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TechnoratiThe Lord rewards him according to his works.
- The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy
Rewards. That's the newest game in Washington D.C. Almost simultaneously John McCain and the Census Bureau came up with clever ideas to make the U.S.A. a better place. The Census Bureau would like for more people to fill out their forms and John McCain would like for someone to invent a really good car battery. Both have concluded that the secret is to offer rewards. Both are great ideas. Before explaining the Census Bureau idea, however, a bit of history is necessary.
Laws are usually enforced by punishing those who refuse to obey them. If a person enters a bank and makes a withdrawal using a gun instead of a withdrawal slip that person is, if caught, prosecuted and if convicted, sent to prison. People who refuse to obey traffic laws receive a ticket and if found guilty, are fined and under some circumstances, sent to jail. These are, of course, just two examples of how compliance with laws is encouraged in this country. There has never been, until now, a suggestion that people who do not break the law should be rewarded for their good behavior.
The United States Constitution requires that a census be taken every 10 years pursuant to laws enacted by Congress. Congress has determined that citizens must respond to forms they receive so that the census can be properly completed. Many people refuse to complete and return the forms and Congress and the Census Bureau have been trying to figure out how to get people to comply with the law. If the traditional approach were used, criminal sanctions would be imposed on those who refuse to obey the law. (Those who refuse to file income tax returns can explain how that works.) To address the problem of non-compliance in returning census forms, however, Congress and the Census Bureau are considering a solution that is thrilling in its simplicity. They have concluded it is more cost efficient to offer incentives to those who comply with the law than to prosecute those who don't.
Among the rewards considered prior to the 2000 census was having some kind of sweepstakes. That idea has resurfaced and a $1 million prize has been suggested. That amount seems a bit on the penurious side, given the fact that there are close to 300 million people living in this country. They could easily triple that without adversely affecting the budget.
Rewarding those who comply with the census law is, of course, just a first step in reforming our justice system. If encouraging compliance with the law by the use of rewards instead of punishments catches on, other proposals equally attractive will almost certainly follow. The money needed to pay those who abide by the law can be found in money saved by not having to build and staff prisons. Once we have established the appropriate reward for the citizen who returns the census form, it will be necessary to determine the appropriate rewards for those who do not break other laws of which the following are merely suggestions.
Those who do not break any traffic laws during a given year may be rewarded by being entered into a lottery for a modest sum. Those from families with criminal proclivities who do not, for example, rob any banks, would be entered in lotteries with considerably higher rewards since the level of the reward should be commensurate with the level of the foregone criminal activity. Offering money as an incentive to forego criminal activity is no less imaginative than is John McCain's suggestion on how to encourage creativity.
Mr. McCain has suggested that the government (which most Republicans believe should stay out of people's lives unless it is chasing terrorists on private phone lines or e-mails or determining what women should do with their bodies) , should offer incentives for creativity. He has suggested that taxpayers offer a $300 million prize to whoever builds what he refers to as "a better car battery," one that "has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." He wants, said he, to "inspire the ingenuity and resolve of the American people." Until those words were spoken, few, if any citizens, realized that it was the prospect of a taxpayer reward that inspired creativity. Most people thought that the truly creative among us such as Bill Gates, believed their rewards were to be found in the satisfaction of a job well done and the profits that followed the commercial success of their inventions. Mr. McCain's comments suggest that he has no confidence in the ingenuity and creativity of the American people unless the federal government steps in and offers them extravagant rewards for their efforts.
Carping aside, everyone would surely agree that both ideas have great merit. If implemented, only time will tell whether rewarding the compliant or the creative will produce better results for society.
17 Comments so far
Show AllDear Cora:
Well thanks for the reasoned reply. Let me respectfully refute your points, at least as far as I am concerned:
>>As someone who conducts research using census data, let me tell you something about using these data.
My purpose in life is most definitely not to assist you in your research. Nor is that the government's responsibility. May I
suggest that if you want data you go out and get it yourself.
>>a) We really do not care at all about you as a person or the members of your household, nope, we don't. To us, you are only a
data point and we do not look at data points. When we work with the data, it is aggregated at the neighborhood level or city
level. Now, marketing companies that follow your purchasing habits and the hackers who send the bots from overseas to track
your keystrokes know more about you than researchers like me and the US government. You can count on this.
Wow you hit a lot of points there. From the last sentence I am more certain that you are a private non-government researcher.
As far as that connection, see point one above. The funding of the data gatering is your responsibility and neither mine nor
the governments. I do count on the fact that lots of private organizations, some or most of them not so innocent, know more
about me than the government does and that justifyably upsets me a great deal. However it is not a justification for you or the
government knwing any more about me than *I* determine they can know.
>>b) Take some time and try to find any stories of persons using confidential data from the Census. Go back in time, look and
see if anyone has documented this, go ahead, enjoy yourself. You won't find any and no, this does not mean a grand conspiracy
over decades.
Whoops, you'd like to believe that because you I am certain have the utmost highest standards but ithers do not. There are
several examples here http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/03/11/this-data-breach-brought-to-y... and here
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0507/051107p1.htm (a non-Census Bureau exanmple but wouldn't you think Homeland security would
have just as high a standard). It is also well known that the American government through the FBI used census data to locate and round up Japances-Americans during World War II (John J. Culley, World War II and a Western Town: The Internment of Japanese Railroad Workers of Clovis, New Mexico, Western Historical Quarterly 13 (January 1982): 43-61.)
>>>There are some serious laws protecting these data. The raw data eventually is released in time so that your grandkids can
look up information about you. It is easier to get detailed information from your medical records than to find out what you put
down on your 1990 Census form (assuming that you did not blow off that task). Anyway, most of the information you reported to
the Census is available from other sources that are more willing to part with the information - the chatty clerk making
slightly more than minimum wage who works at the bank that holds your mortgage may be able to tell me how much you pay each
month.
A humble suggestion for the Census Bureau: If this information is available from other sources just get it there. The issue of them gathering it and then giving or selling it to you (you have not said who you work for or if you pay for the census data, just that you get it) is still something I object to.
>>c) You may think that the questions on the long form are plain silly but folks who develop highway systems would like to know
what you and your neighbors are driving (and tearing up roads) and how far everyone travels to work. Companies that wish to
locate in your area may want to know if there are a sufficient number of workers with certain skills. School districts may want
to know how many first graders will be attending school in the near future. Public health folks evaluating health services use
Census data to identify the number of people, especially older persons, with certain health conditions like having difficulty
bathing. Through the Census, everyone can have this information for free.
Let's do them one by one:
>>folks who develop highway systems would like to know what you and your neighbors are driving (and tearing up roads) and how far everyone travels to work.
Look at the roads, you'll quickly see which ones are torn up. Have ya ever seen those boxes with tubes connected that run accross the travel lanbes. Those monitors tell them how many cars are on the roads a lot more accurately than a Census sampling.
>>Companies that wish to locate in your area may want to know if there are a sufficient number of workers with certain skills.
They do surveys. My taxes do not pay for research to make private companies profit.
>>School districts may want to know how many first graders will be attending school in the near future.
Local tax records and voting records tell toens this far more accurately. Sates can get the records from the towns and the feds can get them from the states.
>>Public health folks evaluating health services use Census data to identify the number of people, especially older persons, with certain health conditions like having difficulty bathing.
Again, ask them. Is community outreach too expensive? Fund it
>>Through the Census, everyone can have this information for free.
Oh silly me. I thought the census cost money. Do the unpaid census workers working on donated computers print the results on free paper? No it all costs money and just because *you* do not pay for it does not mean it is free.
>>Companies, local governments and researchers like me rely on you and thousands of other households to put in some time to fill out these forms so we can examine trends. Is that really asking so much? Honest, we can't peek at any of the personal data like your name and address.
Rely on someone else. Local governments (like mine only) can ask me if they need to know something. Pleasing "companies and researchers" is most definitely a priority of mine. Most especially when their attitude is that they are entitled and I am obligated.
>>Anyway, it is not like you're George Clooney.
More like Brad Pitt if you ask my wife.
>>d) The census folks were persistent with you because a very small percent of the US population fills out the long form. By
blowing off your obligation, you made it harder for them to get a sense of what is happening in your area. US tax dollars were
spent trying to get your cooperation, thanks for wasting it.
Your obligation is my intrusion. What makes it my obligation? The fact you say so?
>> So Sambolini, the next time you complain how the government is spending your tax dollars, just remember one thing. When you had a chance to give them some information, you blew it.
I call that pretty specious. The data we are talking about is used primarily to determine the distribution of monies the allocation of was a political decision. The large majority of federal spending is either defense or entitlements, neither of which is dependent upon the data of which we speak. No, I did not "blow it" by not responding, I attempted to keep the government from getting further into my life.
Dear Sambolini,
As someone who conducts research using census data, let me tell you something about using these data.
a) We really do not care at all about you as a person or the members of your household, nope, we don't. To us, you are only a data point and we do not look at data points. When we work with the data, it is aggregated at the neighborhood level or city level. Now, marketing companies that follow your purchasing habits and the hackers who send the bots from overseas to track your keystrokes know more about you than researchers like me and the US government. You can count on this.
b) Take some time and try to find any stories of persons using confidential data from the Census. Go back in time, look and see if anyone has documented this, go ahead, enjoy yourself. You won't find any and no, this does not mean a grand conspiracy over decades. There are some serious laws protecting these data. The raw data eventually is released in time so that your grandkids can look up information about you. It is easier to get detailed information from your medical records than to find out what you put down on your 1990 Census form (assuming that you did not blow off that task). Anyway, most of the information you reported to the Census is available from other sources that are more willing to part with the information - the chatty clerk making slightly more than minimum wage who works at the bank that holds your mortgage may be able to tell me how much you pay each month.
c) You may think that the questions on the long form are plain silly but folks who develop highway systems would like to know what you and your neighbors are driving (and tearing up roads) and how far everyone travels to work. Companies that wish to locate in your area may want to know if there are a sufficient number of workers with certain skills. School districts may want to know how many first graders will be attending school in the near future. Public health folks evaluating health services use Census data to identify the number of people, especially older persons, with certain health conditions like having difficulty bathing. Through the Census, everyone can have this information for free.
Companies, local governments and researchers like me rely on you and thousands of other households to put in some time to fill out these forms so we can examine trends. Is that really asking so much? Honest, we can't peek at any of the personal data like your name and address. Anyway, it is not like you're George Clooney.
d) The census folks were persistent with you because a very small percent of the US population fills out the long form. By blowing off your obligation, you made it harder for them to get a sense of what is happening in your area. US tax dollars were spent trying to get your cooperation, thanks for wasting it.
So Sambolini, the next time you complain how the government is spending your tax dollars, just remember one thing. When you had a chance to give them some information, you blew it.
Cora
Sorry that should be "the corporations OWN the country"
There's a very good reason for not completing the census: it's none of the government's god damn business.
To quote the Constitution:
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
To quote some of the questions the year 2000 census long form:
Does this person speak a language other thanEnglish at home?
How much is your regular monthly mortgage payment on This property?
Industry or Employer— Describe clearly this person'schief job activity or business last week. If this person had more than one job, describe the one at which this personworked the most hours. If this person had no job or business last week, give the information for his/her last job or business since 1995.
How many automobiles, vans, and trucks ofone-ton capacity or less are kept at home for useby members of your household?
Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any ofthe following activities: a. Learning, remembering, or concentrating? Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home?
**********
Any wonder citizens are reluctant to respond? It took several phone calls to get them off my back but it was worth it just to hear them get exasperated. It's not bad enough the corporations won the country (and all of us for that matter.) I am not going to help them get closer into my life.
When your kid's toy car stops, you take the battery out, put it in the recharger and put a new battery in the car. When your electric vehicle is low, you take it to the next battery swapping station, stretch your legs and make a pit stop. It's so incredibly easy and dependable! To prevent cheating, do keep track of precisely who brought in which battery packs when, by using credit cards, and test batteries regularly to make sure they weren't switched. Now gimme the $300m.
When we will see rewards for following evil laws?
We wouldn't need to give a prize for a battery they would make a fortune regardless. T. Edison sunk a fortune in it as it was also key to his DC systems. Sold it off as it was not profitable to a Mr. Holland who put together Electric Boat manufacturer of submarines, if the technology exists it will go to war first.
As for the census people don't trust the goverment and don't want to part of their numbers game. Remeber draft boards do you still have to register?
Governments offering a prize for the an invention or solution to a stuborn problem affecting national security is hardly a new idea. The invention of the spring driven clock is one example. The British navy and merchant fleat was plagued with the navagation problem of not being able to determine longitude without an accurate way to keep track of time. The British government offered a sustantial prize for anyone who could devise a time piece that could be carried on a ship (a pendulum or weight driven clock won't work on a rolling ship).
A hot competition ensued over a number of years. In the end a spring driven clock was proven to work and Britania ruled the waves for the following couple of centuries.
The question here is would such a prize give incentive to people capable of this kind of research. The clock was invented by a lone guy in his woodworking shop. I'm not sure we can expect some guy tinkering in his basement to solve this problem. Also with modern patent protection and the obvious possibility for profit a prize might be unnecesary. But then maybe it wouldn't hurt.
Perhaps Mr Caine could offer the $300 million to the EMC2 Corporation to allow them to build the "proof of concept" polywell Fusion generator?
If he is serious about clean abundant energy for all..
I adore Brauchli's understated humor. He must be quite an act in a court room, presuming he practiced trial law.
ALEX LAWYER, what sayeth thou?
I actually thought they used that so the criminals in Congress could devise election districts in order to get a populace that were more likely to vote for them. I don't know, not that much anyway.
The reward system is already in place, called Social Security. If you stay out of jail you get paid. Contrast that with Congressional retirement, If you go to jail you still get paid. Say maybe that would be an incentive to keep our pols honest. Cut their retirement if they goto jail.
Evil stacked on evil stacked on evil, like the plates in a battery. Add acid and distilled water, and you can torture and electrocute people at will. Technology. My America.
And yes, Census data will be mandatory BUT the results will be a national security secret - unavailable to the disgusting American people. I mean, you may require the pigs in a slaughterhouse to fill out forms before you butcher them, BUT, you don't "report back to them." Don't be silly. They're animals. You have no rights that any richfilth Master need ever consider. Has that cancer Master gave you metasticized yet? Count no one happy who is not dead.
And by the way, one of the main reasons for withholding the Census data will be the demographics. MELANIN DEFICIENT WHITE FOLKS ARE TOAST. 87% in '65. 70% in 2000. 46% in 2040. White people will walk in an ocean of people the color of the earth. Won't that be lovely for them? White people as a minority in the land they committed genocide to own and built with forced human labor. And now they are a minority. Won't that be frosty.
Of course by 2040 this place will be nothing but smoking rubble anyway, so it won't matter. You can relax now. You're safe. America will die as it lived, an unrepentant genocidal aryan slave empire.
If you have seen the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" you would see that battery technology is already here to power an electric car at average highway speeds for a reasonable distance. The EV-1 that Gen. Motors pulled from use proved that it was possible.
It's obvious that Mccain isn't up on his technology.
Read "Internal Combustion" for good information on car batteries, such as how GM burned down Edison's laboratories as he was perfecting the electric car battery.
In the case of filling out the Census forms, I think some education - like a part of our American history taught in schools (if it is still being taught in schools) on the history, and the many ways the census information is used, would probably get a lot more people interested in filling out the forms and sending them off.
From what I understand, the biggest reason for not doing it is because the people see it as just another way for the government to stick its nose in their private affairs.
Of course now they could just be told, "Hey, we have all of your deep dark secrets in a big government data base now, so you can't put anything on that census that we don't already know about."
And as for the battery, just have a school science project aimed at creating one. I bet some twelve-year-old out there could do it.
Indeed, Wackenhut and CCA already have one out of every hundred Americans in a Haliburton Gaol. Are they going to try for two per hundred with the help of congress?