Okay, I'll readily agree that the money wasted on "here comes your census" letters is incredibly stupid. And, typical of government forms, it is worded clumsily. Not to mention I would be asking the Post Office about fixing the door they ruined at the cabin. But all that aside, am I just not in touch with my inner curmudgeon today, or are you guys turning a mole hill into a mountain?
Absolutely (and I'm addressing myself here, not pointing at others). And I'd ask them to fix the door too.
But it really is the larger picture that I am railing at, not simply the act of filling out one form every ten years. And if no one complains, no can expect anything to improve. And no, I'm not naive enough to think that my little actions will change anything, but I feel I am
being a hypocrite if I don't at least try.
As I said earlier, the govt keeps getting more and more involved in our lives, and I don't like most of it. The least I should be able to expect is that they do the stuff they do with some minimal level of competency. And to me, that form (and our tax regulations), are symbolic of that incompetency. And I plan to fight it, if only symbolically.
Another way to put this is, yes it *is* a molehill, but to me, it represents the mountain.
In the other thread, you mentioned that they had asked that added (to me contradictory, or at least extraneous/confusing) question since 1890. I certainly don't think that you would say that makes it right, or that it shouldn't be improved, simply based on time? Far too many examples of things that have changed for the better since then. Probably one molehill at a time, in most cases.
-ERD50