Thursday, April 08, 2010

If we don't know how many people, how do we know how many Congressmen we need

I frequently see advertisements on the television and outdoors for the census in the format, if we don't know how many people we have, how do we know how many x we need.
Where x is hospital beds, classroom, trains, buses, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP2BGqnPQY4

"The census helps us know exactly what we need, so everyone can get their fair share of funding.”


I am disappointed that this appeals to so many people. Have we really moved towards a society where we fill out a survey so the government can calculate our needs?

Of course, the primary purpose of the census to apportion Congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the several states by population. I believe that is an important enough reason to mail it back. This representative form of government is at least as important as the government handing out goodies from the fraction of people that pay the bulk of the taxes to everyone else.