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If you have already embraced the meme that “America is slowly collapsing” then your confirmation bias can make almost anything look like evidence of collapse.

If you have already embraced the meme that “America is slowly collapsing” then your confirmation bias can make almost anything look like evidence of collapse. Personally, I don’t see anything like that at play here. It seems to me that if you went around asking invasive questions like this at any time in the country’s history you could have expected some subset of the population to react in the way that OP described. If fact, given that the census conducts door-to-door interviews when people have not already voluntarily submitted the census form, it is to be expected that a good percentage of people interviewed just don’t want to answer the questions, and probably feel hostile towards the idea of cooperating with the census. That doesn’t mean that the society as a whole is hostile towards the census. There’s an overwhelming selection bias at play here.

nebula8804 5y ago
I don't think I have embraced it, in fact I try to find reasons to consider the opposite just to keep me feeling in a positive mood. There is nothing else you can do when you have no control over the outcome. The reason I brought up the book is because the stories told by the OP bear a very close resemblance to stories told in the book. >It seems to me that if you went around asking invasive questions like this at any time in the country’s history you could have expected some subset of the population to react in the way that OP described. Well yes, statistically this is more likely as the population increases. I also feel that people circumstances will contribute to their behavior. If they have felt betrayed by a government that has failed them in the past or they internally believe that the system does not work for them then these responses are to be expected. >If fact, given that the census conducts door-to-door interviews when people have not already voluntarily submitted the census form, it is to be expected that a good percentage of people interviewed just don’t want to answer the questions, and probably feel hostile towards the idea of cooperating with the census. That doesn’t mean that the society as a whole is hostile towards the census. There’s an overwhelming selection bias at play here. Fair enough. I don't have enough data to prove/disprove this conclusively.

nebula8804 5y ago

I don't think I have embraced it, in fact I try to find reasons to consider the opposite just to keep me feeling in a positive mood. There is nothing else you can do when you have no control over the outcome. The reason I brought up the book is because the stories told by the OP bear a very close resemblance to stories told in the book. >It seems to me that if you went around asking invasive questions like this at any time in the country’s history you could have expected some subset of the population to react in the way that OP described. Well yes, statistically this is more likely as the population increases. I also feel that people circumstances will contribute to their behavior. If they have felt betrayed by a government that has failed them in the past or they internally believe that the system does not work for them then these responses are to be expected. >If fact, given that the census conducts door-to-door interviews when people have not already voluntarily submitted the census form, it is to be expected that a good percentage of people interviewed just don’t want to answer the questions, and probably feel hostile towards the idea of cooperating with the census. That doesn’t mean that the society as a whole is hostile towards the census. There’s an overwhelming selection bias at play here. Fair enough. I don't have enough data to prove/disprove this conclusively.