I know this isn't environmental, but we spend a lot of time talking about what people are willing to pay (or give up) to preserve environmental amenities. We're often mocked, ridiculed and demeaned for even thinking of putting monetary values on something as precious as the environment and frankly it hurts my fragile feelings. So what if you were asked what you would be willing to accept to give up a basic American right, the right to vote. Students at NYU were asked, and it looks like the price of not voting is fairly high:
Two-thirds say they'll do it for a year's tuition. And for a few, even an iPod touch will do.
That's what NYU students said they'd take in exchange for their right to vote in the next presidential election, a recent survey by an NYU journalism class found.
Only 20 percent said they'd exchange their vote for an iPod touch.
That sounds really low to me. Only 20%? Does that mean at least 80$ of NYU students plan to vote? If not, why wouldn't you say yes? If you don't plan to vote anyway, you should be willing to take anything above zero to sell your right to vote.
But 66 percent said they'd forfeit their vote for a free ride to NYU. And half said they'd give up the right to vote forever for $1 million.
Idiotnyustudentssaywhat? With $1,000,000 can't you pay the tuition at NYU and have some left over for beer? My finely tuned economic senses smell something fishy.
Update: please ignore the above idiocy. As reader mph points out, the tuition offer was for 1 year's vote, the $1,000,000 was for all lifetime votes. I'm an idiot.
So to compare: Let's suppose you're getting 4 years of tuition and room and board in exchange for your vote this year. That's about $45,000 per year for 4 years or $167,546 in present value (discounted at 5%). If that is the annual payment demanded for your vote, then that translates to a present value of $870,253 to give up your vote in the next 12 presidential elections (48 years--a good lifetime). More people should still take the $1,000,000, it's just not as obvious.
But they also overwhelmingly lauded the importance of voting.
Ninety percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for the money also said they consider voting "very important" or "somewhat important"; only 10 percent said it was "not important."
Also, 70.5 percent said they believe that one vote can make a difference — including 70 percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for free tuition.
That means 70.5 percent of students believe they are the median voter.
Their reasons for giving up their votes varied.
"At the moment, no candidate who truly represents my political beliefs has a chance of winning a presidential election," one male junior studying film and television at the Tisch School of the Arts wrote on the survey.
A perfectly valid reason to sell.
"It is very easy to convince myself that my vote is not essential," wrote a female CAS sophomore. "After all, I'm from New York, which will always be a blue state."
Another valid reason to sell.
Other students wrote that they were disgusted by the thought.
"I would be reversing history — a lot of people fought so that every citizen could be enfranchised," said a female in her second year at the Stern School of Business.
This is a business student?
One CAS junior went even further, writing that "anyone who'd sell his lifelong right to vote should be deported."
Wrong. Anyone who refuses to sell their right to vote should be deported. What is more American than being able to profit from the things you own. Make me an offer...you might be surprised how little I would take.
