So, finally, I have something to blog about.
Today, I received my response form for the 2011 census. If you don't know what a census is, then you're too stupid. To exist. Go away.
Anyway, what makes me uncomfortable is that I am required to respond to the census - to provide my details to the British government - by law. If I don't comply, I am a criminal and could be fined £1000. This is really unsettling to me, the fact that I am required, by law, to give over my information to the government.
It's not even that I feel uncomfortable giving over my information - I don't really care if my address is in some sort of database or whatever - what I do care about is the fact that I have to provide this information, and will be punished if I don't. This leaves me with something of a moral dilemma: I think it is unjust to criminalise people for refusing to hand over their details, and in my opinion if you think a law is unjust you should break that law, because if you don't then you're something of an unjust person, so I should probably provide them with my info. On the other hand, I don't really want to get fined. What should I do?
You should fill it out. It's used to collect data about the UK's populace, and assess, in a consistent way, trends and changes in vital statistics such as social mobility. Its used to assess levels of funding needed in certain areas, and for such information to be accurate, it needs to drawn from a consistent and comparable source; people would not reply sufficiently if there was not the legal obligation to do so. It's a pragmatic legal solution, not some statement of the goverment 'owning' your details.
ReplyDeleteBy not filling it in, you do a disservice to those who's situation might be changed for the better, or atleast brought to attention, by an accurate and reliable survey of the UK's population.
And what's more, it's no more personal than the details you're required to submit, for example, in order to set up a bank account.