--- On Sat, 2/20/10, Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com> wrote:
> From: Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com>
> Subject: Re: [Vo]:Census Community Survay..what is the remedy if I fail to
> produce?
> To: vortex-l@eskimo.com
> First, I'm pretty sure that it's a misdemeanor at worst,
> and there isn't
> any jail time, there probably isn't any fine, and you won't
> get a
> criminal record as a result of failing to respond to the
> census.
Theoretically, $100 fine for refusing to respond, $500 for lying knowingly. No
jail time, unless you try to skew the results knowingly for nefarious purposes.
But I doubt that's ever been prosecuted either, or else most of the American
government would probably have spent time behind bars, no matter which end of
the political spectrum they came from.
There are some good questions on the Census, which are important to answer for
representative appointment, allocation of resources, etc. You should answer
these, in my opinion. But, that said, some of the questions they ask are just
wrong.
One I'd have fun with is the question, what race are you. When I took it, they
didn't have a listing for "Injun" so I had to choose native american or white.
Technically I could go either way. I don't remember which one I put down (been
a few years), but I know I determined it scientifically by way of throwing a
coin into the air.
If asked now, I'd ask why our postracial president wants to know. Maybe give
the census taker the evil eye and ask, "Are you a /racist/?"
That always scares people.
I did get the census taker laughing when asked if I worked. I said yes, I do my
patriotic duty and work hard to help pay for millions on welfare. When asked if
I was on food stamps, I said no, I pay for my my luxury foods (when I can
afford them) with my own earned cash. I don't steal from the taxpayer to buy
beer with an EBT card. Yes, you can get away with that in NY.
Above all, my advice on this is, don't sweat it. Maybe have a little fun, in
the spirit of the great George Carlin with these people. And if you're polite
about it, and make it clear that you are NOT angry or being disrespectful to
the census taker, you might just get a hearty laugh out of them.
--Kyle
