Students Would Give Up Voting Rights for an iPod
A recent survey of 3,000 undergraduate students at New York University shows that most kids are willing to sacrifice their right to vote for an iPod, among other things.
Sixty-six percent said they would be willing to give up their right to vote in the next presidential election for a year's tuition. But don't start shaking your head just yet -- it gets worse: Twenty percent said their right to vote next year could be bought for an iPod Touch. That's right, 600 of those surveyed said they would sit out the historic 2008 election for a $300 media player. For $1 Million, says the poll, half would give up their votes... forever.
The most bizarre part of the survey? 70.5 percent said that they believed that one vote could make a difference, including 70 percent of those who said they would sacrifice their right to vote. How these contradictory ideas could be held in one privileged child's head, we're not sure.
We understand that technology can drive people to do ridiculous things, but giving up the right to vote for an iPod is a new low. Check out this list of other insane things people have done for or because of technology:
- Sex Less Important Than the Web for Many Americans
- Gamers Still Lining up for the Wii
- iPhone Camper Interviewed by Switched
- Weirdos Begin to Queue Up for Halo 3
- PS3 Crime Spree
From Politico (via Washington Square News)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
E @ Nov 15th 2007 2:13PM
Is that Mrs. Ronald MacDonald voting?
J. Mariano @ Nov 15th 2007 2:36PM
So...This is the "future" of America...The kids who will become the adults who will be in charge...
Bunch of self-centered, misguided, and half brain-dead dolts who see more value in a piece of questionably-useful technology...one that generations did without and, somehow-or-other, managed to live and thrive and prosper...
These kids are so wrapped-up in themselves and their "cool" hi-tech toys that they don't know how to live without them...
Imagine...A generation of children who don't understand the intricacies and finesse of Social Interaction because they have been interacting with and through their I-Pods and Instant-messaging and e-mails and text-messaging cell phones and their computers/on-line games...Many of them can barely construct a cohesieve sentence when writing or speaking and have no clue as to what is happening in the Real World unless they've seen/heard it on some computer-show format or on something like MTV...
Truly sad...
They may possess a greater degree of computer and computer-related skills than my generation...but they are loosing their connection to Humanity...
james parrott @ Nov 15th 2007 3:11PM
*deleted* -- we don't tolerate racism here.
Forrest Gump @ Nov 15th 2007 3:46PM
I wouldn't give up MY voting rights for half the money in the United States!
Yes I know how the electoral college system works but I still will NOT give up my right to vote.
Our rights are being slowly chipped away, trampled on freely....so far the one thing they have NOT been able to take out of the citizens hands is the RIGHT to VOTE.
I hope the students that would chose the IPOD can turn the music up LOUD enough so they don't hear AMERICA crumbling all around them.
Will they wake up from their college drinking all hung over, look out the window and ask "What happened last night?"
Our Soldiers fought and died for our freedoms. We have very few left. Not voting is like spitting in a Soldiers face or not appreciating the blood that has spilled for our RIGHTS.
If all we have to look forward to is these students to run this country in 30 years we're in some deep SH*T.
NO WAY @ Nov 15th 2007 4:06PM
Can you run for political office if you aren't a registered voter (or eligible to vote)???
I'm wondering who will run this country in 30 years if all these college students give up their right to vote for an IPOD.
That IPOD won't be working in 30 years I can guarantee you that!
The students that would choose the $ for voting rights.....well you messed up. If you want to KEEP THAT $$$ you better be able to VOTE out new taxes ect.
We also know that $$$ in the hands of the young, won't last long either.
Then where will you be? You will be at the mercy of the few that can vote. You'll just be a mindless little Stepford citizen.
Something to look forward to I guess.
I'm personally hoping I'm alive in 30 years to laugh at their stupidity.
LarryE @ Nov 15th 2007 5:07PM
The poll results appear bad although I truly wonder how seriously the respondents took such a silly question. However, their thinking is no sloppier than your lead, in which you declare "most kids are willing to sacrifice their right to vote for an iPod, among other things" on the basis of a single survey at a single campus (which can't be considered representative of "most kids") which referred mostly to voting in a particular election (not the "right to vote") and in which only 20% (definitely not "most") would do that for an iPod.
They may flunk civics, but you flunk Journalism 101.
And by the way, if exchanging voting in the 2008 presidential election for an iPod is so bad, why do you have two links to stuff about iPods but none to the actual survey?
JackTorrance @ Nov 15th 2007 5:39PM
They may not have taken our right to vote, but they've gone a step further and made sure that voting doesn't mean much anymore. We can all just play with our shiny TV machines while the Illuminati and the obscenely wealthy call the shots. Voting still exists just to keep us quiet while the powerful get more powerful at the expense of 99.99% of the rest of the world. But who cares? They're God's special people! Scoop!
Casey @ Nov 20th 2007 2:09PM
Totally believable! It seems not many youngesters are into politics that much anyways. They are often too busy with school and work to stay up with it. iPod are really popular these day and are really cherished. Has anyone used a VibeVault to protect thier iPod? I hear they are good. I am looking for some feedback. They are at http://vibevault.com.
@#$%&*+) @ Nov 20th 2007 3:06PM
Well, they may not be that dumb. The Patriot Act took away all your citizenship value anyway, and a year's use of a working iPod gives you that much utility at least. Better than a vote that can get "lost" or dumped by the Supremes whenever they feel like it. Face it, we just got swapped for a dictatorship; you'll get more clarity on that later as the Stalinism sets in. Wait and see, suckers, It happened here and you missed it.