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. Fortunately for the American people, the records were burned by the British in 1813, leaving hardly a trace for the state to use to expand its power. And yet, the state would not be held back, and the census became ever more intrusive. Today, the long-form of the census asks for details of your life that you would never tell a neighbor or a private business. A total of 52 questions, some outrageously intrusive, appear on it.
Every census is worse than the last.
The 1990 census asked for the year of your birth, but the 2000 census wants to know the day and the month, not to mention the race and relation of every person in the house, along with the number of toilets and much more. Mostly for social and economic central planning an activity the government shouldn t be engaged in at all. This isn t a biased rendering of the objectives of the census. The Census Bureau itself says, Information collected in Census 2000 will provide local area data needed for communities to receive federal program funds and for private sector and community planning. Indeed, very few Americans trust their government enough to allow it to engage in planning.