The Census Season
Published in "The Oregonian", 3/19/00. Italicized was sent and edited out. <This was added.>
As I sit here, a product of the 1960s, I am listening to a classic protest song from the era.
"To everything, turn, turn, turn, There is a season, turn, turn, turn..."
The season has turned to the time for the Federal Census. We are being treated to the display of the Federal Government and it's minions <are> trying to convince <persuade> us to give up our privacy and answer all the questions on the census form. The data collected by the Feds will be used to dole out $180 billion in taxpayer's money, to justify expanding government programs, to allow the government to continue to discriminate against American citizens based on race and ethnicity.
Make sure you "get your share". Sidle up to the trough. Get your share of Uncle Sugar's sweets and privileges. And just in case this doesn't work, there's a $100 fine for refusal to comply. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
The Constitution allows an "enumeration". That means a count of heads. It does not give the Feds the right to pry into our private lives, to require us to decide which race and ethnic group we occupy, to find out personal information like income and disabilities. It does not give them the right to use our differences, which should enrich us, to divide us.
I, for one, will answer >only the question asking> how many persons are in my household. I will not answer any others. I will pay the $100 to stand up for my beliefs. I challenge the Federal government to take action. I also challenge my fellow citizens in Oregon and across the country to do the same.