Chris Webb explains why the U.S. census counts all residents, not just citizens. The Constitution requires it for apportionment, and the real purpose is resource planning: schools, roads, hospitals, emergency services need accurate population data to function. Under-counting harms everyone through overcrowded classrooms and strained infrastructure.
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Episode two. Let's talk census. Let's get some counting. You know, if the count were here from Sesame Street, he'd be excited. One. Ah ah ah ah! So check out this author's next phrase. Somehow, it's un-American for the census to be counting only Americans. Hmm. So when I first heard this, I thought, when's the last time I paid attention to a census? You know, we always pass those signs, you know, we enter a new city and it says, here's the population. I always remember knowing it's never quite accurate. My hometown was always way behind. And then you learn they only do the census every so often, I believe every 10 years. And it's kind of a fun fact when you're going from one place to another, but when I hear this phrase, Americans, America, Americans, you know, all that, this author is maybe drawing at this idea that we're in America, and when we're counting who's in our country, the United States of America, that we should only be counting Citizens, and I'm guessing they're implying that if you are not a citizen, you are not an American. Interesting thing to unpack. This one had a little more nuance to it, and I had to do some digging here. So one of the first things that I found out is. This person is drawing at something that the framers of the Constitution wrote in there. They wrote in there that we will have each state count all persons, not just citizens, not Americans, all persons, and that will decide representation. Representation. We're going to get back to that and what that means, but let's focus for a minute on the difference between Americans and people. I think when we immediately jump to this idea of the census only counting Americans or citizens, is that not a version of seeing others that aren't that status as lesser than? If we're not counting them, it sounds fairly this or that. They either literally count or they don't. It's how it comes across. And I think a lot about the choice in words in some of these viral posts. And the more I reflect on other times I've heard people say these types of things or speak to me from this place of fear and emotion, it's often a them versus us. We/them. It's this very huge separation, like oil and vinegar, and they just separate. They don't belong together. That's like the mindset, and I think that's extremely problematic. I think it doesn't matter if somebody is a citizen or not. They should count. And this person feels That's not the case. Well, I'm going to ask this person, why do you think we have a census? Do you think it's because if we look at the resources that a town has, let's say schools, if I say that we have 70,000 people, but the reality is we have 100,000 because maybe 30,000 are undocumented, how does that Work when it comes to traffic and the planning for the roads and the infrastructure? Do you want to be driving in more traffic on your commute to and from work? Do you want less time with your family? How would you feel if your kid has to sit on a hallway floor because the schools didn't plan for enough classrooms, enough desks? Because guess what? We got that count wrong too. What about emergency services and the ability for enough ambulances, enough fire trucks, enough squad cars to maintain the safety and the quick response that every human deserves in dire straits and in an emergency situation? What about water and the structure needed to ensure that we all have healthy, consumable tap water? Or at least we darn well should. Right. Otherwise, I don't know what town you're living in, but get out of there. But I wonder if this person thought of that and all these systems. And that's really what the purpose of a census is. If we want to understand why we're driving into a new town, we see their population. It's to appreciate all of these things that go into planning to ensure the infrastructure and support is there for all That need it. So the other thing I want to think of is, is this author getting at the idea of loyalty? That we really should be really looking at citizens and Americans, and we're the only ones that count because we're, you know, here the right way? Do they get into the tax situation and appreciate that Even undocumented folks that aren't citizens still pay taxes. That's maybe something a lot of people don't dig into to fully understand. A lot of them even on income, but they still pay property sales, all the rest. And don't we want to live in a society, in a world where everybody is taken care of? I know me personally, just driving by, seeing people that are simply homeless for one reason or another. And that doesn't make any distinguishment whether somebody's here illegally or they're a citizen. They could be homeless and that wouldn't matter. There's other things going on with drug addiction, mental health, and who knows other circumstances. That's bad enough. I don't know that I could live in a city that had inappropriate planning where you read in the news that some little boy died because the ambulance didn't make it to the hospital in time. Or some little girl isn't able to go to school and misses certain periods, or there's some half measure to say you go to school on the even days, you go to school on the odd days, so then you get half an education. I don't know, whatever it may be. When you consider all these resources to say, how is this really going to work? It's not. And I don't think anyone can sit back in a chair and say I would feel good about that. So maybe What we need to really think about is, you know, what is the purpose of the census and how are we getting back to the idea that, look, this is the US Constitution that our forefathers wrote, that we count everybody for resource planning, as I mentioned. But perhaps this author is tugging into something a bit different. Maybe for them it's a matter of Okay, if I have X amount of folks that aren't citizens in this state, let's say 30% more than State B, and they were otherwise the same, well, State A is going to get more voting power in the Electoral College based on the number of people. So is that the idea that perhaps the Electoral College is a more flawed system? And there shouldn't be extra weight given to those spots because they are not fairly counting citizen to citizen. That could be interesting to talk about. However, there's also a certain number of representatives because, again, our forefathers put in the Constitution that it's there to resource plan. We don't want people to go without water. To go without protection. You know, all the things that were mentioned. I mean, think about electrical grids. I mean, there's countless things. Hospitals, the number of beds, you know, the number of patients a doctor is realistically able to see in a given day. These are all things that need to be carefully planned and considered so the infrastructure and the resources are keeping up with the demand and what we all need to live Happy, healthy lives. So sure, we can break into the Electoral College and have a conversation about that part of it, but I would wager that this author doesn't understand the reason that we have a census. It is not there to test citizenship or loyalty to the country. It is there to appropriately plan resources for every human person living in this country. to keep everybody safe, happy, and hopefully prospering in our everyday lives. So with that, have a prosperous day. Ah!
