American Community Survey

Self | 22 June 2014 | Johniegrad

[johniegrad]

I have received the American Community Survey and several post cards encouraging me to complete it. Having not received this before, I Googled it and found that it isn't sent out to the full populace like the Census is. It also appears to be a longer form of the Census selectively distributed in years other than Census years.

There are a lot of questions that I don't feel much like answering and I stopped when asked about the market value of my home, my insurance costs, and some others. Apparently, if I don't return the survey, I am subject to a fine and/or a call from a Census Bureau employee.

I used to not concern myself with these things and would just fill them out. Then I joined FreeRepublic and became suspicious of everyone and everything. Only slightly just kidding.

[Graybeard58]

I only can wish that thousands of people would do as you've described in number 6. There would be absolutely nothing the government could do about it and if enough people did it, it would be a budget buster for the census bureau. Think about how much your obstinacy cost and you're just one person, multiply that by tens of thousands and you're talking about a real pain in the butt for the census bureau idiots.

[dalereed]

I have always answered, 2 homosapians and in red ink across the rest of the form, NONE OF YOUR FXXXXXX BUSINESS.

[rockrr]

Thanks. I thought about phony entries (just to “F” with them) but was leery of some kind of federal statute about making false statements on official government documents. I considered just telling them to piss off but that just invites a hostile response (which I can handle but why invite it?).

I discovered long ago that passive aggressive is always the best policy when dealing with the gubmint. Don’t make yourself a target, don’t make yourself a martyr, just don’t cooperate.

An axiom I learned from my dad came in the form of a rhetorical question: “Do you have to get mad in order to get what you want?” Are you capable of maintaining an emotional detachment while engaging the enemy? Employing this principle has allowed me to turn the tables on bureaucrats and smug a-holes for years. Figure out ahead of time what your endgame is and never allow your opponent to drag you off your mark. Never give away an advantage (especially when they hold all the best cards!), never compromise your principles, and never give an inch.

More than ever we need to have strategies to survive encounters with an increasingly lawless and ruthless government.

[discostu]

They pick people at random, there’s no repercussions for junking it.

[deport]

Yep I know about the FR Forum Seach function. Thanks.

[Peet]

Huh? This is not a census year.

What’s going on?

[Graybeard58]

Huh? This is not a census year.

The census, as you know, is every 10 years. The idiots at the census bureau have to have something to do the other 9 years.

[octex]

They pick people at random, there’s no repercussions for junking it.
*************************
The AC Survey is used to collect a lot of detailed demographic information.

That information is then sorted and compiled into different categories and sold to advertisers, telemarketers, businesses, etc., who use the zip codes, income levels, housing sizes and values, etc., to determine where to best open new stores/restaurants/franchises and otherwise hit their target customers.

(Sorry for that last loooong sentence.)

[TropicanaRose]

We got one with those types of questions, but in the fine print at the top of the page (IIRC) it said the survey was VOLUNTARY so when they showed up at the house when I was backing out of the driveway, I mentioned that, the guy agreed, so I told them we weren’t VOLUNTEERING to complete it. Not much he could say at that point & I was on my way.