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Census Censoriousness

Grumpy Old Lemons Like You
XFool
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Census Censoriousness

#397491

Postby XFool » March 20th, 2021, 6:32 pm

You know that old thing about how most men think they are better drivers than average? Well - it's likely an age thing - I'm starting to feel most members of the British public are less intelligent than average!

The census is being discussed on LBC Radio. How does filling in the census make you feel about your identity? People are complaining. It comes to me, as though through a glass, darkly, they did the same last census. "I'm this and also that. But I'm not allowed to be that, if I'm this... How very dare they!"

But THEY don't need or even want to know if you ARE a bisexual, Rosicrucian, left hander - even if you do like to go mainstream hetero on alternate weekends during the summer months.

Too many people seem to treat the census as a form of individual self expression. You want self-expression? Go write a novel, compose a rock opera, paint a picture, take up sculpture. It's not about you! The government want to know boring things like say, how many six year olds they will need to be teaching English to in five years time.

Recently I have been looking at the Irish census form from 1911 filled in by my grandfather for his family and one from 1901 when he was a young man. There was a question about language spoken: IRISH LANGUAGE - 'Write the word "Irish" in this column against the name of every person who speaks Irish only, and the words "Irish & English" opposite the names of those who can speak both languages. In other cases no entry should be made in this column.'

In both census forms, from different decades and households, there is no entry in this column. In other words, they all spoke ENGLISH! Imagine nowadays: "But I speak English and Swahili!"; "But I speak English, Welsh and Russian!"; "But I speak English, French, Latin, Chinese and classical Sanscrit!"; "Why can't I be both?"; "It's not right!"

Reality: The government simply wanted to know how many Irish speakers there were in Ireland.

Mind you, God alone knows how the phones would hit the airwaves nowadays in response to the final column: 'Write the respective infirmities against the name of the afflicted person' - If Deaf and Dumb; Dumb only; Blind; Imbecile or Idiot; or Lunatic.'

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