by Rod Williams, Aug. 9, 2020 - The 2020 Census will come to an end September 30th this year, which is two month later than the normal ending date of July 31. The time period was extended due to the Coronavirus.
Up until now, the census responses have all been self reporting. Starting in August the door-to-door portion of the census data collection will start. The period devoted to door-to-door data collection is only going to be two months this year instead of the normal three months. It is unsure what to expect. The Census Bureau is finding it harder to find census workers than in the past and may not be able to deploy all the workers they need. Census workers may find more people at home than normal due to the quarantine, however, a lot of people observing a strict quarantine may not open their door.
Unfortunately, even with more time for self reporting, self reporting has not increased much. In Davidson County, the self response rate is actually 7 points behind the 2010 self response rate. This is at a time when due to technology, self response is easier and when more people have fewer distractions and more time on their hands due to the lock down.
If you have not completed the census, please to so. For one thing, it is the law. You are required to do it. For another thing if you self report, no one will knock on your door. More importantly, it is an important civic duty and in your best interest.
I know a lot of people with anti-government views or a strong independent streak think the census is an invasion of privacy and resist participating. It is important for two reason: (1) A lot of Federal funds are distributed to states based on population. To get our share of money, we need to be counted. (2) That is the way representation in the U. S. House of Representatives is determined. If a lot of people in Tennessee don't answer the census and people in others states do, we could lose representation at the benefit of some super liberal state like California. Also, that then translates into fewer electors in the Electoral College. Don't let some liberal have more influence and you have less.
Everyone needs to be counted: illegal aliens, students, prisoners, the barely alive in nursing homes, new born babies, the insane, criminals and perverts. It is not just for voters or just for citizens. That is the way our founding fathers set up our representative democracy. Children can't vote but they are represented. Before women had the right to vote, they were nevertheless counted in the census. During the era of slavery, even slaves were counted, howbeit at 3/5th the rate of free people.
I just completed my census a couple weeks ago. It was fast and easy. There was only about 10 questions. Here are a few observations. The census does not ask citizenship. President Trump wanted that question asked but it is not.
The only choice for gender is "male" or "female." I like that. Facebook offers 71 choices and Tumbler offers 115 choices. I guess if in 2030 Democrats are controlling the government and we have continued down this road of accepting the fantasy that there or dozens of genders and one gets to chose their gender, then there will be more choices. If I am alive then, I will still be "male."
The census does not ask a question about sexual orientation. I am pleased with that. If we continue along a woke liberal path I expect that to change by 2030. The census ask no question about religious affiliation or faith identity. The census ask no question about gun ownership. Good.
There is no more long form census. There used to be the short form for most people but some people would get the "long form," and it asked all kinds of nosy questions. Thankfully that has been done away with.
There is a question that to be seems useless and likely to produce unreliable information and I am not sure why it is asked. It asks you your race. I answered 'white." Then there is a box to enter which kind of white (English, German, Irish, etc.). I entered "American" and it accepted that answer. I suspect many will enter a heritage. I could have entered "Irish," or "Welch," or "English" but my family on both sides have been American so long, we have no affinity for any original country of origin and aren't really sure which it would be since there are several strain of ancestors. I suspect a lot of people did put in a country where their ancestors came from even though they have no ethnic identity. I suspect the census gathered some useless and inconsistent information.
To complete the census on line, go to Census 2020. Please do it. It is important to our representative democracy.
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