American.” It’s a truthful answer but at the same time is a way for ordinary citizens to express their rejection of unconstitutional racial classification schemes. In fact, “American” was the plurality ancestry selection for respondents to the 2000 census in four states and several hundred counties.
Seems to me that 400-odd years is a sufficient time for the establishment of a “race” – whatever the hell that word means any more.
Why boggles my mind is last year they sent around workers to find out where everyone lives (cost: $millions).
Then we have commercials (including the Super Bowl) telling us that the census is coming (cost: $millions).
Then we get a letter saying that the census is coming (cost: $millions).
Then we will finally get the census (cost: $millions).
Then, my guess is that some of us will get a follow up visit from a person for quality control (cost: $millions).
If you go to the census website you can see the questions that will be on the form, and in nice bold letters a statement saying that you cannot fill the form out online. Why in an age when we can file hundred page tax returns, apply for drivers licenses, and buy US savings bonds all without changing out of your pajamas, can we not figure out a cheaper way to do the census (online) than the way we do it now? I may have to write a blog about this.
You are absolutely right… this letter is nothing more than a continuation of a generally idiotic and poorly-planned waste of money on the part of the federal government in regards to the census. And holy crap, those commercials were pathetic. But the complete idiocy of sending me a letter to let me know I would be receiving a letter pushed me right over the edge.
Hell, at this point in time, with the encryption systems we have available to us, I should not only be able to file my census return online, but I should also be able to vote, and do countless other things as well, but our government cannot even get their collective heads out of their collective arses and figure that out.
$20,000,000+ (probably more like $50,000,000 once you factor in paper, the time it took to create and send those letters, and so forth) could have done a lot of good in this country, and they blew it on frakking letters. I would be angry if this were not so predictably disappointing.
Interesting – I plan on just filling out the number of people question. If pressed, I will disclose that there is one male over 21 (per point 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment) and if that happens, I’ll put American as the race.
Heh, I am not even going to go the age or gender route, and if some little Census weenie shows up on my front doorstep to try and get the information in person, accusations of sexism, ageism, and Lord alone knows what else are going to fly hard and fast…