The government census has extended its reach way beyond its constitutional purview, insists Jerry Day in the above video. We should demand proof of authority from government agents before handing over our information, money, power or liberty to them, he argues. He urges that we ask census agents to reveal exactly where in the constitution it authorizes them to demand your personal information. He also wants us to videotape the exchange.
Why Even Open the Door?
But why should I even open the door for them? Why, when you have a choice, should you interact with government agents? By doing so, you only risk giving them some kind of justification for coming down on you. If their authority is nonexistent or illegitimate then isn’t it much safer and more consistent to simply treat them like any unwanted door-to-door salesman and ignore their notices and ultimatums? If you won’t give the time of day to a traveling salesman or a tele-marketer seeking to trade with you, why pay any attention whatsoever to a parasite claiming a right to your time and privacy?
No Authority Over Me
“Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience & through rebellion.” – Oscar Wilde
Who cares what documents, certificates, badges, statutes or executive orders census agents have to back up their claim to authority over me? Is my signature on any of them? No? Then they have no authority over me. Not even the constitution is relevant because I never agreed to it. Not even the founders signed the constitution in the sense of a contract. They only signed in witness of.
Do Not Comply
Don’t pay them any attention! That’s my strategy. There’s no point in embarrassing census agents. If you want them to back off, just ignore them. Do not comply. Consider it civil disobedience in the grand spirit of Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
6 replies on “Boycott the Census, Don’t Protest it”
Man, this dude is like the libertarian Andy Rooney. Was Drew Carey unavailable?
But i will say, your advice to just ignore them beats Libertarian Andy Rooney’s approach of harassing them with questions. These are pretty much a bunch of minimum wage earners (albeit compensated at inflated government levels) and they don’t have any answers. You want to waste your time ruining their day, you might as well be asking to be made an example of.
Amen Marc. Thanks for commenting.
If you want the answers to Jerry’s questions, email me at [email protected]. I researched the Census Bureau websites and found the answers, all based on federal laws and court decisions.
@Rick
Then there are those, like me, that do not care what the laws or court decisions say. I’m just not interested in answering any of their questions.