Once a Decade

The same event dramatized, one based on Shakespeare and the other not, but mainly showing the difference between the sensibilities of 1953 and 2005. (Also, I never knew that Humbert Humbert delivered the final blow to Caesar; I don't watch enough old movies.)

Our census form showed up in the mail today. It seems puny compared to the Long Form I got 10 years ago. But I read recently that the Long Form is a thing of the past, replaced by the more frequent American Community Survey. There were probably logistical reasons for this, or maybe the bureau was simply tired of people whining about it, like this fellow.

I filled out my Long Form back in 2000. I'd do it again, too. I doubt that any losses of privacy or civil liberties I might happen to suffer in the future will be laid at the door of the U.S. Census Bureau. As for the notion that the current census overreaches because it's only supposed to be a literal head count, it's worth noting that the 2010 Census form's ten questions are short by historical standards, and that asking for more than a head count goes back well into the 19th century. Almost from the beginning, in other words.

Moreover, the historical record is clearly a lot better for it. According to a timeline published by the Washington Post:

1840: Congress requests new information on social matters such as "idiocy" and mental illness. Many questions on commerce and industry are added, lengthening the form to 80 questions.

1850: Significant census reforms are made. Federal government marshals scientific and financial resources to to discuss what should be asked, how the information should be collected and how it should be reported. First time detailed information about all members of a household is collected.

1860: Data from the 1860 Census is used during the Civil War to measure relative military strengths and manufacturing abilities of the Union and Confederacy.

I've got an eye toward posterity. In 2072, assuming the records are still intact, the law doesn't change and the Tea Party doesn't overthrow the federal government, my answers in 2000 will be public record, just as those of 1930 are now. I'm pretty sure I will have no more privacy concerns by then. In exchange for about an hour of my time in 2000, I get to be part of the historical record, sending a message across the decades to anyone who wants to read it, including any descendants of mine who take an interest.