Powers-that-be want to know everything about rest of us

Jayne Dowle asks what vexes us about completing the Census form (Yorkshire Post, March 17). It’s not that we object point blank – our grievance is that as per usual we haven’t been consulted as to whether or not we would like to participate in this senseless and costly waste of everyone’s time.

We have, in fact, been given an ultimatum, with no freedom of choice to make up our own minds as to whether or not we wish to divulge this information about ourselves.

To add insult to injury, if we don’t go along with this charade, the dictatorial regime who preside over us are going to impose a fine if we don’t comply by filling it in.

It seems they never miss an opportunity to gather revenue. And why is it so vital to the powers-that-be to know everything about us? Do we really know who they are?

Of course, the real mystery is that on the one hand we are told there is a recession and as we are short of funds, the Government is forced to make savage cuts to vital services.

So where is the £480m that this debacle is going to cost going to come from?

It seems to be a question of priorities; the powers-that-be obviously consider that gleaning relatively useless information from the electorate is far more important than actually providing us with something that we actually need.

Jayne also says that she feels she is contributing to the history of the nation. The history of this nation has followed the same theme for hundreds of years, which still applies today.

A handful of privileged people live in luxury, holding all the wealth and power that goes with it, while doing their utmost to convince the masses that times are hard, and of course the so-called ordinary folk are forced into daily toil to maintain the lucky few in the lifestyle that they are accustomed to. In all this time nothing has changed.

Is this really the legacy that we wish to leave to future generations? Surely not, don’t they deserve a better deal?

From: Robert Bottamley, Thorn Road, Hedon, East Yorkshire.

YOU reported concerns (Yorkshire Post, March 21) by the British Humanist Association regarding the 2011 Census; specifically, that the section relating to religious beliefs might produce “misleading results”.

Readers will recall how the BHA sought to influence the content of the relevant section of the survey: having failed, the organisation’s chief executive, Andrew Copson, urged “people who do not want to give continuing or even greater importance to unshared religions in our public life to tick ‘No Religion’ in the census”.

What honest error leads the chief executive of the BHA to conclude that no one who believes in God should have their wishes considered by society – even though, like him, they pay their taxes? But never mind. To avoid precisely the kind of confusion Andrew Copson warns against, I recommend that the following two options be added to any future census: (i) British Humanist Association or (ii) No British Humanist Association.

The response could then be used in just the same way Mr Copson considers appropriate for religious organisations to indicate whether or not people wish to give the BHA “a continuing or even greater importance in our public life” – though I suspect that if the results didn’t favour the organisation he represents, he would dismiss them as misleading.