It Only Took One Stamp

In light of our class conversation on Tuesday, I really got to thinking about how my economics classes have changed my behavior over the last four years. Whether it was conscious or not, what I have learned in these classes has undoubtedly impacted my everyday life. With that said, I couldn't properly finish this semester without mentioning just how influential Professor Coppock's sound-bytes have been. One nugget of wisdom stands out; my vote doesn't really matter.

Ever since I turned 18, I have dutifully exercised my right to vote. From presidential primaries to midterms to local races, I was in the booth or voting absentee. This year, however, was different. Our class discussions on the marginal benefit of voting, in comparison to the marginal cost, rocked my world. Why am I voting if it literally has no impact on the outcome? Even with the most generous of estimates, my expected marginal benefit is next to zero. The costs? A lot more than zero. Voting just didn't seem like it was in the cards this year...maybe never again.

But then I got a text from my local county supervisor. He reminded me he was up for reelection and that I needed to request my absentee ballot before the deadline. I was fortunate enough to work on his campaigns in the past and have come to really respect him. I realized in that moment that I could still maximize my utility by voting, even if my E[MB] was nothing. Particularly, I would avoid an awkward "did you vote?" conversation with him, and maybe even get some more work out of it. So I promptly signed up for my ballot, and a week later, filled in all those tiny circles. 

Then it came time to actually mail it in. Do I own stamps? Of course not. Do I know where I can get them? Sure, all I had to do was go to Newcomb in between class. Did I want to waste ten minutes out of my day and spend .50 cents on a stamp? Apparently not. That's right. The time and money it took to get one stamp was enough reason for me to not turn in my ballot...And you can bet our conclusions from class were reverberating in my mind the entire time.