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Census Boycott?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by JuanValdez, Mar 28, 2018.

  1. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I'm thinking on this subject because of the news of including a citizenship question in the census, but I've mentally meandered on from there. A boycott would be a form of protest and civil disobedience that I probably won't engage in, though I'm seeing increasingly strong reasons to do so. But, I don't know what effect it would even have given all the uses the census data is put to.

    The most topical reason to protest is the decision to include a citizenship question that might cause an undercount of hispanic and other citizens, residents, and illegal aliens. If white people like me dodge the census, it may even out the proportions a bit as well as register dissatisfaction. Another concern is the prejudicial uses the census can be put to. We have laws against census workers reporting criminals or aliens, etc., but it is based on the same logic that sanctuary city laws are based upon. If this Administration can't respect the logic underpinning sanctuary cities, why should I expect them to respect the controls around census-taking? And given that I feel like this Admin is moving to weaponize the census, why shouldn't I also make it partisan? And my third concern is more broadly is data security. We have people stealing our facebook data, our Equifax data, our credit cards and identities. There are social media companies, credit cards, grocery stores, Amazon, utilities, cable companies, security providers, smart home companies, and the Census Bureau all with data on us to profile, monetize, manipulate, and sometimes steal from us, all with very poor regulation and accountability on what information can be collected and how it can be used. I'm starting to feel a need to be a lot more guarded about what information I give out. Why should I answer for them all this intimate detail about my household, my race, my income, my veteran status, my citizenship and so on? Even if I'm convinced their intentions are virtuous, can I trust them to not get hacked?

    So, I'm thinking it's not so crazy to boycott the census. But I know it'd do all kinds of weird things. We use it to set the number of Representatives in the House and our votes in the Electoral College. I don't really want Texas to have more Representatives or more EC votes because we elect a bunch of numbnuts, so no loss there, but it might impact the way my district is drawn which could be bad. State Reps would also be impacted, so my boycott would reduce the influence of Houston in the statehouse, which isn't good for me. It'd also impact how federal funds are doled out to the states, so Texas would get incrementally less but it probably wouldn't be as impactful as the politicians we send to Austin who refuse federal funds on our behalf. And, lots of economic and business decisions are built on census data so those decisions would be suboptimal because of a boycott.

    In a lot of ways, it seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. But a boycott is what the Census Bureau is inviting Hispanic families to do -- tell us where all the illegal immigrants are and trust us to not use that information to deport them. I don't blame them at all if they don't take the Census Bureau -- ultimately an agency that answers to President Trump -- at their word. If Hispanic families avoid the census in greater numbers, Houston, HISD, Texas, and Hispanic communities (for where ethnicity data is applied) all get officially under-reported vis a vis the average US entities. A boycott from me would exacerbate most of those problems.
     
  2. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    If there's a citizenship question on the census I ain't filling it out. I'll let the State of Texas deal with the loss of funds. It's a shame because I love the census and think it's cool that you can trace back generations with it.
     
    FranchiseBlade and Torn n Frayed like this.
  3. London'sBurning

    London'sBurning Contributing Member

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    Means more cuts to public education, LEO staffing and training, more cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and worse roads when they need repair all to appease a racist President's agenda. The next decade will be even more hell for Texas citizens in need.
     
  4. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    JV, a boycott would play into the hands of trump and his far-right supporters. The only reason they are doing this with the Census is the hope that minorities won't respond, that an undercount will occur, and that that would help the minority far-right party. I understand where you're coming from, but a boycott is the wrong avenue to take, in my opinion. If anything, work on outreach to insure that minorities will respond to the Census. Anything else helps the GOP do what they've been attempting to do for decades, with some success, which is reducing the minority vote, which tends to swing Democratic.
     
  5. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    I don't give a ****. I got mine, not my problem. I'm taking a page form the Republican playbook and I'd rather burn it all down before giving in.
     
  6. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    A vote for a Texas Republican probably hurts more in these regards than not getting counted in the census. Trump can't touch Governor Abbott when it comes to starving Texas agencies of funds.
     
  7. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I know you're right. Except that I don't think I would encourage people who have illegals in their household to be trust the government and be counted. They shouldn't trust census takers and they shouldn't trust the Census Bureau either. If it was me, I wouldn't think the personal risk was worth the return, so I don't think I could ask someone to do that. (So, Janna, keep your head down.)
     
    Deckard likes this.
  8. Rashmon

    Rashmon Contributing Member

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    This x 10. It seems the far right has learned to harness progressive reactionary tendencies to their own maleficent benefit.

    Good post, Deck.

    Edit: for reference - https://www.jstor.org/stable/2290604?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
     
    #8 Rashmon, Mar 28, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2018
  9. pirc1

    pirc1 Contributing Member

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    This is not a certainty yet, court battles expected until 2020.
     
  10. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    Maybe they should add Sexual Orientation and Gender preferences

    Rocket River
     
  11. da_juice

    da_juice Member

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    They absolutely have. Its embarrassing on the left how easy some fall for it. I remember being at a university talk about censorship on college campuses and a bunch of students were going to go and then walkout when one speaker started talking. Well, they did and guess what- it just helped validate the speakers point.

    I said it in anither thread,the immigration question is to make liberals shriek and make a scene (which seems to be the sole GOP platform nowadays) and underreprrsent the immigrant population. A boycott does their job for them
     
  12. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    They should have some questions about how many guns you own. Nothing's too personal, right?
     
    Rocket River likes this.
  13. okierock

    okierock Contributing Member

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    If Obama were in office would there be talk of boycott? Assuming the citizenship question was still there.
     
    edwardc likes this.
  14. pirc1

    pirc1 Contributing Member

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    Yes, what is the purpose of censuses?
     
  15. okierock

    okierock Contributing Member

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    To gather numeric information about our population?

    "an official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details of individuals"
     
  16. Amiga

    Amiga I get vaunted sacred revelations from social media
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    Do you actually have to answer every questions? If there is a boycott, why not just boycott that question?
     
  17. pirc1

    pirc1 Contributing Member

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    The information include everyone using the services and infrastructures in a given locality right? Roads, schools, etc. If you don't count illegals, you could really under estimate what are needed, I know this administration does not care about this, but the goal to count EVERYONE.
     
  18. okierock

    okierock Contributing Member

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    This... or lie?
     
  19. pirc1

    pirc1 Contributing Member

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    You do not have to answer any question, you don't even have to return the survey, they cannot make you do this.
     
  20. okierock

    okierock Contributing Member

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    Ok. So why are we talking boycott again?
     

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