I recently had the misfortune of being selected for the American Community Survey administered by the United States Census Bureau. I have always willingly participated in the decennial census and I understand the importance of an accurate head count. I even worked for the 1990 census. However, I had never heard of the American Community Survey until mine came in the mail. I assumed it was some survey that the census bureau was doing under contract for business and I ignored it not wishing to participate. I then began receiving phone calls and did a little research on the Internet. I was quite shocked to find that this very personal and intrusive survey is mandatory and people are threatened with fines or imprisonment if they fail to comply. About 3 million Americans are randomly selected for this bullshit. Is liberty, freedom and privacy just a bad joke in America? Silly me, I thought that even if I were being arrested I had the right to remain silent. A woman who barely spoke English called my home and tried to conduct the survey over the phone. Anyone can call and claim to be from the census bureau and I am certainly not going to give personal and financial information to an anonymous person on the phone. Regardless whether it is a printed form, telephone call or personal visit, it is nobody’s business but mine how much money I make, when I leave for work, how many bedrooms I have, what I have in my home or how I live. I understand that there are bills in the House (H.R. 1078) and Senate (S. 530) to defund and stop this ridiculous survey. I contacted my representatives to voice my support of those bills in the hope that the American Community Survey can be abolished or, at the very least, changed to a voluntary survey. Government at all levels has gotten out of control and is a constant unwelcome intrusion into the lives of Americans. From midnight no-knock raids by militarized police who shoot anything that moves to census agents threatening fines and imprisonment if we don’t tell them every intimate detail of our lives. Government agents from countless bureaus and agencies just demand that citizens do whatever they say or be punished. America has become a police state. It needs to stop.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 08:55:08 +0000
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