Since I last muttered about Archbishops Cranmers campaign to tell the census takers to “Mind their own business” , he’s been asked quite a few questions about the census generally and his campaign which he answers here. The main point of which is really that if we don’t start telling them “no” at some point then they’ll never stop, or as he puts it:
“it is about protesting a limit to the intrusion of the database state. Only by telling the Government to MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS can that protest be made. Leaving the question blank is passive assent to being asked. “
As Long Rider observes when in opposition the Conservatives thought the Census too obtrusive but now they’re in power it’d cost too much to change anything (How it’d cost more to just cancel the thing is unclear). I think I may have to invest in a strategically leaky pen to make my legally required responses as useful as possible. Fuel injected Moose has the census and some suggestions of their own.
Update Almost forgot to mention that the Government is aware that people might not like the Census so have set up a special department to handle negative comments in the mainstream media and “social media” Spyblog has details. They also remind me that all of the census data processing will be done in the US by military contractor Lockheed Martin, who are obliged to let the US government look at the raw census data if they want to.
How do people decide what religion they are when they come to tick the box? I’m always in an agony of indecision because the questioner seems to think religion is a permanent state, like the colour of your eyes, whereas at best I can only answer the question “what religion do you think you are at this precise moment?”
I ended up ticking most of the boxes, then crossing them out, then ticking some of them again. In general, I think Cranmer is right, I ought to write “mind your own business” although I believe I ended up ticking the “other” box and specifying “your guess is as good as mine”.
That’s actually a terribly good question and I do like your method of answering. I think I shall have to look at the pre-published census and consider it from an existential point of view.
I think I shall be answering mind your own to every optional question and as I say a leaky pen for the ones that aren’t optional