Making Sense of the Census

Well it is time once again for that ten year tradition, the US Census survey. Now there has been a lot of talk in recent years by politicians whereby they have managed to spread fear and misunderstanding about a function of the government that is meant to ensure that the people are given a voice in their government. I suppose there are those in Congress and in other parts of the government who don't really know how government is supposed to function in the first place who spend a lot more of their time continuing to promote fallacies about the census in order to gain political favor with their party or to promote false fears against the government.

So then what is the purpose of the census? Well it is the way in which the government gathers statistics about the population, their location, their ethnicities, etc. in order to figure out how to redistrict and reallocate representation within the government. For example if ten years ago there was a part of Virginia that had a very miniscule population, it would have been rolled under another district. But now ten years on there may be a very sizeable population in that same region which could require the addition of a district on congressional maps and would mean the need for additional representation within the government. What it isn't is a way for the government to track us individually and to keep tabs on the population. Despite a lot of the fearmongering that appears to be going on, the government isn't really going to resort to using a paper census as a means of tracking us.

After all, if we were to believe that the government was capable of keeping such close scrutiny on all of us wouldn't they do it by some other means other than asking you to fill out a paper form? I mean if we want to believe the big brother paranoia that some in Congress are espousing then the government would be watching our every keystroke on the internet, our every phone call via the cell networks of the country, every library book we ever check out. That being said, people like Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has publicly stated that she would only respond by indicating how many people lived at her home and nothing more of the ten questions being asked on the census. She and others seem to want to perpetuate the belief that the government is looking to keep closer tabs on everyone in order to control them.

This is the very same type of paranoia that helped launch the Red Scare during the 1950's and led to a great deal of mistrust of the government during the 1960's and all through the Vietnam War. If people like Bachmann really wanted to be a contributing member of society and of our government then perhaps she should spend her energies educating her constituents rather than attempting to instill them with fear. After all, it's possible that through redistricting, she could be out of a job if it comes to pass that her seat is no longer needed. So what that means is that it's in the interest of most people within the higher echelons of government to promote the census rather than raise doubts about it. After all, it's their job on the line.