| The very idea of a national census is fundamental, radical, and inescapable. It's required by the Constitution, but it long predates America and democracy: we read of the census in the Bible. So a regular stock-taking of the nation seems to be a necessary tool for any form of government.
But it can be inconvenient for the ruler, too. The census can show that his tribe has shrunk, or the cities he vowed to build up are being deserted. The look in the mirror isn't without risk.
We're starting to get a look into the mirror of America. And the picture tells us what we do not want to know.
We are getting poorer. The American Dream is - we hope - comatose, with family incomes falling for the first time since the Great Depression.
Mirrors and censuses "close the loop" of feedback for our political system. They bring us back to cold hard facts.
We're getting poorer. We've failed our children, who are moving back in with their parents - they would fall below the poverty line too, if they didn't.
Now that's a deficit. |
