Thanks Kitty, but I wasn't referring to the 'there's gotta be another way' kinds of comments (because about that I agree ;)). I just don't understand why average folks don't want to answer the questions (I can understand why someone here illegally might mistrust it but that's another story).

One good thing though - and maybe this will set some fears aside - every household is getting the 'short form' this year. I think there are only 7 questions we need to answer about everyone living in the household ...it's pretty straightforward. The long questionaire isn't part of the census any more (at least not for 2010); it's sent out in a separate survey that happens annually to a few million homes...

Just so you know, i'm here legally.

:cool:

My prob is this - why do they want to know?

How many people are here? Okay, I'll tell them that. They do not need any further info. That's just MHO.

Why do they care if I'm under 30 or over 50? Or how much we make? Or what race we are? None of their bee's wax, I say.

There's a website where you can check all the stats of any town - pie charts and all. Everything you want to know about the town and the people who live there. Real interesting. Level of education, ratio of men to women, break down of age groups and income levels, how many own vs rent their homes, etc.

Pretty neat if you're thinking of moving TO someplace, but a little creepy knowing your own town is disected that way.

I'm sorry I don't care to be a statistic.

People got all freaked because you can see your house via satelite on the internet. Well, this is the same kind of invasion to me.

Again, why do they want to know? They are not just using this info so they can give money at equal amounts. For one thing, you know they base what they say where on this kind of info. They know certain ideas, words and phrases play better with some crowds than others - and that helps candidates win.

Maybe because of my past profession of working inside prisons I became extremely protective of my information. Maybe because I have a sister who is a drug addict, will rob you blind, and can work a Social Service system like no ones business, I have chosen to not share my info, even with family. I have locked down my private, personal information many years ago. yep, I get that they want to know how many live here. They can have a general age group, but not a specific number of age. As for what I make per year, I dont feel the need to disclose that information to any agency other than the IRS, and only then because its the law. My own mother doesnt know how much I make. My children dont know how much I make. My husband knows because we file jointly on taxes. My information, is exactly that, MINE. I dont have to share it if I chose not to.

I understand that someone, somewhere is using such information to make a "profile" of my town. Breaking up voting districts, and how many reps we need in the house, and senate, and how many electoral votes this area should be entitled to. I understand that its all just a bunch of number crunching that happens behind the scenes, but since I have no clue where, and who all of this information ends up in front of...they can have the basics from me.

If that labels me...so be it. I think the governement already knows way too much about me.

They want to know for the same reasons they wanted to know 220 years ago when they first began taking the census.
You can google it anywhere but here's a trusty source:
http://www.census.gov/

There are only 7 mandatory questions. Do you know what they are?
Name, sex, age date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship to the head of household and whether the home is owned or rented .....It takes about 10 minutes to complete.

See the thing is, you're a citizen of the United States. The rights you're accustomed to are granted by this Democracy. You are governed. You agree to be governed, it's what you do in exchange for citizenship. You're not entitled to rights in the USA simply because you're a human being, you're 'entitled' to them because the government (we elect) defined those rights and upholds them FOR you.

In order to be a citizen, you agree to hold up your end of the bargain. In this country, that includes filling out the census. It also includes paying taxes (do you find those intrusive? The IRS knows more about your financial situation than will ever be gathered in a census, and we gladly or grudgingly (depending on your situation) provide that to our government because them's the rules and that's how we keep things moving along and get the stuff we depend on (or.... take for granted again, depending on your situation)

If you really don't think the governing body of your chosen country has any right to gather information about the citizens it supports, provides services for and defends, I struggle to understand how you expect that country to be successful at any of it.

my two pennies.